‘The Chew’ Canceled by ABC After 7 Seasons

ABC has officially cancelled The Chew.

The daytime talk show is reportedly coming to an end after seven seasons. Production will end on The Chew at the end of this current season, which goes from June until September. According to a report by The Wrap, ABC has cancelled the show in order to make space for a new third hour of Good Morning America.

The network plans to expand its wildly popular morning news and talk show into the afternoon. However, executives also realize that they’re taking away another program that audiences have come to love.

“While this is the right decision for our business, it is also bittersweet,” said Ben Sherwood, the president of the Disney ABC Television Group.

“For seven years The Chew has delighted audiences by delivering innovative food segments in an entertaining atmosphere. We applaud and thank Gordon Elliott, Aimee Householder, Michael Symon, Carla Hall, Clinton Kelly and the entire cast and crew for their great work and amazing run. And we wish them the very best.”

Gordon Elliott, the show’s creator, talked to the outlet about the impetus for the program.

“Before The Chew, no one had attempted a talk/food hybrid,” he said. “Our hosts Clinton, Carla and Michael and the staff created television history executing the show as well as they did for all these years. I know I speak for all of the people who work on the show when I say it was the best television we have ever had the privilege to produce.”

The show faced some bad publicity back in December, when co-host Mario Batali was accused of sexual assault, harassment and misconduct by multiple women. Batali was one of the many prominent male figures denounced in the Me Too movement. He stepped away from The Chew in mid-December, though whether he quit or was fired remains debatable.

In December, The New York Times wrote an expose of The Spotted Pig, one of the most illustrious restaurants in New York City. In it, former employees recounted harassment at his hands, and at least one server said she was assaulted by him.

The West Village hot spot is known for being a key social center point for the city’s elite, and employees say they were expected to put up with catcalls, wandering hands, and outright physical advances from the owner Ken Friedman and his powerful friends.

Batali was among those friends. Employees say he was commonly referred to among staff as “The Red Menace,” and claim that there was security footage at one point showing him groping and kissing an unconscious woman in the VIP room at a 2008 party.

Batali issued apologies for his actions, and quietly stepped away from the show as well as many of his restaurant ventures.