Megyn Kelly has waded into a new round of controversy thanks to her hot take on HBO Max‘s decision to remove Gone With the Wind from its streaming library. Shortly after news broke that the new streaming service was pulling the film due to its depictions “of the ethnic and racial prejudices” amid global anti-racism protests, with a promise to restore the film to its library with a denouncement of those depictions and “with a discussion of its historical context,” Kelly slammed the decision in a lengthy Twitter rant.
Ok @hbomax – let’s do this – every episode of “Friends” needs to go right now. If not, you hate women (& LGBTQ ppl,
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) June 10, 2020
who also don’t fare well on “Friends”). Obviously Game of Thrones has to go right now. Anything by John Hughes … Woody Allen… could go on & on… & on…& on… https://t.co/dVXWssnFKF
In a series of tweets Wednesday morning, the former FOX News anchor and NBC News host criticized the streamer and asked if other services and networks were “going to pull all of the movies in which women are treated as sex objects too?” She went on to demand that Friends, Game of Thrones, and all titles hailing from John Hughes, Woody Allen, and others also be pulled from their respective streaming services. She ended her argument by stating that “you can loathe bad cops, racism, sexism, bias against the LGBTQ community, and not censor historical movies, books, music and art that don’t portray those groups perfectly.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
Kelly’s Twitter tirade came in response to HBO Max’s temporary removal of Gone With the Wind, the 1939 film that is based on a plantation outside Atlanta in the aftermath of the Civil War and has long been considered controversial due to its depiction of black people and its positive view of slavery. It also followed Paramount Network’s cancellation of Cops, news that the fate of A&E Network’s Live PD was hanging in limbo, and Netflix’s removal of Little Britain from its streaming library.
For many Twitter users, Kelly’s remarks missed the mark. Within minutes, the replies came flooding in, most people enraged with Kelly’s anger over what they viewed as the right move on HBO Max’s end. Keep scrolling to see what Twitter had to say.
Thanks Megyn for this example of how white privileged leads to people like you trivialising & dismissing the pain being triggered by objects, symbols, movies. Your words have influence & you should know better. You undermine the importance of both issues convoluting this way.
— Anthony Sork (@AnthonySork) June 10, 2020
You woke up extra Karen today Megyn
— Rachel (@Rachelhadenough) June 10, 2020
Also- take your own advise. Don’t like it, don’t watch.
— S (@SCH0410) June 10, 2020
Megyn…. Chill out, you are fighting the wrong battle.
— Dro.. (@sikemefuna) June 10, 2020
Nobody is censoring anything. You can still own copies of Gone With the Wind and play them wherever you like. You can wear blackface, scream that Jesus is white, and demand to speak to the manager on top of a Confederate statue and the government would not cite you for anything.
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) June 10, 2020
A private corporation choosing not to make an 80 year old movie available on their platform is not “censoring,” Karen.
— Ben. No More, No Less. (@BJS_quire) June 10, 2020
Megyn, we are so sorry you have to suffer the injustice of a streaming platform removing a movie it decided it didn’t want to show. We promise you will get through this. We hope this helps
— Antifa Customer Care (@AntifaCares) June 10, 2020
Megyn Kelly: All Movies Matter
— President Rufus T. Firefly (@Stewey444) June 10, 2020
Jeez. They didn’t burn all the original reels. They just pulled the movie from rotation at a senstive time. Calm down. Your racism is showing.
— Matt Walton (@themattwalton) June 10, 2020
Megyn Kelly is the kind of twerp that watches “The Wolf of Wall Street” and roots for the insider traders.
— Chuck Miller (@chuckthewriter) June 10, 2020
Why must people like you perpetuate divisiveness by claiming censorship when you understand the issue perfectly but just want a conservative issue to crow about.
— Abintra🌎🌍🌏 (@abintra) June 10, 2020
For the record, HBOMax is a private company and can choose not to show a movie if it wants to.
— C Wesley Lindsey, MD (@DrWesLindsey) June 10, 2020
I somehow KNEW that YOU would get angry about the Gone With the Wind thing.
— Holy Bullies (@holybullies) June 10, 2020
You’re SUPPOSED to be a journalist. Historical context needing to be put in front of an 81 year old film where a free black person continues to worship their former owner isn’t a reason to dogwhistle as though they’re burning the film.
— Nicholas B Whitson (@Nickistired88) June 10, 2020