At least nine staff members at Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s production company, Westbrook, Inc., tested positive for COVID-19 last week.
The outbreak was recorded on L.A. County’s public health website, listing nine staff members with laboratory-confirmed cases at Westbrook, Inc., located at 24151 Ventura Blvd #200, in Calabasas, California.
Reps for Westbrook, Inc. did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment on Friday, but told Variety that 10 staff members in all had tested positive last week and have all since been retested and found to be negative. In response to a request for clarification about the disparity in the number of cases, a rep for the Department of Public Health confirmed that they are aware of nine cases, and that “other details are still in process.”
Westbrook also told Variety that the company is cooperating with an investigation from the county’s public health department and that all the infected employees had been working on the same unidentified project, which has been halted while other projects have continued. The company insisted that it has followed federal, state and local guidelines for its productions, including Los Angeles County’s “Appendix J,” which details reopening protocol for music, film and television productions.
“We received 10 positive tests and the crew members quarantined and remain in quarantine,” the company told Variety. “All 10 people were retested and have received negative results. We will continue to follow all official guidelines and safety protocols.”
During the lockdown period, both Smith and Pinkett Smith have each continued to make their own shows — the remote Snapchat show “Will From Home” and “Red Table Talk.”
Westbrook, Inc. was founded in 2019 by Smith, Pinkett Smith, Miguel Melendez, Kosaku Yada and Tera Hanks.