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‘It Ain’t Happening’: Lee Daniels Says He Wasn’t Able To Get ‘Star’ On Another Network

It looked promising just a few days ago, but now it’s been revealed the Fox series “Star” wasn’t picked up by another network after it was canceled in early May.

Lee Daniels, the show’s co-creator, broke the news on Thursday after reports surfaced that he’d shopped the show to OWN, BET and Amazon.

“So I got some bad news,” he said on Instagram. “It ain’t happening. I tried my best, guys. You know, we got some incredible people. … But, in a nutshell, it ain’t happening. Just know that just like with ‘Precious,’ or ‘Empire,’ that first season, ‘The Butler,’ ‘Monster’s Ball,’ the next thing I do is going to be ‘Star.’

“So I exist and it will exist in all of my work,” added Lee. “I love you and the fans that have supported us.”

“Star” ā€” which debuted in December of 2016 ā€” followed the story of three young female singers trying to navigate through life’s drama as they sought fame and fortune.

The series starred Jude Demorest, Ryan Destiny and Brittany O’Grady, as well as Queen Latifah, and Sean “Diddy” Combs’ adopted son Quincy Brown. Some of the guest appearances included Missy Elliott, Lenny Kravitz, Teyana Taylor, Ben Vereen and Patti LaBelle.

The Fox drama, which followed “Empire,” was canceled on May 10 after three seasons, and in its last season it achieved an underwhelming
0.9 rating in the 18-49 demographic.

Daniels described the cast and crew as being “heartbroken” when they learned of the cancellation. And Fox’s Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier called the decision a “tough choice,” but the network wanted to focus on “Empire,” as it too will end after its next season.

The way it appears, Daniels was hopeful about the show being picked up to the very end, at least based on what he wrote on Instagram.

“Fighting guys! Will know this week… or top of next! šŸ’«šŸ’« Iā€™m NOT letting them STOP the CULTURE.. SORRY!!” he wrote Wednesday on Instagram.

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