Netflix has canceled several “woke” shows just days after warning employees that their far-left ideologies are no longer welcome at the streaming platform.
According to a new report from Variety, Netflix is canceling multiple “woke” shows for “creative reasons.”
Among the projects to be scrapped are Ava DuVernay’s “Antiracist Baby” with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, an animated adaptation of the critical race theory author’s book, and the documentary, “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You.”
Another project by DuVernay, called “Wings of Fire,” was also scrapped.
DuVernay co-created a Netflix series about Colin Kaepernick’s life and experiences where the former professional quarterback claimed being an NFL player was like being a slave.
According to The Blaze, “Kendi is an American author and critical race theory scholar who rose to national fame in recent years for his promulgation of anti-racist ideology derived from his book, ‘How to be an Antiracist.’”
The blog The Root was not happy, and rather than blame Netflix’s shocking loss of subscribers, for the cutbacks the authors said:
“At this point, there probably isn’t any explanation that can be given when it comes to Black, Brown, Indigenous, AAPI and LGBTQ+ folks losing their livelihoods — especially when most of them were recruited for their expertise, experience, and talents in the first place.
“Most of the immensely talented folks who had been let go were BIPOC and/or members of the LGBTQ+ community who worked under several of the streamer’s popular arms dedicated to highlighting and promoting diverse content,” The Root said.
From Variety:
Netflix announced in April 2021 that “Wings of Fire,” based on Tui T. Sutherland’s children’s books, would be adapted into an animated 10-episode series.
DuVernay was set to executive produce the show, a fantasy series about dragon tribes at war in a generations-long battle over a lost treasure.
A film version of “With Kind Regards From Kindergarten,” a darker children’s book about two young friends who drift as one of them loses his imagination, had not been publicly announced before the animated title was scrapped.
“Antiracist Baby,” based on antiracist scholar Dr. Ibram X. Kendi children’s book of the same name, was imagined as a series of animated vignettes set to music for preschoolers.
Kendi also wrote “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You,” which will no longer run in tandem with the adult-skewed “Stamped From the Beginning.”
Those three projects were being made to examine racism for audiences of all ages.
