Pepe Le Pew appeared in the first Warner Bros. Space Jam film in 1996, but he will not appear in the next cinematic film, Space Jam: A New Legacy, which will be released on July 16.
After New York Times writer Charles M. Blow slammed the cartoon character for “adding to rape culture,” the Looney Tunes French skunk has been swamped by criticism. We’ve learned that a hybrid live-action cartoon scene starring Jane the Virgin actress Greice Santo and Pepe Le Pew, which was shot in June 2019 for Space Jam 2, was removed.
The Pepe Le Pew persona will most likely be a distant memory throughout all industries. According to Warner Bros, there are no intentions for the skunk to reappear on Looney Toons, Bugs Bunny Builders, Tiny Toons Looniversary, or future ventures.
The movie‘s initial director, Terence Nance, shot a live Space Jam 2 segment. Nance quit the project in July 2019, and Malcolm D. Lee took over. Pepe Le Pew was cut from the film a long time ago and was never developed for the live-action material that was shot under Lee’s supervision. So, according to insiders who watched a preliminary cut three months ago, the skunk did not make an appearance.
According to our sources, Pepe’s dismissal from Space Jam: A New Legacy has nothing to do with the New York Times’ Blow’s recent statements. Yet stay till you know about the Pepe scene that was deleted from the movie.
Pepe Le Pew: What Happened?
Pepe was supposed to appear in a black-and-white Rick’s Cafe segment alike Casablanca. Pepe, who is portraying a bartender, begins to hit on a woman at the table, who Santo plays. He kisses her arm, which she jerks away from him, before shoving Pepe into the seat next to hers. She then hits Pepe in the face with her cup and smacks him hard in the face, sending him twirling in a seat, which is then halted by LeBron James‘ hand. James and Bugs Bunny seek Lola, and Pepe knows where she is. Penelope cat has obtained a restraining action against Pepe, Pepe informs the boys. James says that Pepe can’t take other Tunes without their permission in the script.
Santo relished the opportunity to work with Pepe on the Space Jam sequel sequence since the skunk ultimately learns his lesson. According to her spokeswoman, Santo was furious when she learned that her moment with Pepe had been deleted. The actress-singer has been a target of sexual assault and talked against it, even releasing a debut track, “Você Você” with multi-Grammy-winning producer Humberto Gatica in February 2018 to inspire women to speak out against sexual abuse and assault. Santo even runs a non-profit called Glam with Greice, which attempts to encourage domestic abuse victims to make positive changes in their life.
According to a representative for Santo, “This was such a big deal for Greice to be in this movie. Even though Pepe is a cartoon character, if anyone was going to slap a sexual harasser like him, Greice wished it would be her. Now the scene is cut, and she doesn’t have that power to influence the world through younger generations who’ll be watching Space Jam 2 to let younger girls and younger boys know that Pepe’s behavior is unacceptable.”
In recent times, Warner Bros. has had issues with Looney Tunes’ culturally inappropriate figures. Given the adjustment in reaction to US gun crime, the old Looney Tunes streaming on HBO Max prevented Elmer Fudd from using a firearm in June.
When contacted, Warner Bros. declined to respond to Pepe’s exclusion from Space Jam: A New Legacy. Along with Ryan Coogler, Duncan Henderson, and Maverick Carter, James is a producer of the movie.
