Why ‘Access Hollywood’ Reportedly Got Canceled: ‘Restraints’ on Reporters ‘Made It Almost Impossible’

Access Hollywood was seemingly not cancelled because of the reporters themselves.

In the Sunday, March 15, edition of Rob Shuter‘s Naughty But Nice Substack, a source revealed that publicist interference played a major role in the cancellation.

“The staff at Access are some of the best in the business. But the restraints they were working with made it almost impossible to build a real audience,” one source shared. “No tough questions, no surprises, no real moments. Publicists wanted total control.”

A second source said the show “became promotional fluff,” noting “audiences can smell that a mile away.”

“Publicists spent years trying to control these shows,” the source continued. “Now they’re gone — and celebrities just lost one of the last platforms actually promoting them.”

The source also pointed out that the quick news cycle played a role.

“By the time a segment aired, the story was already everywhere on TikTok or Instagram,” the source explained. “Entertainment news now happens in real time.”

Last week, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that NBCUniversal had pulled the plug on Access Hollywood, Access Live, Karamo, and The Steve Wilkos Show. According to the outlet, production will continue through the summer for Access Hollywood and Access Live and end after that.

Frances Berwick, chairman of Bravo & Peacock unscripted for NBCUniversal, shared a statement with The Hollywood Reporter regarding the news.

“NBCUniversal is making changes to our first-run syndication division to better align with the programming preferences of local stations,” her statement read. “The company will remain active in the distribution of our existing program library and other off-network titles, while winding down production of our first-run shows.”

“These shows have provided audiences with great talk and entertainment content for many years and we’re very proud of the teams behind them,” she concluded.