‘Judge Mathis’ Canceled After 20 Years, Now Taking “Judge Business” To Black Studio

Judge Greg Mathis has announced this week that his longstanding daytime court show, Judge Mathis, has been canceled by Warner Brothers. Along with The People’s Court, the 20-year-old law-entertainment series has been dropped due to the network “getting out of the judge show business.”

“Hey folks, I’m sure by now you know that Warner Brothers is getting out of the judge show business — canceling me and People’s Court — but the good news is, the other studios aren’t getting out of the judge show business. And as you can see with this robe still on, something might be happening real soon. And in fact if it does happen, its’ going to be — and it will — with a black studio this time.”

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He continued, “I want to be able to empower Black businessmen and Black studios so that they can hire more Black people and put more Black shows on the air, because the commitments we’ve received from corporate America and Hollywood have been rescinded for the most part. One of the studios dismissed all the people of color and hired white males to take their places, reportedly. Others are dropping shows as you see, when there’s this push for African-American images.

“Nonetheless, I’m happy to be able to announce to you that you’re still gonna have me around, perhaps for a judge show, perhaps for a judge show and a talk show on political issues, or perhaps just the talk show,” he added about his near-future plans. “We’ll have to wait and see, this week you’ll hear. But I wanna thank you more than anything for all the support you have given me. And your demonstration of so much love, based on the news we’ve received, has shown me how much our love is shared.”

The Judge Mathis show debuted in 1999 following Mathis serving on the bench in Michigan’s 36th District. He went on to make history as the longest-running Black male host on TV. The 62-year-old also won a Daytime Emmy in 2018 for Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program, which also made history for being the the first court show with a Black judge to win the award.

Throughout his journey on TV, Mathis has been very transparent about what motivated him to get into law and guiding others: his early dealings with gangs and run-ins with the law resulting in jail time. However, the beloved TV host has gone on to serve as a civil rights activist and serve as Chair for the Rainbow Push Coalition’s educational sector Push Excel.

Mathis has yet to announce his next big move, but tells his supporters to “stay tuned.” Take a look at his optimistic cancellation video above.

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