The most famous cartoon skunk in the world appears to be the ultimate victim of the culture of cancellation.
The Hollywood Reporter reported on Monday that Looney Tunes icon Pepé Le Pew “does not appear on any current Warner Bros. TV projects and there are no current plans” for the character’s return.
THR also reported that Le Pew will also not appear in LeBron James’ next film “Space Jam 2”, the sequel to the 1990s Looney Tunes starring Michael Jordan. Le Pew appeared alongside the Chicago Bulls legend in the first film.
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According to the report, the decision to snub the famous skunk was taken “more than a year ago”.
Deadline also reported that a scene with Le Pew and actress Greice Santo was shot in June 2019, but was “left on the editing room floor”.
Last week, amid the turmoil over the cancellation of six Dr. Seuss books by racist imagery, New York Times columnist Charles Blow took aim at Le Pew, which he said “normalized rape culture”, as well as colleague Looney Tune Speedy Gonzales “. Whose friends helped to popularize the corrosive stereotype of drunken and lethargic Mexicans.”
Blow doubled in his attack on the beloved skunk on Twitter.
“RW blogs are crazy because I said that Pepe Le Pew added to the rape culture. Let’s see. 1. He grabs / kisses a girl / stranger, repeatedly, without consent and against her will. 2. She struggles hard to free him, but he won’t let go 3. He locks a door to prevent it from escaping, “Blow wrote on Saturday, while sharing a montage Pepé Le Pew.
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He continued: “It helped to teach the boys that ‘no’ didn’t really mean no, that it was part of the ‘game’, the starting line of a power struggle. It taught that overcoming the strenuous, even physical, objections of a woman was normal, adorable, funny. They didn’t even give women the ability to SPEAK. “
Critics criticized Blow’s assessment of Le Pew.
“Unbelievable how this interpretation is malevolent and not very charitable. Of course Pepé the Pew is disgusting, it is the main point of this character and this cartoon!” artist Tim Soret exclaimed. “First of all, Looney Tunes characters are obviously not designed as role models. They behave in the most insane, stupid, obsessive and reprehensible way. Their imperfect nature is why it is morally acceptable and so regressively funny to see them fail. miserably over and over. Pepé the Pew is a skunk: he literally stinks. They failed to project a more obvious sign … Their lack of awareness of their own smell * mirrors * their forgetfulness of their own petulant attitude. “
Soret continued: “He is too absorbed in his act of seduction to realize that he is mistaking a cat for a skunk (the ink always falls on her back in absurd ways, which is the joke on the show).”
“If Charles Blow hadn’t spent his time obsessively looking for children’s drawings to cancel, he wouldn’t have been ashamed of himself. Just because he doesn’t understand the characters and their messages, it doesn’t mean that the kids have the same problem,” reacted conservative writer AG Hamilton.
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“Pepe LePew was a pervert for rape and it was bad, we understand that. Literally, everyone who watched this cartoon understood that Speedy Gonzales was not a pervert for rape, he was funny, fast and the good guy. The conclusion is Charles Blow, who writes a NY TIMES column has never seen Looney Tunes, “concluded conservative commentator Stephen Miller.
Comedian Gabriel Iglesias, who voiced Speedy Gonzales in “Space Jam 2”, defended his own cartoon character amid renewed scrutiny.
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“I’m the voice of Speedy Gonzales on the new Space Jam. Does that mean they’ll try to cancel Fluffy too? You can’t catch me canceling culture. I’m the fastest mouse in all of Mexico,” tweeted Iglesias on Saturday.