‘Selling Tampa’ Cast Blames Racism for Show’s Cancellation

Netflix’s Selling Tampa has been canceled after one season, and the cast claims racial discrimination had a part to play in the decision. 

The Netflix show, which featured an all-female realty company, premiered in December 2021. The cast is made up of women of color, Juawana Colbert, Colony Reeves, Anne-Sophie Petit, Tennille Moore, Karla Giorgio, Rena Frazier, Alexis Williams, and Sharelle Rosado. Juawana, 41, told Page Six, “I feel like we weren’t given a second chance, possibly because of what we represented as minority women.” She added, “When they show us [black women] in a different light — when we’re bickering, fighting and name-calling — they get a Season 2 and Season 3, but that’s not what we were displaying.”

A source also told the outlet that the ladies were given the runaround for an entire year whenever they would ask about the show being renewed for season 2. Then, last week, the creator of the ‘Selling’ franchise on Netflix, Selling the OC and Selling Beverly Hills, Adam Di’Vello called them via Zoom to break the sad news. According to the cast, they were told that if fans inquire about a second season, they are to tell them. Colbert said that Adam told them the decision to cancel was related to numbers but never gave any additional information. “I don’t know if he was talking about rating numbers or budget numbers. He just said numbers,” she noted. 

An insider told Page Six that they know Selling Tampa was number 1 in multiple countries and did fairly well. “Obviously, it’s not going to be a Selling Sunset Season 5 … It’s just weird. All of a sudden, this all-black cast doesn’t even get a chance for a Season 2.” Since the numbers excuse doesn’t hold up, the cast is convinced that they are being held to a higher standard than other shows. “When it comes to a minority show of all minority cast members, we’re going to naturally have lower numbers because we are a minority in numbers [of the population], in general,” the insider said. 

Colbert also said that the producers were out of touch with the women and they had several issues while filming. For example, they wanted the cast to always be ready within the hour for confessionals when it was impossible because of their hairstyles. “With sew-ins or the types of extensions that typically women of color have to get, we don’t work on that same time frame.” She continued to say, “Whoever they had on the ground is out of touch a little bit with working with a cast of all-minority women.”

The real estate agent also said that the cast was set up to fail because of how production edited the show. “They chose to edit it how they wanted to edit it, but we are all active, we are all busy, we all have higher-end homes that have sold, and we have ones that are not higher-end homes that have sold. We are all active agents. When we were filming, there were deals that were done, but that’s now how it was edited.”

The insider also said that DiVello never visited the cast on the set of Selling Tampa until a month or two after the show’s premiere. “Adam is on set with all his other shows, except this. Granted, there was COVID, so I’m sure that’s an excuse.” Colbert also pointed out that not having the show on Netflix hinders breaking stereotypes about black women. “Not being able to see women that look like us in a professional setting, a setting where they have a career, a setting where we can have disagreements but not be throwing glasses or punches … it’s not fair.”

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