The controversial Looney Tunes skunk cartoon character was scrubbed from the LeBron James starrer more than a year ago.
The LeBron James-fronted animated/live-action-combo sequel to 1996’s Space Jam, that starred Michael Jordan, will not see the return of the love-obsessed French skunk, known for his incessant pursuit of fellow Looney Tunes character Penelope Pussycat.
According to multiple outlets, including Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter, Pepé Le Pew was scrapped from the film after initially being written into the storyline over a year ago. Deadline reports that a scene between the skunk and Jane the Virgin’s Greice Santo didn’t make it into the final cut of the film.
News of the character’s absence from the Warner Bros. film broke Sunday evening, days after a New York Times opinion piece called out the character, among other problematic cartoon characters, in the wake of Dr. Seuss Enterprises announcing it would stop publishing six books because of racist and insensitive imagery.
In the Times opinion piece, Charles M. Blow said Pepé Le Pew “normalized rape culture.”
After sharing a clip featuring Pepé Le Pew and Penelope Pussycat from an old Looney Tunes cartoon, Blow wrote on Twitter Friday that he believes the images “helped teach boys that ‘no’ didn’t really mean no, that it was a part of ‘the game,’ the starting line of a power struggle.”
“It taught overcoming a woman’s strenuous, even physical objections, was normal, adorable, funny. They didn’t even give the woman the ability to SPEAK,” he added.
Warner Bros. has not commented publicly on the reasoning behind Pepé Le Pew’s reported absence from the film.
The character was featured in Space Jam, which starred NBA living legend Michael Jordan. It is unclear if the cartoon character will be retired completely.
