Although he was in the original movie, Pepe Le Pew won’t be in the sequel “Space Jam,” due out this Summer.
Pepe Le Pew, the controversial french skunk from Looney Tunes, will no longer appear in Space Jam: A New Legacy after his scene was cut. https://t.co/wuPOd5Izgd pic.twitter.com/ItC2eEEjux
— IGN (@IGN) March 8, 2021
Pepe Le Pew’s scene was axed when Malcolm D. Lee took over as director, originally, Pepe was to feature in a ‘Casablanca’-like scene in which Pepe played a bartender and tried kissing the arm of a human character, portrayed by actress Greice Santo.
Deadline reports that Santo’s character slaps the skunk and later LeBron James gives Pepe a pep talk and tells him getting handsy wasn’t cool, elsewhere in the movie Pepe’s longtime love, Penelope Pussycat, had taken out a restraining order on him.
Now with the scenes scrapped Santo, who is a victim of sexual assault, says she’s disappointed she won’t be able to let little girls know his behavior is unacceptable.
Previously a New York Times reporter wrote that Pepe Le Pew “normalized rape culture,” do you agree?