The Tampa Sale is canceled, the cast blame racism for the decision

“The Tampa Sale” will not be extended for a second season – and some cast believe racial discrimination played a role in the decision, only Page Six found out.

“When they show us [black women] in a different light – when we argue, fight and challenge – they get season 2 and season 3, but that’s not what we showed, ”cast member Juawana Colbert tells us.

“I feel we didn’t get a second chance, probably because of what we represented as minority women.”

Selling Tampa premiered on Netflix in December 2021. The cast consisted entirely of women of color: Colbert, Colony Reeves, Anne-Sophie Petit, Tennille Moore, Karla Giorgo, Rena Frazier, Alexis Williams, and Sharelle Rosado, who is the lead broker of Allure Realty, the company around which the program focuses.

We were told that all the ladies had been wondering for almost a year if the show would be picked up for season two, and the source said they got a “run-around”.

An insider who asked not to be named tells Page Six that the cast received “hundreds” of DMs “a day” from fans asking about the new season but didn’t know what to say.

Then, just last week, we learn that Adam DiVello, creator of the series “Selling,” which also includes “Selling Sunset” and “Selling the OC,” and producer Skyler Wakil asked the cast to jump on a Zoom interview where they broke the news .

Adam specifically said [the decision] he was linked to numbers but never gave any additional information, ”says 41-year-old Colbert. “I don’t know if he was talking about rating numbers or budget numbers. He just said the numbers.

The source reiterates that the cast wasn’t given much explanation, and instead was told to tell questioning fans: “There are currently no plans for more” Tampa Sales, “but thankfully season one is still on Netflix for fans to reopen. see or discover ”.

“We know it [‘Selling Tampa’] he was number 1 in many countries and he did quite well, ”adds the initiate. “Of course, this won’t be Season 5 of Selling Sunset… It’s just weird. Suddenly, this all-black cast doesn’t even have a shot at Season 2. ”

According to the Orlando SentinelTampa was number 1 in the US on Netflix within 24 hours of its release.

Colbert tells Page Six that since the number excuses don’t seem to add up, the cast is convinced that they are being held up to unfair standards or ratings expectations.

“When it comes to the minority program of all members of the minority cast, we will naturally have lower numbers because we are the minority in number [of the population] overall, ”explains the real estate agent.

Colbert adds that there were several other problems that arose while filming the Netflix show, and that their producers were “out of touch” with how to film with an all-black cast.

He says producers expected the women to prepare within the hour for religious interviews, which many of the cast have expressed unwise.

“With our extensions or the types of extensions that women of color usually have to have, we don’t work within the same timeframe,” Colbert tells us. “This is not an ordinary wash. Women who are minorities, it’s not that simple. Overall, our hair lasts longer. “

The businesswoman says her co-stars spoke to the production, and while their comments were not “received negatively,” little has changed since then.

“I don’t remember it being like,“ OK, we get it. We will make a conscious effort to do something different, ”says Colbert. “It was almost as if it hadn’t been said.”

She adds, “Anyone who has had on the ground is a little out of touch with a cast of women from an entire minority,” and notes that not all production was white, but those who “controlled” important decisions were.

Meanwhile, the insider claims that DiVello never visited the cast of “Selling Tampa” on set – as he reportedly did with both of his other hits.

“[The cast] I met Adam only a month or two after the premiere, the source said. “Adam is on set with all the other shows except this one. It’s true that there was COVID, so I’m sure that’s an excuse. “

Colbert also notes that there was a problem from the beginning of marketing their program.

In first teaser “Sale of Tampa”Sunset Sales chief Jason Oppenheim stands in front of his mostly white cast and hands over a set of Rosado keys, 35, and its all-black cast.

“I think all the white cast members of Sunset Sales, handing over a key of black cast members in Tampa, have kind of exposed us to misinterpretations and comparisons and, frankly, to a competition,” says Colbert. “I think we were a bit at a disadvantage right from the start.”

Following the premiere of Selling Tampa, radio presenter DJ Envy publicly criticized the show for not having as much sales as its predecessor.

“The 1st exhibition did not sell houses … NONE !!! A bit embarrassing. The second program sells houses. Hmmm …. “The host of the” Breakfast Club ” wrote on Instagram in January.

Colbert says about the discrepancy: “For some reason, they chose to edit the way they wanted, but we’re all active, we’re all busy, we all have high-end houses that have sold, and we’ve got some that aren’t high-end houses. which have sold.

“We are all active agents. When we were filming, deals were made, but now that’s how it was put together. “

We were told that after “Sell Tampa” got the ax, the producers were considering a spinoff in Miami. Additionally, the pilot was filmed with Latin and black men and women but was not picked up.

“They refused for some reason. Why will they say yes? Do they have to have four black cast members who are basically different? [‘Selling Sunset’ star] Christine Quinn? For example, what is happening?

The source adds that Netflix allegedly wants “model-like people” who are “wealthy”, “young” and “fit” for the new show they are said to be working on.

Criticism about the fall of “Selling Tampa” comes in the same way as Lauren Speed ​​from other Netflix show “Love Is Blind” called her franchise on Twitter for allegedly “cutting out all black women” from the show.

Colbert points out why the lack of such a program on the global streaming service makes it difficult to break stereotypes about black women.

She says: “Not being able to see women who look like us in a professional setting, where they have a career, in an environment where we can argue but not throw glasses or punch… that’s not fair.”

Netflix and a DiVello rep did not immediately respond to Page Six’s requests for comment.

However, a source close to production says Page Six: “This decision was made purely on the basis of performance, and we hope to reach the different cast members in future projects.”