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HBO Responds To #NoConfederate Twitter Protest: "We Hope People Will Reserve Judgement"

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HBO has released a statement in response to the organized protest of the upcoming alternate history show Confederate from David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the showrunners of Game of Thrones.

confederate
Credit: Suzi Pratt via Wikimedia Commons

The hashtag #NoConfederate trended on Twitter during Sunday's premiere of the third episode of Game of Thrones Season 6, the result of an organized protest by activist April Reign, who also started the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag in 2015. Reign tweeted:

The show, which takes place in a world where the South won the first civil war and slavery still exists, was conceptualized and is being developed by Benioff and Weiss, along with Nichelle Tramble Spellman and Malcolm Spellman. The four gave an interview to pop culture website Vulture earlier this month explaining their intentions in response to an initial backlash. Criticism of the show has continued since then, culminating in last night's protest.

The hashtag successfully trended during the East Coast and West Coast airings of the show, and garnered coverage from the mainstream media.

The trend prompted HBO to issue a statement to various media outlets in response:

"We have great respect for the dialogue and concern being expressed around Confederate. We have faith that Nichelle, Dan, David, and Malcolm will approach the subject with care and sensitivity. The project is currently in its infancy so we hope that people will reserve judgment until there is something to see."

Last December, A&E cancelled a planned reality show called Escaping The KKK, which detailed the lives of high-ranking members of the Ku Klux Klan, in response to similar criticism and protest after it was revealed that filmmakers made cash payments to hate group members to get them to appear in the documentary.

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Jude TerrorAbout Jude Terror

A prophecy once said that in the comic book industry's darkest days, a hero would come to lead the people through a plague of overpriced floppies, incentive variant covers, #1 issue reboots, and super-mega-crossover events. Sadly, that prophecy was wrong. Oh, Jude Terror was right. For ten years. About everything. But nobody listened. And so, Jude Terror has moved on to a more important mission: turning Bleeding Cool into a pro wrestling dirt sheet!
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