‘black-ish’ creator Kenya Barris to leave ABC Studios

Kenya Barris, the creator of “black-ish,” is saying goodbye-ish to his home at ABC Studios, with speculation that he is the next high-profile TV producer making the jump to Netflix.

Barris originally had three years remaining in his deal with the alphabet network’s production arm. The end date has now been accelerated to August.

Recent reports have suggested that Barris, following prolific producers Ryan Murphy and Shonda Rhimes, was in talks to make the jump to Netflix. The streaming service had no comment on the matter.

In a statement, Barris thanked ABC Studios president Patrick Moran and his team, saying they “have supported me every step of the way” in his creation of ABC’s “black-ish,” its spin-off “grown-ish,” and the upcoming comedy “Besties.” The latter two are series for Freeform, the sister cable network of ABC.

“It has been an incredible ride including a Peabody and Golden Globe win, Emmy nominations, and many other accolades,” Barris added. “But most importantly, they’ve allowed me to realize my dream of creating my own shows and I’m so proud of the work we’ve done together. No matter what, the studio has never wavered in their support of my creative vision. Leaving is bittersweet, but between my series on the air and projects currently in development, I know I’ll continue to work with ABC Studios for a long time.”

Barris will remain an executive producer on all of his ABC Studios shows. Jonathan Groff and Kenny Smith will serve as co-showrunners of “black-ish,” and Julie Bean will continue to run “grown-ish.”

Barris is one of the biggest comedy producers on ABC’s roster, but it wasn’t always smooth sailing. The network pulled an episode of a “black-ish” episode, written by Barris, “Please, Baby, Please,” which touched on the hot topic of athletes taking a knee during the national anthem.

“Given our creative differences, neither ABC nor I were happy with the direction of the episode and mutually agreed not to air it,” Barris said at the time.

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