ABC is over the whole NFL football kneeling debate. The network cancelled a completed episode of ‘Black-ish’ that dealt with the National Anthem kneeling controversy.
Variety.com explains that ABC cancelled the episode over “creative differences” with the show’s black writer Kenya Barris, a 43-year-old “woke” father-of-6.
“One of the things that has always made ‘Black-ish’ so special is how it deftly examines delicate social issues in a way that simultaneously entertains and educates,” an ABC spokesperson told Variety on Friday. “However, on this episode there were creative differences we were unable to resolve.”
The show’s writers had Junior (Marcus Scribner), eldest son of Dre (Anthony Anderson) and Bow (Tracee Ellis Ross) arguing and defying his parents over the NFL debate.
But ABC decided the viewing public was tired of being bashed over the head with politics. Besides that, ABC has a financial interest in the NFL that is losing millions of viewers.
Barris echoed ABC’s sentiment. “Given our creative differences, neither ABC nor I were happy with the direction of the episode and mutually agreed not to air it,” he said in a statement to the New York Times.
Media outlets that viewed the episode detailed one scene where Junior and Dre argue over NFL players protesting during “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
For The Win pointed out ABC’s connection to the NFL through ESPN, which are both owned by Disney, the studio that released ‘Black Panther’ last month.
“[S]o it makes sense that Disney… would want to avoid a divisive conversation regarding a product it has poured a lot of money into over the years.”
