'What would Hattie McDaniel think?' HBO chief says removing 'Gone with the Wind' was 'no brainer'
WarnerMedia chairman Bob Greenblatt says removing ‘Gone with the Wind’ from his company’s streaming service was a “no brainer,” despite the numerous protests against the decision.
“I don’t regret taking it down for a second,” Greenblatt told SiriusXM’s ‘The Jess Cagle Show’ on Friday about the decision to nix the classic movie from the freshly-launched HBO Max.
He assured those offended by the film, which takes place during the Civil War, that a “disclaimer” will be added to the movie to warn about its content.
“We’re going to bring it back with a proper context, and it’s what we should have done,” he said.
HBO previously acknowledged in a statement the decision to cut the film from their streaming programming was motivated by activists online slamming the movie as racist, especially in light of the ongoing protests across the nation over the death of George Floyd.
Also on rt.com HBO Max has pulled ‘Gone With the Wind’ from its service in order to fight racism and, frankly my dear, I DO give a damn!Greenblatt says the decision was a “no brainer,” but there have been numerous arguments made against the announcement, from the pulling of the move being an attack on culture to the woke response depriving people of personal choice.
Many have also protested the ‘Gone with the Wind’ cancellation not because of the film’s content, but because of its impact on black performers in Hollywood. ‘Wind’ contains the first performance by a black actor or actress to ever receive an Oscar nomination. Hattie McDaniel took home the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award in 1940 for her performance, an incredibly significant moment for black artists, something that has been pointed out to HBO numerous times on social media.
This is #HattieMcDaniel When we try and erase our past, these are the people that you are erasing @hbomax we would not have had progress without her. Her life and sacrifices matter. You don’t know what oppressed is! #truthpic.twitter.com/nKEVILDN5B
— Anonymom (@Anonymoms3040) June 12, 2020
If we’re getting rid of Gone With The Wind are we getting rid of Roots too?
— Lady Kate (@Wishful_wink) June 12, 2020
Wonder what Hattie McDaniel would think about the removal of Gone With the Wind. She did win an Oscar . #GoneWithTheWind it’s history folks #HistoryMatters
— Cindy Austermann (@CindyAustermann) June 12, 2020
Pundit Dave Rubin was one of many to announce the cancellation of his HBO Max account due to WarnerMedia’s censorship.
“This is art. I mean we’re going to have to go through all our music, all our movies, all our TV shows, and what we’ll be left with is you’ll have to sit in a room with nothing in it and keep quiet,” Rubin told Fox News.
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