Coronavirus outbreak at Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s company

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s production company has 10 employees test positive for COVID-19

  • The company is the ‘first significant transmission reported at a production company,’ according to Variety
  • They did not identify the production but said that work has been stopped on that project
  • Los Angeles County guidelines direct people to self-isolate for 10 days after testing positive
  • The 10 employees reportedly all received negative results just one day after testing positive the virus, calling testing methods into question
  • Representatives told Variety that the workers were not symptomatic
  • Westbrook Inc. was founded in 2019 and is behind projects like Facebook Watch’s Red Table Talk and the Snapchat series Will From Home 

Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s production company Westbrook Inc. is at the center of a COVID-19 outbreak.

Westbrook Inc. is the ‘first significant transmission reported at a production company’ after 10 employees tested positive for the virus, according to Variety.

The company helps Will and Jada create content like her hit Facebook Watch series Red Table Talk, his Snapchat show Will From Home, in addition to other television and film projects.

Outbreak: Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s production company has been hit with ten cases of COVID-19, according to Variety. The pair are seen in 2015 above

Westbrook Inc. said they had stopped production on one project in a statement to Variety but did not identify which particular show they were referring to.

Their other shows without infected workers will continue shooting, according to a representative.

The company said that it had been following federal, state and local guidelines for its productions, including ‘Appendix J,’ the Los Angeles county order that sets out strict requirements for film and TV production. 

On Wednesday a representative told Variety: ‘We received 10 positive tests and the crew members quarantined and remain in quarantine. All 10 people were retested and have received negative results. We will continue to follow all official guidelines and safety protocols.’

They said they are also working with a Department of Public Health investigation. California surpassed 600,000 individual cases this week, the most of any state.

Mixed results: The 10 employees reportedly all received negative results just one day after testing positive the virus, calling testing methods into question. Above an LA drive-in center is seen

Mixed results: The 10 employees reportedly all received negative results just one day after testing positive the virus, calling testing methods into question. Above an LA drive-in center is seen

Tabling things: The company helps Will and Jada create content like her hit Facebook Watch series Red Table Talk (above), his Snapchat show Will From Home, in addition to other television and film project.

Tabling things: The company helps Will and Jada create content like her hit Facebook Watch series Red Table Talk (above), his Snapchat show Will From Home, in addition to other television and film project.

There are now fears about the accuracy of the coronavirus tests being used after the 10 Westbrook Inc. employees tested negative so quickly after their positive results.

None of the workers have shown symptoms.

Westbrook Inc. has changed the firm responsible for conducting both the original and follow-up tests, Rapid Reliable Testing. 

Los Angeles County employee guidelines have directed people to self-isolate for 10 days after testing positive.

Anyone in ‘close contact’ with the positive individual is required to quarantine for 14 days. 

Numbers: California surpassed 600,000 individual cases this week, the most of any state. Pedestrians in Glendale, California are seen above

Numbers: California surpassed 600,000 individual cases this week, the most of any state. Pedestrians in Glendale, California are seen above

These ‘close contacts’ had self-quarantined, according to Westbrook Inc., which did not disclose how many people that would affect.

The outbreak was initially reported on the county public health website on Saturday, identifying the location as Westbrook’s offices in Calabasas.

A company rep said that the office has been closed throughout the pandemic and has not reopened, making it unclear if the workers were infected at that location or somewhere else related to the organization.

It was unclear it the Smiths would directly be affected by the production pause.

On hold:  It was unclear it the Smiths would directly be affected by the production pause. They are seen in October 2019 above

On hold:  It was unclear it the Smiths would directly be affected by the production pause. They are seen in October 2019 above

‘Will and Jada are both involved in active productions that are all following strict guidelines outlined by the CDC, California State and Los Angeles County,’ the company rep said.’

Interestingly, Will interviewed Dr. Anthony Fauci on his Snapchat quarantine show in April. Jada also focused an episode of her web series on the pandemic.

Smith and Pinkett Smith founded Westbrook Inc. in 2019 along with Miguel Melendez, Kosaku Yada and Tera Hanks.

They are the parent company of Westbrook Studios, which is currently developing a biopic about Serena and Venus Williams’ father Richard as well as a dramatic adaptation of Will’s 90s hit The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air.

Top doc: Interestingly, Will interviewed Dr. Anthony Fauci on his Snapchat quarantine show in April

Top doc: Interestingly, Will interviewed Dr. Anthony Fauci on his Snapchat quarantine show in April