A day after CBS announced the discontinuation of SWATseries lead Shemar Moore took to social media to share an impassioned video of himself expressing his disappointment with how the decision was handled.
The network revealed Friday that the series, which starred Moore as LAPD Sgt. Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson since launching in November 2017, won’t be returning after the season six finale airs on May 19. The show – an update of the 1970s series of the same name – actually grew compared to the previous season, averaging 6.82. million viewers for seven days.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Moore said of the cancellation in a Instagram video posted Saturday. “We didn’t do anything wrong. We did everything that was asked.”
Moore praised the show’s ratings over the past two years, highlighting its strong Friday night performance. The Criminal ghosts alum also stated that he is the only African American male lead actor on television, excluding streaming or cable, pointing out that Chris O’Donnell, not LL Cool J, was number 1 on the call list for NCIS: Los Angeleswhich also ends its run on CBS this month.
“SWAT is the most diverse show on CBS,” said Moore. “CBS, when I was hired to be Hondo SWAT, received a lot of flak for lack of diversity. If I post this, and I think I could, I’m going to get into a lot of trouble with CBS for calling them out. Because they’ve been great to me for 26 of my 29-year career. But to be abruptly told you’ve been canceled when you led us to believe last week – and the week before and the week before that – that we’d have some semblance of a season seven to at least say goodbye if not continue to go. And to be told abruptly, ‘You’re done.’”
Moore said there was “a lot of politics involved” and referred to licensing fees for the project which is a co-production between Sony Pictures TV and CBS Studios. According to Moore, he shared his thoughts not for personal gain, but out of concern not only for his family, but for everyone else who worked on the show. He made it clear that he hopes those in power will realize that a mistake was made and the series can continue.
“I’ll be fine, but I’m upset because I busted my whole ass to prove I could do this, and I proved I could do this,” he said. “I understand it’s not personal — it’s business — but I’m still confident SWAT will see another day. So I’m asking my homies, my fans and my baby girls, and the rest of the world who follow me or follow the show, follow the cast, my brothers and my sisters: make some damn noise. And let them know to cancel SWAT is a goddamn mistake.”
The Hollywood Reporter has contacted CBS for comment.
During an interview in March with THR’S TV top 5 podcast, executive producer Shawn Ryan said it was “up in the air” whether the show would get a seventh season in this current era where platforms have placed a premium on outright ownership of their series. “There’s no reason the show shouldn’t be picked up, other than the economics of the business are changing,” Ryan said at the time. “CBS and Sony may or may not find a way to make a season seven work economically.”
