HBO Responds to Social Media Protest and Controversy Surrounding Their Show Confederate
There’s been a lot going on where HBO and their public relations team has to deal with these days. Whether it’s hackers stealing programming or the publicity of their highly controversial show Confederate. Even though Confederate hasn’t even been created, neither script been written nor production started, the very idea of a project centered around an alternate universe where black enslavement continues is a sensitive topic. In fact, this past Sunday night during the showing of Game of Thrones, there was a social media protest that trended on Twitter “#NoConfederate” number one for a time nationwide, and second worldwide, that has everyone talking. April Reign, Rebecca Theodore, Shanelle Little, Lauren Warren, and Jamie Broadnax were at the forefront of the protest.
I want y'all to understand what we did. Five Black women announced on Friday that we would have #NoConfederate trending on Sunday at 9p.
— April (@ReignOfApril) July 31, 2017
The same guys who have gratuitous depictions of rape & no significant POC characters are going to handle the enslavement of Blacks w/ nuance https://t.co/Xe0vh6pQiy
— April (@ReignOfApril) July 31, 2017
In response to the events that took place and the conversations that have sprung up since, HBO publicized a statement on Sunday night:
We have great respect for the dialogue and concern being expressed around Confederate. We have faith that [writers] Nichelle, Dan, David and Malcolm will approach the subject with care and sensitivity. The project is currently in its infancy so we hope that people will reserve judgment until there is something to see.”
When the show Confederate was first announced and there was a rise in overall disapproval for the very idea, Game of Thrones creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff defended their creative direction. “We haven’t written any scripts yet. We don’t have an outline yet. We don’t even have character names. So, everything is brand new and nothing has been written,” stated Benioff. “I guess that what was a little bit surprising about some of the outrage – it’s just a little premature. You know, we might f*ck it up, but we haven’t.”
Spousal duo Nichelle and Malcolm Spellman reiterated that stance while legitimizing the concerns from the public:
The concern is real, but I think that the four of us are very thoughtful, very serious, and not flip about what we are getting into in any way. What I’ve done in the past, what Malcolm has done in the past, what the D.B.’s have done in the past proves that. So, I would have loved an opportunity for the conversation to start once the show was on the air.”
It would be an understatement to say that HBO is in hot water. What do you think of the controversy behind Weiss and Benioff’s show Confederate? Do you believe people should wait and see or would it be better to squash this before it becomes a reality? Feel free to let us know in the comments section below or start your own conversation on Don’t Feed the Gamers official Facebook page. To stay up to date on gaming news as they happen, follow us on Twitter! Here are some of our latest:
Hoi Duong2131 Posts
Hoi is an elusive figure at DFTG, whose favorite past-times include chillin' in the Fade, reading manga, watching anime, collecting novelty items, and gaming.
