I had no idea that Shahs of Sunset had been airing for so long, but apparently it’s been on for the entirety of my adult life. The Bravo (what else) reality series followed a group of wealthy Persian/Iranian Americans living in LA. So, very similar to the rest of Bravo’s programming in that regard. The show was just canceled after nine seasons. Coincidentally, this cancellation comes just after one of the cast members was arrested for felony domestic violence.
“Shahs of Sunset” will not be returning to Bravo, an individual with knowledge confirmed to TheWrap.
Season 9 of the reality series, about a group of Iranian American friends in Los Angeles, wrapped in August 2021.
The cancellation comes after Monday’s report that original series star Mike Shouhed was arrested and booked by LAPD on March 27 on a felony charge of “intimate partner violence with injury.” Shouhed paid a $50,000 bond and was released and is due back in court on July 25, People reports.
His attorney Alex Kessel denied the allegations, saying in a statement, “At this time, the only comment I can make with confidence is my client in no way committed any act of domestic violence and the truth will prevail.”
Shouhed announced his engagement to Paulina Ben-Cohen shortly after the Season 9 finale. It’s not known if she was involved in the alleged domestic violence incident.
TMZ first reported news of the cancellation.
[From The Wrap via Yahoo Entertainment]
I actually do think the timing was just a coincidence. The cancellation happened too quickly for it to be directly related to the arrest and Bravo is no stranger to problematic stars. Even their racism-related firings in 2020 were a reaction to the current climate and not to the actual actions of the ousted offenders. I didn’t really get into Shahs of Sunset because the name made me worry it would be problematic/stereotypical. But early criticisms of the show were not about the stereotypes I expected, people thought that it made the Tehrangeles community of Iranian-Americans look tacky and materialistic. Again, similar to the rest of Bravo’s programming.
I spoke to a Bravo expert who told me the show became depressing in recent years, but thought the cancellation was an unexpected and unfortunate move. Unexpected because the show was very popular in its prime and unfortunate because it was one in only a handful of diverse casts on the network. In addition to featuring a group that’s underrepresented in American media, the cast also was diverse in terms of religion and sexuality. Canceling this show may be a strategic move, and I wonder what they’ll replace it with. But the “reckoning” that Bravo alluded to in 2020 never quite materialized.
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