Schitt’s Creek star and co-creator Dan Levy has called out Comedy Central, claiming the network censored a kiss between two men in a promotional video for India.
Levy, a gay man who plays pansexual character David Rose in the beloved show, noticed a Season 5 clip on the Comedy Central India Twitter account which appeared to edit out a kiss between himself and his co-star Dustin Milligan during a ‘spin the bottle’ scene. The clip shows Milligan leaning in, but cuts abruptly before the kiss can be shown. Meanwhile, a shot of two female characters kissing was left unedited.
“You showed the kiss between two women, you showed the kiss between a woman and a man, then removed the kiss between two men? This is a show about the power of inclusivity,” Levy tweeted on October 7. “The censorship of gay intimacy is making a harmful statement against that message. #loveislove.”
One fan brought this claim to Levy’s attention a few months ago.
“Thought you should see this. I had no idea they aired Schitt’s Creek in India on TV, but I just found out that m/m kisses are censored on Comedy Central, and I know most people there watch it on Netflix, but this is so disheartening,” they said, sharing the same promotion tweet, which was posted last year. “What network TV chooses to show matters.”
The show has been praised for having no expressions of homophobia in any of its storylines, and for the way sexuality has been treated overall.
Another of Levy’s co-stars, Emily Hampshire, previously told Gay Times that the show helped her come out.
“I had to ask Dan what pansexuality was, I didn’t know at all. Cut to five years later, definitely pan,” she said.
During its six-season run, for its portrayal of LGBTQI+ people, the show was nominated twice for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, winning once.
Meanwhile, at the Emmys in September 2020, Schitt’s Creek‘s final season won all major comedy awards and all four major acting categories.
9Honey Celebrity has reached out to Comedy Central for comment.
Eugene Levy through the years
