Fox has elected to cancel Rel after one season on the network. Led by Lil’ Rel Howery, the Fox sitcom followed the life of a Chicago man who finds out his wife is having an affair with his longtime barber. The series featured other stars such as Sinbad, Jessica “Jess Hilarious” Moore and Jordan L. Jones. Initially, the show got of to a great start with 5.5 million viewers for show’s premiere, but dipped to an audience of 2 million viewers later on. Since then, the show has faced a few hardships.
In addition to losing a large number of viewers, the show’s executive producer, Kevin Barnett, died suddenly in January while taking a trip to Mexico. It was later revealed that Barnett died from complications from pancreatitis. In an Instagram post, Rel wrote, “Thank you for the last 6 years of helping make my dreams come true man.” More recently, one of the show’s main stars, Jess Hilarious, got caught up in controversy when she profiled four Sikh man who boarded the same plane as hers. During an Instagram Live video, Jess Hilarious described an incident in which she left a plane because she felt threatened by four Sikh men who were wearing turbans boarded her plane. Initially, the comedian and actress defended her actions, but she ultimately apologized.
Lil’ Rel Howery will not go without work though. The comedian turned actor appeared in Netflix’s Bird Box and was recently cast in Issa Rae’s The Photograph.
