HGTV has canceled long-running home renovation show Rehab Addict and fired host Nicole Curtis tonight, after video footage of Curtis using a slur—filmed, but not aired, as part of the eight-season reality show’s 2025 run of episodes—has begun circulating online. Even beyond that first-move response, the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned network has already gone scorched earth on the series, previously part of HGTV’s primetime line-up; the entire run of the series has been scrubbed from both HBO Max and Discovery+ within hours of the moment becoming public knowledge.
In the videos being passing around online, Curtis doesn’t direct her use of the n-word at a person, instead using it as a bizarre swear in the midst of a home renovation. (She also precedes it with the word “fart,” which even she seems surprised by.) In the footage, Curtis immediately realizes that she’s just been videotaped and recorded using a racial slur, asks someone behind the camera to “kill” the moment, and mutters a “Fuck my life” in the immediate aftermath.
Rehab Addict, based on Curtis’ career as a home renovator in the Detroit and Minneapolis areas, has been airing on HGTV since 2010, with a new season slated to begin airing tonight. The network issued a statement today, writing, per Deadline, “HGTV was recently made aware of an offensive racial comment made during the filming of Rehab Addict. Not only is language like this hurtful and disappointing to our viewers, partners, and employees—it does not align with the values of HGTV. Accordingly, we have removed the series from all HGTV platforms. We remain dedicated to fostering a culture of respect and inclusion across our content and our workplace.” Curtis herself has also issued a statement to TMZ, saying, “I want to be clear: the word in question is wrong and not part of my vocabulary and never has been, and I apologize to everyone.”