Could Ali Wong Be the Next 'American Housewife' to Leave the Show?

Maybe it's just me, but if you haven't seen comedy legend Ali Wong in Always Be My Maybe at least twice, you're definitely missing out. Actress and star of her own comedy specials such as Ali Wong: Hard Knock Wife and Ali Wong: Baby Cobra as well as Tuca & Bertie, she has a long history of versatility and laughter. But following accusations of discrimination on the American Housewife set, fans are curious to know: Is Ali leaving the show? 

If you're unfamiliar with American Housewife, here's the premise: the story follows wife and mother Katie Otto as she tries to navigate parental and social ups-and-downs in the middle of wealthy Westport, Conn. Compared to the other residents, the Otto family lives rather modestly, and Katie frequently vents over "second breakfast" to her best friends Doris (Ali Wong) and Angela (Carly Hughes). 

The largest controversy facing the show surfaced in November 2020, when actress Carly Hughes alleged the set was a "toxic environment" and that she made the decision, "to protect myself from that type of discrimination. As a Black woman in entertainment, I feel the responsibility to stand up for what I deserve, what we all deserve — to be treated equally." Carly is one of two non-white actors in the cast of American Housewives, with the other being Ali. 

In light of Carly's allegations, ABC Productions quickly worked to investigate, and made significant changes to the production team and showrunners. Following the probe, American Housewife creator Sarah Dunn is no longer an active producer on the show, Mark J. Greenberg stepped down as line producer, and showrunners Rick Wiener and Kenny Schwartz underwent sensitivity training.

Carly was credited as a main cast member for the first episode of the fifth season of American Housewife, and took her leave after. Surprisingly, Ali did not comment on these allegations at the time, nor has she since. In fact, Ali's social media has been pretty sparse since the summer, with the occasional post a month to her Instagram and no posts to Twitter since June. Perhaps it's the pandemic-induced slump most people are feeling regarding social media.

While she has been quite busy with writing a book, voice acting, and making cameos in some pretty well-known films (Birds of Prey, anyone?) hopefully her lack of comment indicates that Ali is comfortable with the changes that were made by ABC Productions to root out the problem and provide a better, less toxic work environment moving forward.

The fifth season of American Housewife is currently airing, and Holly Robinson Peete is rumored to be filling Carly's role as new-old friend Tami who has just moved to town. Fans of the show and Ali Wong will just have to wait and see if she decides to leave, but so far, it appears that all is right. American Housewife airs on Wednesdays on ABC at 8:30 p.m. EST.