‘Live P.D.’ Canceled By A&E

A&E Network has canceled the police reality series Live PD after weeks of protests inspired by the death of George Floyd and a report that a crew from the show filmed the death of another black man in police custody. The cable network announced the move Wednesday, a day after the similar show Cops, on the air for 33 seasons, was dropped by the Paramount Network.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A&E Network has canceled the police reality series “Live PD” following weeks of protests inspired by the death of George Floyd and a report that a crew from the show filmed the arrest of a black man who died after he was restrained by police.

A&E Network has canceled the police reality series “Live PD” after weeks of protests inspired by the death of George Floyd and a report that a crew from the show filmed the death of another black man in police custody.

The cable network announced the move Wednesday, a day after the similar show “Cops,” on the air for 33 seasons, was dropped by the Paramount Network.

“This is a critical time in our nation’s history and we have made the decision to cease production on Live PD,” A&E said in a statement. “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.”

The cancellation also comes a day after a reports from the Austin American-Statesman and KVUE-TV that 40-year-old Javier Ambler, who was black, died in Texas last year after sheriff’s deputies repeatedly used stun guns on him, despite his cries for help and pleas that he was sick and couldn’t breathe.

Prosecutors who are investigating Ambler’s death said the presence of the “Live PD” crew made the arrest, which was captured on police body-camera video obtained by the news outlets, particularly troubling.

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A&E said in a previous statement that its video never aired because of a policy against showing a death, and it did not keep the footage after it was informed the initial investigation had closed. A&E said neither the network nor the show’s producers “were asked for the footage or an interview by investigators from law enforcement or the District Attorney’s office.”

Just as Paramount Network did with “Cops,” A&E had already ceased airing episodes of “Live PD” before announcing Wednesday that it was dropping the show altogether.

“Live PD,” which had been on the air since 2016, had a more news documentary approach than “Cops,” which let police speak almost entirely for themselves.

“Shocked & beyond disappointed about this,” the show’s host, veteran journalist Dan Abrams, said on Twitter. “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.”


Comments (6)

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2018bstyrevr says:

June 11, 2020 at 7:33 am

Weak kneed snowflake sellouts!!! That’s Hollywood for you

RetiredInTexas says:

June 11, 2020 at 9:00 am

More media catering to a few disgruntled snowflakes

News Veteran 50+ says:

June 11, 2020 at 3:55 pm

2018bstyrevr, you posted the same thing about COPS: “June 10, 2020 at 8:37 am – TV clowns have always been lemmings..Here is a perfect example..PAramount run by weak lefties!!!”
What are you, an ex-cop?
Get over it.

RIDGELINE-TV says:

June 11, 2020 at 5:45 pm

Temporarily putting the shows on hold may have been a better move while society rethinks how policing is portrayed in films and television. Canceling the shows completely, I believe, may send the wrong message to viewers, signaling a complete distrust of LEOs.

NowACurmudgeon says:

June 11, 2020 at 10:32 pm

Lots of people I know are cancelling A&E. Or not watching it any more.

[email protected] says:

June 12, 2020 at 12:10 am

A&E made a big and wrong mistake by canceling Live PD which I really enjoyed watching I hope another network will pickup Live PD.