OWN Network Cancels Reality Show “Raising Whitley”

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OWN’s hit reality show, Raising Whitley, has been canceled — AlwaysAList.com reports. Raising Whitley premiered April 20, 2013, on the Oprah Winfrey Network, chronicling the daily life of actress-comedian Kym Whitley and her group of friends—whom she refers to as “The Village”—as they raise baby Joshua, the child that Kym unexpectedly gained custody of. Joshua was left to Whitley after a troubled young woman, who she mentored for 15 years, had mysteriously escaped the hospital immediately after giving birth and left behind only Kym’s contact information.

Kym's son, Rodney Van Johnson & Kym

Kym’s son, Rodney Van Johnson & Kym

The comedian and actress confirmed that the show would not be returning for another season, telling the site:

Me, Joshua and the entire village have enjoyed sharing our lives with the viewers. I’m so grateful that Oprah Winfrey, Sheri Salata & the entire team at OWN took a chance on our little show and gave us a platform for four seasons. And I will always appreciate celebrity makeup artist Derrick Rutledge for the dinner invitation that really made this all happen.

A statement from OWN tells the site:

We have enjoyed working with Kym and her great ‘village’ of friends and thank them for opening their homes and sharing their lives with our viewers.

Kym also confirmed the news on Instagram, writing:

Hey Peeps, I wanted to write a sincere thank you to all my fans for your love and support during the past several seasons of Raising Whitley. This remarkable journey will always be one of the proudest and most special moments of my life. Thank you for embracing me, Joshua and our Village with open arms. I’m already working on developing an exciting new project for you I hope to announce soon and please keep watching Young & Hungry on Freeform. Although Raising Whitney won’t be renewed OWN, I promise to continue sharing updates on social media about me and Joshua.
You all are the best.
Love,
Kym and Joshua

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[AlwaysAList, Instagram]

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Authored by: TJB Writer

There are 7 comments for this article
  1. jd at 7:53 pm

    Hopefully living lozado is next.

    • Anonymous at 9:25 am

      Yeah…they should’ve cancelled the Lozada show first. Why would OWN prefer to air a show about a “thot” instead of a “village”?

  2. Just Me at 2:55 pm

    This is how you lose viewers. I understand it’s her network but without our support there won’t be an OWN. This was a lovely show. I can think of a few shows on OWN that should have got the boot and this wasn’t one of them. Everyone isn’t interested in only watching ratchet tv. Good luck explaining this one. I see she’s said nothing.

  3. dr at 12:02 pm

    Lazada should’ve been canceled instead of raising whitley I really enjoyed that show.

  4. Kim at 4:43 pm

    I’m the only one here that agrees with that decision.I didn’t care for the show.Im not a Kim Whitley fan.I like Evelyn’s show because it shows her trying to be a new her.I also like seeing the dynamics between a mother and daughter.I have a daughter that age and many of the things she goes through with her daughter I’ve experienced.

  5. Kat at 4:52 pm

    I’m hope Living Lazada is next. I’m really sick of the the daughter.

  6. PAT at 8:38 pm

    This is/was one of the most decent shows they had on tv. Any thing that is good an entertaining gets cancelled. The network should be ashamed of themselves.Bring it back.

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