The aggressively horny French skunk Pepe Le Pew will not be a part of the upcoming “Space Jam: A New Legacy” when it arrives in cinemas and on HBO Max on July 16th.
Le Pew starred in the first film back in 1996 but in recent days has found himself besieged by controversy following a New York Times piece claiming the character has added to rape culture.
Deadline reports that a hybrid live-action animation scene between actress Greice Santo (“Jane the Virgin”) and Pepe Le Pew was shot back in June 2019 by the movie’s first director Terence Nance.
Malcolm D. Lee took over the helm during production and reportedly ditched the scene, editing it out of the film last year and long before the current controversy surrounding the character emerged.
In fact, it was long enough ago that the animation elements of the scene reportedly weren’t even done. Details however of the scene have emerged in which Pepe plays a bartender in a “black-and-white Casablanca-like Rick’s Cafe sequence”.
During this he starts kissing Santo’s arm – she slams him into the chair next to hers, pours her drink on him, and slaps him hard so he goes spinning round-and-round on a stool which LeBron James stops as he requires information from Pepe.
Pepe reveals Penelope the Cat has filed a restraining order against him and James tells off Pepe, saying he “can’t grab other Tunes without their consent”.
Actress-singer Santo was reportedly upset about the edit as she has spoken out against sexual harassment in the past and reportedly took joy in filming the scene and seeing the skunk finally get his comeuppance.
Warner Brothers has encountered problems before in recent years over Looney Tunes’ politically incorrect characters – such as the whole Elmer Fudd promoting gun violence issue last June.
The new film also includes the return of Lola Bunny who this time is far less sexualized. Lee tells EW that: “We reworked a lot of things, not only her look, like making sure she had an appropriate length on her shorts and was feminine without being objectified, but gave her a real voice. For us, it was, let’s ground her athletic prowess, her leadership skills, and make her as full a character as the others.”
James, Ryan Coogler, Duncan Henderson, and Maverick Carter produce the film.
