Queen Latifah Speaks Out After CBS Cancels The Equalizer Before Season Finale: ‘Don’t Worry — I’ll Be Back Kicking Ass’

“Having the opportunity to do this for five seasons honestly feels surreal,” Latifah reacted to the cancellation news

Queen Latifah.Credit : Karwai Tang/WireImage

Queen Latifah shared a message on Instagram after CBS announced ahead of The Equalizer’s season 5 finale on May 4 that the crime drama would not return for another season
The actress also teased in her message that fans would be seeing her “kicking ass in something new real soon”
It was announced that the show would end with its fifth season on Friday, May 2

Queen Latifah is reflecting on her time on The Equalizer.

The 55-year-old actress shared an Instagram post on Friday, May 2 — after CBS announced that the show would not return after its fifth season — just days before the season 5 finale on Sunday, May 4.

Latifah posted a photo of her character Robyn McCall holding up a gun with the words, “I’m the one you call when you can’t call 911.”

“Stepping into a kick-ass role like Robyn was everything I hoped it would be,” she wrote alongside the photo, while also thanking her producing partner Shakim Compere. “The Equalizer blew past every dream we had for it, and having the opportunity to do this for five seasons honestly feels surreal.”

Queen Latifah and Michael Worden in ‘The Equalizer’ in 2025.Michael Greenberg/CBS ©2025
Lorraine Toussaint Says Queen Latifah Bursts Out into Raps on The Equalizer Set and ‘Will Show Up with a Boom Box’ (Exclusive)
“Thank you to our amazing cast, crew, and producers and writers!,” she continued. “And I can’t say enough about the FANS!Y’all have been so loyal, so loud, and so ride-or-die—and that’s exactly why we keep doing this. We can’t thank you enough. It means the world to us.”

She concluded her post promising fans that they won’t be missing her from their screens for too long, saying, “don’t worry — I’ll be back kicking ass in something new real soon.” She noted that she couldn’t wait to “share it” with everyone soon.

CBS announced the cancellation of the show two days before the finale was set to air. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show’s ratings fell from an average of 7.89 million viewers down to about 6 million viewers after it moved to a later time slot on Sunday nights.

The show joins other CBS cancellations including S.W.A.T., FBI: International and FBI: Most Wanted as well as sitcoms The Neighborhood and Poppa’s House, per Glamour.

The Equalizer, which also stars Tory Kittles, Adam Goldberg, Liza Lapira, Laya DeLeon Hayes and Lorraine Toussaint, is the latest reimagining of the 1980s series of the same name. It was previously adapted into a movie with Denzel Washington in 2014, with a sequel following in 2018.
Meet the Real-Life Partners of The Equalizer Cast
The show premiered in 2021 and its stars — including Latifah, Hayes and Toussaint — became close over the course of filming. Toussaint told PEOPLE in February that she has built a “family” with the cast.

“This is season 5 of The Equalizer, we really are a family,” she gushed. “As close as we seem to be on the screen, we really are that close.”

“I love me some Queen and Baby Laya!” she added. “It’s really a good family, and we’re solid.”