In response to the protests going on across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, A&E officially decided to cancel Live PD. While the news came as a great shock to fans of the show, it may have come as the greatest shock to the host of the show himself, Dan Abrams. Shortly after the news was announced, Abrams wrote on Twitter that he was “shocked [and] beyond disappointed” by the show’s cancellation. His message came only a day after he took to Twitter to assure fans that the cop-centric show would be back on TV eventually.
On Twitter, Abrams posted a link to a Deadline article about Live PD’s cancellation. The link came alongside a passionate message from the host, who wrote that he was incredibly surprised to hear the news. He then issued a statement directly to the show’s audience, writing that he and those behind the show “did everything we could to fight for you, and for our continuing effort at transparency in policing. I was convinced the show would go on.” Abrams ended his statement by writing that there would be “more to come” on this front.
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Shocked & beyond disappointed about this. To the loyal #LivePDNation please know I, we, did everything we could to fight for you, and for our continuing effort at transparency in policing. I was convinced the show would go on. . More to come. . .https://t.co/WWh7fDrig2
— Dan Abrams (@danabrams) June 11, 2020
As previously mentioned, a day before A&E announced their decision to cancel Live PD, Abrams was assuring fans that the show would continue. He wrote on Tuesday, amidst news that fellow police-focused reality series Cops was canceled, “To all of you asking whether #LivePD coming back. . .The answer is yes. All of us associated with the show are as committed to it as ever. We are still discussing some specifics but I want to assure the #LivePDNation that we are not abandoning you.” Of course, fans of the show now know that it has since been officially canceled.
According to Deadline, the decision to end Live PD was made by both A&E and MGM’s Big Fish Entertainment, which produces the series. The A&E network released a statement about the cancellation, which read, “This is a critical time in our nation’s history and we have made the decision to cease production on Live PD. Going forward, we will determine if there is a clear pathway to tell the stories of both the community and the police officers whose role it is to serve them. And with that, we will be meeting with community and civil rights leaders as well as police departments.”
