Pepé Le Pew has been cut from new ‘Space Jam’ movie

Looney Tunes’ most famous hot-to-trot skunk, the French Casanova known as Pepé Le Pew, has been cut from Space Jam: A New Legacy. The film is a sequel to the 1996 hit movie Space Jam starring basketball legend Michael Jordan, which blended both animation and live-action scenes. The new film, starring LeBron James and set to drop on HBO Max on July 16, will contain no trace of Pepé, who was first introduced as a character in 1945.

You might remember Pepé Le Pew as a lovelorn lothario who pursued Penelope Pussycat with bewildering tenacity – a trait that doesn’t land well in today’s climate. The news comes mere days after a New York Times opinion columnist wrote that Pepé’s depiction added to rape culture. However, Warner Bros reportedly made the decision to cut Pepé over a year ago.

Deadline is reporting that Pepé was cut when the movie’s new director Malcolm D. Lee took over for Terence Nance in 2019, but the news comes on the heels of Charles M. Blow writing in the Times that Pepé Le Pew was a damaging character that made fun of sexual assault and promoted rape culture. Pepé Le Pew was a trending topic this weekend on Twitter as Blow made sure to follow up his column with specific harmful examples.

“RW blogs are mad bc I said Pepé Le Pew added to rape culture,” Blow tweeted over the weekend [it is assumed RW means “Right Wing”]. “Let’s see. 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.”

“This helped teach boys that ‘no’ didn’t really mean no,” he continued, “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.”

Many Twitter users agreed with Blow.

Blow’s column was originally on the topic of the Dr. Seuss franchise deciding to discontinue publishing certain children’s books that the company felt promoted harmful racial stereotypes, something that some conservative media pundits labelled as “fascism” and “cancel culture” at work. However, Dr. Seuss Enterprises released their own statement on the matter, saying, “These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong. Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises' catalog represents and supports all communities and families."

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Over the weekend, Last Week Tonight host John Oliver lambasted conservative media’s spin on the issue, saying, “A company deciding which of its own books it will or won't print is an example of free enterprise, not fascism.”

LeVar Burton, who is the long-time beloved host of Reading Rainbow, a show aimed at children’s literature and literacy, applauded the move, saying to CNN’s Anderson Cooper, “In the general sense, once you know better, it is incumbent on you to do better. And I think that is exactly what Seuss Enterprises is doing here. They are being a responsible steward of the brand."

As for Pepé, Deadline also reports that his scene was an exchange between him and Jane The Virgin star Greice Santo, where Pepé’s unwanted advances are met with a slap and a throwdown. It was also hinted in the cut scene that Penelope Pussycat filed a restraining order against him.

A spokesperson for Greice stated, “This was such a big deal for Greice to be in this movie. Even though Pepé 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,” the spokesperson continued, “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 Pepé's behavior is unacceptable."

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