'Black-ish' Season 4 News: ABC, Showrunner Agree to Cancel Episode Tackling 'Take a Knee' Protests Due to 'Creative Differences'
ABC recently confirmed it had canceled the airing of a "Black-ish" episode that touched on the subject of the NFL athletes' protests.
"One of the things that has always made 'Black-ish' so special is how it deftly examines delicate social issues in a way that simultaneously entertains and educates," a representative for ABC said in a statement provided to Variety. "However, on this episode there were creative differences we were unable to resolve."
Meanwhile, "Black-ish's" creator and the director of the axed episode, Kenya Barris, echoed ABC's statement and reiterated that the main reason for the cancellation of the episode was their creative differences.
"Given our creative differences, neither ABC nor I were happy with the direction of the episode and mutually agreed not to air it," Barris said. "'Black-ish' is a show that has spoken to all different types of people and brought them closer as a community and I'm so proud of the series."
Even though the episode did not make it on air, the same report shared some key points on the axed installment titled "Please, Baby, Please."
In the said episode, Dre (Anthony Anderson) is looking after his baby as the rest of the family are forced to stay up all night during a thunderstorm. He tries to put the baby to sleep by reading a bedtime story but with no success.
As an alternative, Dre decides to tell the baby a story inspired by current social events. This reportedly paves the way for the episode to tackle several social issues, which include the controversial national anthem protest carried out by a number of athletes in the NFL. However, this also led to a heated debate with Dre Junior (Marcus Scribner).
"Please, Baby, Please" was reportedly filmed last November and was supposed to air on Feb. 27.
Meanwhile, "Black-ish" has gained popularity for tackling political issues while not veering away from providing good comic relief to its viewers. Previously, the show featured episodes that touched on the subjects of police brutality and even Donald Trump's presidency.
"Black-ish" is now on its fourth season run and airs every Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. EDT on ABC.
