The decision to pull the Love, Simon spinoff series from Disney+ in favor of Hulu is leaving some fans angry. Based on the 2018 LGBTQ+ romance story of the same name, which in turn was based off of Becky Albertalli’s novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, the spinoff series was intended to stream on Disney’s new streaming service, though Variety reported Monday night that the upcoming series would be making the move away from streaming platform, allegedly due to it featuring content that is not deemed “family friendly.”
“Disney felt many issues explored on the show, including alcohol use and sexual exploration, would not fit in with the family-friendly content on Disney Plus,” the outlet reported.
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The series will now debut on Hulu in June, which is Pride month, under the new title Love, Victor, with Craig Erwich, the senior vice president of original productions at Hulu, saying in a statement that the streamer is “incredibly taken with the project” and that “the show’s contemporary lens and honest storytelling make it a perfect fit for the millions of fans on Hulu.”
Still, the sudden decision to move the series from one platform to the next has not settled well with many, who have not only raised concerns with the message it sends and Disney’s lack of LGBTQ+ characters, but also the limited availability that streaming on Hulu means.
Keep scrolling to see how some Disney+ subscribers and fans of the novel and film are reacting to the news.
“[Disney+] really needs to get it together on their stance and support of the LGBTQ community,” wrote one person. “Yesterday they touted Lena Waithe’s [Onward] character for being their first openly gay character, but today [Love, Simon] isn’t ‘family friendly’ for [Disney+] ?! Which is it?!”
Yay, the new #LoveSimon show has a name!
— David Opie (@DavidOpie) February 24, 2020
Yay, it’s arriving in June!
Yay, the writers are already planning a second season!
Boo, Disney felt #LoveVictor was too “adult” for Disney+. Hope that’s true and they weren’t just scared off by more queer content than they expected 🌈 pic.twitter.com/wuMOSatNEn
“This so-called ‘family-friendliness’ is really one of the big issues I have with Disney,” tweeted somebody else. “That the [Love, Simon] show will not be airing on Disney+ is a bad look for them. And their loss!”
“Hey [Disney+], there are a hell of a lot more types of families out there than the kind that Uncle Walt found acceptable,” added somebody else. “Do the right thing here.”
“Disappointed the [Love, Simon] show is being shifted to Hulu (I’m not surprised though),” wrote another. “Disney Plus continuing down this road means everything is going to be one-note from them, sigh. The Simpsons has so many sexual innuendos yet that stays. Will definitely be watching [Love, Victor].”
“Not having the integrity or decency to tell a queer story under the [Dinsey] brand is unacceptable,” added another. “[Disney+] would’ve been able to pave the way for long awaited CHANGE.”
“Due to ‘adult themes,’” quoted another. “[Love, Victor] is also just not as catchy as [Love, Simon]. Still can’t wait to start watching and loving this show, though!”
Disney wanting to move #LoveSimon from Disney+ to Hulu isn’t the issue, but it’s WHY. “We don’t think someonenexploring their sexuality would be family-friendly” if y’all don’t stfu… Mandalorian has people killing each other but two boys kissing is too much??? pic.twitter.com/FDY66I3KoJ
— siggy (@cptnsldrs) February 25, 2020
“Yes, let’s move a new original drama series with a already established fanbase from a worldwide streaming service Disney+ which is already low on original content to U.S only Hulu. Makes sense,” wrote another. “Why are you so homophobic [Disney+]?”
“We have [Disney+] free for a year, but deeming a show ‘family-unfriendly’ because a character is gay is making my decision not to resubscribe easy,” tweeted one subscriber. “Queer families are families.”
“Learning that the [Love, Simon] series that was for [Disney+] was moved to [Hulu] because [Disney] doesn’t have the balls to have a gay lead under their official brand just annoys me so much,” wrote somebody else. “The platform really needs more variety in their content, and this series was a good step…”
“We watched bambis mother die and we watched the evil queen want snow whites heart ?? BUT GAY PEOPLE ISNT FAMILY FRIENDLY,” asked another of the series.
“So it’s been moved to Hulu which will actually give the show more creative freedom and allow it to be more mature,” wrote one. “But citing ‘sexual exploration’ as a reason for being inappropriate for family audiences is nothing but blatant homophobia.”
Come on Disney, you had a chance to prove your inclusivity… at least we’ll have Andi Mack… oh wait #lovesimon pic.twitter.com/6xuaxcWdk5
— H͓̽u͓̽n͓̽t͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ (@HollowInsomniac) February 25, 2020
“If you can watch [Love, Simon] and think it is anything other than absurdly pro-family…you’re an idiot,” tweeted another. “[Disney+]..the Love Simon series is part of why I subscribed. Fix this.”
“So not actually against the move,” wrote somebody else. “[Hulu] gives it a lot more freedom to grow and the target audience is more in line with the wholesome end of [Freeform]. Only annoying factor is the decreased International footprint of Hulu for now.”
“Hey [Disney] and [Disney+] – what EXACTLY is too adult about the [Love, Simon] spinoff series???” asked another.
“Ngl I am quite disappointed that the [Love, Simon] series isn’t going to come to Disney+ I was looking forward to seeing if it was any good, Hulu isn’t even availible here in the UK,” added another.
“[Love, Simon]… as in the ‘i’m gay but not THAT gay’ kid who has all the queer flamboyant charisma and energy of Nicolas Cage, was still too queer for Disney?” questioned another.
.@disneyplus there are young idividuals who identify as many different identities who NEED a love story that they can see themselves in, who NEED their questions about their sexualities and identies answered. You took that from so many. @glaad @HRC #LoveSimon
— J. Pascale (@iamjpascale) February 24, 2020
“Hi [Disney+] just wondering if this is true?” wrote another. “If so I think I’d like to cancel my subscriptions and get a refund please.”
