‘Black-ish’ Creator Kenya Barris: I Left Disney for Netflix Over Shelved Anti-Trump Episode

ABC’s decision to not air “Black-ish’s” so-called anti-Trump episode in February was the final straw for the show’s creator Kenya Barris, who left his ABC Studios deal well before it’s expiration to move over to Netflix.

“I don’t know that I would have been as useful to them as they’d need me to be after that,” Barris told The Hollywood Reporter in a lengthy interview. Barris also detailed exactly what happened with the planned Feb. 27 episode, titled “Please, Baby, Please.”

In the episode, Barris told THR, Anthony Anderson’s Dre was telling his son, Devante, a bedtime story, about the past year (and first year) of Devante’s life. It was to be a mix of animation and live-action, real-world footage news footage of Trump, The Charlottesville attacks and NFL players kneeling during the National Anthem, according to THR. The episode would’ve also reportedly featured a voiceover from Spike Lee.

“I know there was some concern about partisanship,” Barris said, “and the way the episode was angled and the balance in terms of some of the stories. On network TV, one of the things I’ve learned is that you have to talk about things from both sides.” Barris told THR that even Disney CEO Bob Iger called him about the episode to discuss the political realities of being a broadcast network in 2018.

But after it was shelved just days before its scheduled airdate — they attempted to re-cut the episode but the amount of anti-Trump material made that impossible, he told THR — Barris said he began to try to get out of his contract with ABC Studios, despite just re-signing. He also had some harsh words for Disney-ABC Television Group president Ben Sherwood:

“The way that [Ben] chose to deal with me in this particular episode, I felt a way about it and I still do. He’d make it seem like it was an open environment but really it wasn’t, and those are things I see very clearly. Everyone wants to say it’s open arms, but just tell me it’s not and I’ll respect you more.”

HE LEFT DISNEY TO GO TO NETFLIX BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE THE TRAITORS ARE

Reddit bans communities promoting QAnon conspiracy theory

They'd repeatedly violated content policies.

https://www.engadget.com/2018/09/12/reddit-bans-qanon-communities/?yptr=yahoo

Reddit's tougher policies just led to more community bans, albeit not for typical reasons. The site has confirmed to Slate that it shut down subreddits associated with the QAnon conspiracy theory, including GreatAwakening, QProofs and thestorm, among others. While the company didn't say exactly what had prompted the bans, it noted that its rules bar activity that "incites violence, disseminates personal information, or harasses." It had banned a related board in March, but it hadn't conducted such a sweeping response until now.

The theory revolves around a cult-like devotion to Q, an anonymous 4chan poster who has posted cryptic messages claiming Special Counsel lead Robert Mueller is really working on behalf of Donald Trump to expose a conspiracy inside the Democratic Party. Despite a lack of tangible evidence or even clues as to Q's origins, the group has amassed thousands of followers, some of whom have made a point of demonstrating at Trump rallies. They're both completely convinced the theory is real and willing to go to significant lengths to defend it – it's easy to see how that could lead to harassment or other policy violations.

This probably won't stop QAnon's most loyal supporters, who could head to Facebook and other social networks. They won't always have the anonymity that Reddit affords, though, and that could lead to some of them going quiet worried that friends and family will ostracize them. This certainly isn't the first time Reddit has cracked down on multiple subreddits. It's certainly one of the more unusual, however, and it may have a tangible effect when many of QAnon's members can't congregate in person.