Comedy Duo Splits, Ends Popular Late-Night Series

By Daniel S. Levine

Showtime canceled the late-night talk show Desus & Mero after four seasons amid reports that hosts Desus Nice and The Kid Mero are going their separate ways. The critically-acclaimed talk show launched in February 2019 and aired its final episode on June 23. During the 15-episode final season, the duo interviewed stars such as Denzel Washington, Michelle Yeoh, Samuel L. Jackson, Jerrod Carmichael, Wanda Sykes, Jeff Bridges, and Derek Jeter.

"Desus Nice and The Kid Mero will be pursuing separate creative endeavors moving forward," Showtime said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "Showtime's late-night talk show Desus & Mero will not be returning for a fifth season. Its final episode aired Thursday, June 23." The premium cable network went on to wish the comedians "the best."

Speculation that Desus and Mero split creatively began recently as fans noticed they had not recorded a new episode of their podcast Bodega Boys since November. Mero also announced the podcast was "done" in a recent Reddit post. When a fan showed Desus a screenshot of Mero's comment in June, Mero simply replied, "I tried y'all." In another message on July 15, Desus wrote, "The hive deserved better than this ending. Reddit can slander my name but when the truth comes out.....actually just wait."

Desus, born Daniel Baker, and Mero, born Joel Martinez, came to prominence on Twitter before they began working together in 2013 on the Complex podcast Desus vs. Mero. They went on to appear on several MTV shows, including Guy Code, Uncommon Sense, and Wild 'N Out. In 2016, they began hosting the first Desus & Mero talk show for Viceland, before the show ended in June 2018. They then moved to Showtime to re-launch the show in February 2019.

While their work on television continued, Desus and Mero still intermittently recorded episodes of their podcast, so fans were not too alarmed when they stopped publishing shows in November. However, the lack of new episodes finally began annoying fans, notes Gawker, with many publishing reviews asking what was going on. The cause behind their feud remains a mystery, especially since they suggested bigger things were on the horizon in a joint Indiewire interview.

"We definitely want to do a big travel interview. We want to go to England or go somewhere and interview someone who you necessarily wouldn't see here in the United States. So it's like a big, big gotcha interview," Desus said in May. "We're gonna be the first show to interview Rihanna's baby, so make sure you write that."  

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