Variety reports that CNN’s opted not to produce another season of Reza Aslan’s Believer, issuing a statement wishing the host and religious scholar all the best. The cable-news network provided Aslan, author of Zealot: The Life And Times Of Jesus Of Nazareth, a platform for just one season of his “spiritual adventure series.” And while this may just be the way the programming cookie crumbles, the decision comes just one week after Aslan posted some anti-Trump tweets on his personal Twitter account. CNN didn’t acknowledge the tweets, including one in which Aslan called the president a “piece of shit,” in its statement. And neither did Aslan in his own statement—at least, not directly.
Aslan recognizes that the unbiased nature of a news outlet like CNN prevents the cable network from hosting his show, but he’s also not about to start making bland, impartial statements either. He describes himself as “a social commentator and scholar,” not a “journalist”; to that end, he’s looking for a more suitable producing partner.