Pepe Le Pew is the latest to face "cancel culture", with the French striped skunk set not to appear in Space Jam: A New Legacy, which will be released on July 16.
The animated character was seen in the original 1996 film Space Jam, starring Michael Jordan. However, it has been revealed by Deadline that a hybrid live-action animated scene between Jane the Virgin actress Greice Santo and Pepe Le Pew, which was shot in June 2019 for the sequel, will no longer make it into the film.
This comes after The New York Times columnist Charles M Blow criticised the cartoon character, saying that he "added to rape culture".
Pepe Le Pew was first introduced in 1945 as part of the Warner Bros' Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. The suave skunk is on a never-ending quest for love, however, he is often depicted as aggressively going after woman, including characters Penelope Pussycat and Lola Bunny.
Deadline reports that the decision to cut the character from the new film has nothing to do with Blow's recent remarks and that Santo, who is an outspoken critic and victim of sexual harassment, was upset by the omission.
This is because of the content of the scene that was cut, in which Pepe, who plays a bartender, starts flirting with a woman (Santo) and kissing her arm. She pulls back, causing Pepe to fall into a chair, as she pours her drink on him and slaps him.
LeBron James also features in the scene, making a remark that Pepe, who has just revealed Penelope has filed a restraining order against him, can't grab other Looney Tunes characters without their consent.
RW blogs are mad bc I said Pepe Le Pew added to rape culture. Let’s see.
— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) March 6, 2021
1. He grabs/kisses a girl/stranger, repeatedly, w/o consent and against her will.
2. She struggles mightily to get away from him, but he won’t release her
3. He locks a door to prevent her from escaping. pic.twitter.com/CbLCldLwvR
"This was such a big deal for Greice to be in this movie," a representative for Santo told the industry publication. "Even though Pepe is a cartoon character, if anyone was going to slap a sexual harasser like him, Greice wished it would be her. Now the scene is cut, and she doesn't have that power to influence the world through younger generations who'll be watching Space Jam 2, to let younger girls and younger boys know that Pepe's behaviour is unacceptable."
Linda Jones, 83, whose father, Chuck Jones, created and originally animated Pepe, told TMZ she strongly disagrees with the idea that the skunk contributed to rape culture.
"There's a difference between the decision to identify these cartoons as not being appropriate now, and that they contributed to the rape culture then," she later clarified with Entertainment Weekly.
She did, however, add that she understands why he's been scrapped from the Space Jam film, although hopes he can be brought back in another form at some other time.
"The essence of the character might be carried into something that's more acceptable now."
The character is not slated for any future Warner Bros television projects as of now, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
