Megyn Kelly is speaking out about what she sees as censorship run amuck. In a series of tweets on Wednesday, the former Fox News and NBC host reacted to the news that HBO Max had decided to pull Gone With the Wind from its platform because of the film’s rosy depiction of the antebellum South. The decision follows the death of George Floyd while in police custody, which has sparked protests across the country.
“Are we going to pull all of the movies in which women are treated as sex objects too? Guess how many films we’ll have left? Where does this end??” the former host wrote on Twitter.
Kelly continued, linking to a story about the news that Cops had been canceled 31 years after it premiered. On top of the link, she added that Live PD was one of the highest-rated shows on TV, but said that it might also be canceled because watching shows about the police was now “offensive.”
“If you don’t like it, don’t watch,” she tweeted.
She then added that, if Gone With the Wind has to go, so does every episode of Friends because of its treatment of women and LGBTQ+ people, and all of Game of Thrones . Kelly continued, saying that movies by John Hughes and Woody Allen would also have to be taken down, suggesting that she could go on and on forever.
In response to her tweets, Kelly got responses suggesting that movies from directors Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese would also have to go, as would other shows about cops like Law & Order . She suggested that the censorship could keep going until all that was left was Captain America and the queen.
Kelly then concluded by saying that art evolves as people’s understanding of the world does.
“For the record, you can loathe bad cops, racism, sexism, bias against the LGBTQ community, and not censor historical movies, books, music and art that don’t portray those groups perfectly. Ppl understand art reflects life… as we evolve, so do our cultural touchstones.”
According to CNN , Gone With the Wind will eventually return to HBO Max once it is given proper historical context. A spokesperson for the platform said that the movie reflected racial prejudices that existed when the movie was made and still exist today. The spokesperson added that those depictions were wrong, and they felt it would be irresponsible to leave the movie on the platform without adding an explanation and denunciation of them.