Looney Tunes is giving the character Pepé Le Pew the AX because of rapist behavior and was removed from LeBron James’ Space Jam: A New Legacy.
People Are Pointing Out How Dave Chappelle Called Out Pepe Le Pew Over 20 Years Ago In His ‘Killin’ Them Softly’ Standup Special
Pepe Le Pew only recently got banned from surfacing again in Warner Bros. cartoons, but Dave Chappelle was all over that skunk decades ago. Dave recognized Pepe’s rape-culture-embodying manner back in 2000, to be precise, and more than 20 years before Space Jam 2 decided to give him the ax, effectively neutering him, so he’ll never bother any lady cats again. Suddenly, Pepe is persona non grata in Warner Bros. cartoons and has contributed to Space Jam 2 becoming the most controversial movie in ages, but Dave saw it coming.
In retrospect, a lot of people likely felt icky about what Pepe was doing, but somehow, it took this long for Pepe to pay the price for not accepting that “no means no” while chasing after that beleaguered kitty. Here’s what Chappelle had to say about the skunk in his Killin’ Them Softly special (taped at Lincoln Center in Washington, D.C.) while discussing kids’ cartoons. FYI, the special is streamable on HBO Max:
“Some wild sh*t! Like, I was with my nephew, sitting there watching Pepe Le Pew, and I said, ‘Now, pay attention to this guy because he’s funny. I used to watch him when I was little.’ And we’re watching Pepe Le Pew, and… ‘Good god, what kind of f*cking rapist is this guy? Take it easy, Pepe!’”
Here’s the relevant clip, by the way, as people passed it around on social media.
