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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - An NBC Universal executive testified by video deposition today that the second season of ``Rob & Chyna'' did not go forward because the relationship between its stars, Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna, had reached a ``sad place.''
NBC is the parent company of the E! cable network. Frances Berwick worked on the costs for a possible second season of ``Rob & Chyna,'' which aired for six episodes in 2016 and obtained ratings higher than the show from which it was spun off, ``Keeping Up With the Kardashians.''
Kardashian's mother, Kris Jenner, 66, is a defendant along with three of Rob Kardashian's siblings -- Kim Kardashian, 41, Khloe Kardashian, 37, and Kylie Jenner, 24 -- in the trial in Los Angeles Superior Court. Kim and Kylie were not present in court Thursday.
Chyna's complaint alleges the quartet lied when telling E! network executives that Chyna assaulted Rob Kardashian, now 34, because they wanted the network to cancel a second season of ``Rob & Chyna,'' which dealt with the ups and downs of the formerly engaged couple and had already begun filming before the plug was indeed pulled.
Chyna maintains their relationship ended in the summer of 2017, but the defendants say Chyna acknowledged in a written declaration that the two split in December 2016,
Asked by Chyna's attorney, Lynne Ciani, why NBC issued a news release stating that there would be a second season of ``Rob & Chyna,'' Berwick said,
``The press release was an indication of what we were hoping to do. With the benefit of hindsight, it was inaccurate.''
Berwick also said it would have been a blow to E! if ``Keeping Up With the Kardashians'' was pulled from the network lineup, as Chyna has alleged the defendants threatened to do if ``Rob & Chyna'' was granted a second season.
A celebration of the expected second season of the show between Chyna, now 33, and Rob Kardashian, now 34, turned into something quite different the night of Dec. 14, 2016, at the Hidden Hills home of Kylie Jenner, where Rob maintains his then-fiancee and mother of his daughter, Dream Renee, hit him with a six-foot rod, pulled a phone cord around his neck and twice pointed a gun at his head.
Berwick testified that given that the Rob-Chyna relationship had reached a ``sad place,'' E! executives did not believe the former couple a ``good fit'' and that they would not provide the ``frothy and escapist'' content the network preferred for its shows.