Canadian actor and producer of Emmy-award winning sitcom Schitt’s Creek, Dan Levy has slammed Comedy Central India on Wednesday for removing a clip of a kiss between two male characters of the show. The actor-writer also mentioned how censoring gay intimacy.
“You showed the kiss between two women, you showed the kiss between a woman and a man, then removed the kiss between two men? This is a show about the power of inclusivity. The censorship of gay intimacy is making a harmful statement against that message. #loveislove”, Levy posted on Twitter.
I thought I made this pretty clear but for those who are confused, this is about a channel in India. @ComedyCentral in America is not censoring the show. They have been lovely and respectful. Thank you for your time. ✌
— dan levy (@danjlevy) October 6, 2020
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The clip which the Canadian artists points out shows some the characters playing the game, ‘spin the bottle’ at a party. Stevie (Emily Hampshire) can be seen kissing Alexis (Annie Murphy) and another character Annie kisses Ted (Dustin Milligan). Interestingly, Comedy Central India cuts out the shot where Ted is kissing David (Dan Levy).
Dan’s comment has triggered Twitterati who have been posting the censored kissing scene in support of the actor cum producer of the show as many have stated that removing gay content goes against what Schitt’s Creek stands for.
I watch all the shows like friends, B99 and schitt’s Creek on comedy central India. So, it’s okay when Chandler & Monica, Jake & Amy are kissing but when its two men Kissing…. Woah, we got a problem.
THIS IS WHY I SHIFTED TO OTT PLATFORMS https://t.co/d37ZPBFira
— Wɾeɳ⁷ •°~ (@iamOt7) October 7, 2020
cutting the m/m kisses like this might not seem like the biggest deal (oh the original still exists just watch it on Netflix or something!) but it’s indicative of the homophobia still deeply pervasive in desi culture and it’s something that affects my life every single day- https://t.co/Y7zHGCD1mZ
— R (@davidrosesskirt) September 23, 2020
Hey @ComedyCentralIn don’t remove anything from this beautiful show that Dan created to be free from homophobia! Removing this kiss goes directly against the message of the show! pic.twitter.com/AnYW9ws7ID
— Jula (@Jula_Verne) October 6, 2020
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Schitt’s Creek is a critically acclaimed sitcom which ran on CBC and Pop TV between 2015 to 2020. It has also set a record for winning the most number of Emmy awards in a single season in the comedy series segment. It also won the GLAAD Media Award for its representation of the LGBTQ+ community