‘The Jennifer Hudson Show’ is getting ready to return for a second season without several of the key players who made season one happen.
via Page Six:
One source described the situation as a “bloodbath” — and said she’s fired several producers, including one of her executive producers.
A spokesperson for the show told us, “these claims are misconstrued,” and described the recent firings as par of the course.
“It’s typical for a show to make adjustments after a debut season, however, nearly 95 percent of the staff and crew are being asked to return,” the rep said.
Meanwhile, we hear that Hudson has retained her assistant, Walter Williams III, and her publicist, Lisa Kasteler, as exec producers, which has TV insiders buzzing about how unusual it is to have a publicist run her show.
Hudson inherited a number of Ellen DeGeneres’ producers after she ended her successful talk show.
A source compared Hudson’s move to reset with new producers to Sherri Shepherd — who inherited Wendy Williams’ staff and subsequently cut ties with them ahead of her show’s second season.
Speaking of Shepherd, we hear producers have been flooding the show with resumes to try and get jobs.
“Since a new season is approaching and we have been nominated for an Emmy we have been blasted with inquiries about job placements and new hires for open positions,” an insider told us.
Shepherd seems to have “her pick of the best,” between Hudson’s recently fired staffers and out-of-work producers from canceled shows hosted by Rachael Ray and Dr. Oz.
We’ll see if the behind-the-scenes changes make the show better when it returns this fall.
