“This is a show about the power of inclusivity.”
Dan Levy has hit out at Comedy Central India for removing a kiss between two male characters on Schitt’s Creek.
The Twitter account for the channel shared a scene from the comedy’s fifth season, in which Ted (Dustin Milligan), Alexis (Annie Murphy), Stevie (Emily Hampshire), Patrick (Noah Reid) and Levy’s character David play a game of spin the bottle.
The scene shows the straight characters locking lips, with David and Ted’s kiss being cut.
Levy, who also created the series alongside his father and co-star Eugene Levy, criticised the blatantly homophobic edit, tweeting: “You showed the kiss between two women, you showed the kiss between a woman and a man, then removed the kiss between two men?”
He added: “This is a show about the power of inclusivity. The censorship of gay intimacy is making a harmful statement against that message.”
The star later clarified: “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.”
This isn’t the first time a television network has censored LGBTQ+ content from the series. Earlier this year, 4Music trimmed down scenes between David and Patrick and a same-sex kiss between David and a character called Jake (Steve Lund).
“We do often edit shows for different time slots and David’s kiss with Jake was inadvertently lost from the episode that we played,” 4Music responded in a Twitter statement. “This will be sorted for all future broadcasts of this episode.”
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 https://t.co/3ouNbuetq1
— dan levy (@danjlevy) October 6, 2020
Last month, Schitt’s Creek made history at the 2020 Emmy Awards when it swept all seven major categories – the first time for a comedy or a drama series.
It won Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Directing (all for Dan Levy), as well as Lead Actor (Eugene Levy), Lead Actress (Catherine O’Hara), Supporting Actor (Dan Levy) and Supporting Actress (Annie Murphy).
The beloved Canadian sitcom also set a record for most Emmy wins by a comedy series in a single season.
All six seasons of Schitt’s Creek are available to stream right now on Netflix.
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