Hulu Just Removed ‘Trafficking’ Documentary Show

Hulu and National Geographic’s Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller will be among the titles that will be removed from Hulu within the next several days. Deadline reports that the three-season documentary series will be removed from the streamer on Thursday, June 1. The reason is to cut down costs, something that a lot of companies have been doing lately.

The documentary, which first premiered on National Geographic in 2020, explores the “complex and dangerous inner-workings of the global underworld, black and informal markets.” Mariana van Zeller spends each episode following the chain of custody of traffick goods, understanding how to obtain the contraband, or seeing the 360-degree view of people such as smugglers, law enforcement, or others involved.

The latest season of Trafficked premiered earlier this year, with the final episode airing in March. All episodes from the three seasons are available to watch on the National Geographic website or the Nat Geo TV: Live & On Demand app, so it looks like fans may still be able to watch the series after it leaves Hulu.

As of now, it’s unknown what made Disney choose Trafficked and other titles to be removed from Hulu or if it was just at random. It’s also unknown if this is permanent or if it will just be temporary. Disney is removing a lot of titles from both Disney+ and Hulu that are originals, which means they probably won’t be made available elsewhere. So, fans will just have to keep a lookout for any information on when Trafficked and other titles could possibly be coming back if they will.

Along with Trafficked, other National Geographic/Hulu titles that will be removed include Life Below Zero: Next Generation, National Geographic Investigates: LSD and Psychedelics, The Armstrong Tapes, Most Wanted Sharks, 9/11: One Day in America, and more. Since some of the National Geographic titles are also available on Disney+, it’s possible they might stay on there, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they’d be removed from that streamer as well. 

Disney is just the latest major media company to remove original content from its own library in an effort to either rebrand or cut down costs. Warner Bros. Discovery has been removing content from HBO Max/Max, with AMC and Showtime doing similar cuts, especially with Showtime merging with Paramount+. More removals are likely in the future, so don’t be surprised if a favorite is taken down, unfortunately.