'The Talk' Sees Major Backstage Shakeup

By Stephen Andrew

The Talk just found itself in a major backstage shakeup, as showrunner Kristin Matthews is exiting the CBS series after 13 seasons. In a statement shared by Deadline, Matthews said, "After 13 years, the time was right for me to make a change and I won't be returning next season. I helped launch The Talk in 2010 and I am so proud of all that we have accomplished with the show over the past 13 seasons."

She went on to say, "We have worked together to achieve so much success, laughter, ratings, Emmys, love and tears – everything you can experience producing over 2,500 episodes. I'm truly grateful to the incredible team I've had the opportunity to lead as well as all the outstanding staff, crew and hosts I've worked with during my time on the show. Amy Reisenbach, President, CBS Entertainment and David Stapf, President, CBS Studios, added, "Kristin Matthews' significant contributions have been pivotal to the success of The Talk since the show launched 13 seasons ago. She has been a trusted leader, collaborator and creative talent who has helped make the show an award-winning series on CBS' top rated daytime lineup. We'll be forever grateful to her." It was later reported that The Late Late Show executive producer Rob Crabbe has been hired as showrunner for The Talk Season 14.

As Matthews noted, she was part of The Talk's inaugural season as a coordinating producer in August 2010. Just two years later she was made a co-executive producer. Mathews also earned two Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Talk Show Entertainment in 2016 and 2018, for her work on the show. More than a decade after its launch, in 2020, Matthews was made showrunner, a role she shared for a period of time with The Talk veteran Heather Gray. Sadly, Gray died in 2022 after battling "an unforgiving disease."

Notably, Matthews' exit comes as The Talk is on hiatus due to the WGA writers' strike. The Writers Guild of America strike began on May 2 and currently has no end date. The organization represents more than 11,000 Hollywood TV and movie writers. The strike was the result of the WGA not reaching an acceptable agreement after six weeks of wage negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. "Though we negotiated intent on making a fair deal – and though your strike vote gave us the leverage to make some gains – the studios' responses to our proposals have been wholly insufficient, given the existential crisis writers are facing," the negotiating committee wrote in a letter to members, per VOX. "The companies' behavior has created a gig economy inside a union workforce, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing."

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