Disney+ is all of 48 hours old and has already suffered its first casualty.
As Staff Writer Tonja Renée Stidhum reported on Tuesday, the newly launched streaming service might be brimming with nostalgia and “outdated cultural depictions”, but one thing you won’t find on there is the infamous “Stark-Raving Dad” episode of The Simpsons that featured the Thriller-maker himself, Michael Jackson.
Tech Radar notes this shouldn’t come as a surprise, however, considering that the powers that be yanked the episode off the air in March in light of the sexual assault allegations leveled against Jackson in HBO’s jaw-dropping documentary, Leaving Neverland.
“It feels clearly the only choice to make,” executive producer James L. Brooks said at the time. “The guys I work with—where we spend our lives arguing over jokes—were of one mind on this.”
But that doesn’t mean fans of the show—or of Michael—are taking this news lightly. In fact, many aren’t only offering critiques, but pointing out the perceived hypocrisy of this decision:
There’s no word on if Disney has any intention of reversing course, but if Brook’s explanation is any indication, you might wanna hit up Amazon and scoop up those DVD box sets to get your fix.
Or, of course, there’s always YouTube: