Pepe Le Pew will not appear in the upcoming sequel to Space Jam over fears the cartoon skunk "normalised rape culture", it's claimed.
A scene from Space Jam: A New Legacy, which will be released in July, featuring Looney Tunes character Pepe and Jane the Virgin actress Greice Santo has reportedly been cut after new director Malcolm D. Lee took over.
It comes after New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow said Pepe "added to rape culture".
The character has long been causing controversy thanks to his unwanted advances and inappropriate touching of female characters.
He appeared in the first Space Jam movie back in 1996.
According to Deadline, Pepe was eliminated from the sequel a while ago and never animated for the live-action footage.
A rough cut of the movie seen by the publication's sources three months ago did not feature Pepe at all, they claimed.
Pepe's scene was reportedly going to show him playing a bartender that starts hitting on a woman at the bar played by Santo.
He begins kissing her arm before she pulls back and slams her into the chair next to hers, it's reported.
She then apparently pours her drink on Pepe and slaps him, which sends him spinning in a stool, which is then stopped by LeBron James' hand.
In another axed scene, Pepe reportedly tells the basketball player and Bugs Bunny that Penelope cat has filed a restraining order against him.
A spokesperson for Greice Santo told the site: "This was such a big deal for Greice to be in this movie.
"Even though Pepe is a cartoon character, if anyone was going to slap a sexual harasser like him, Greice wished it would be her.
"Now the scene is cut, and she doesn't have that power to influence the world through younger generations who'll be watching Space Jam 2, to let younger girls and younger boys know that Pepe's behaviour is unacceptable."
In his article, Blow had written: "Some of the first cartoons I can remember included Pepe Le Pew, who normalised rape culture; Speedy Gonzales, whose friends helped popularise the corrosive stereotype of the drunk and lethargic Mexicans; and Mammy Two Shoes, a heavyset Black maid who spoke in a heavy accent."
After his comments sparked backlash on social media, Blow tweeted: "[Right-wing] blogs are mad [because] I said Pepe Le Pew added to rape culture.
"Let's see. 1. He grabs/kisses a girl/stranger, repeatedly, [without] consent and against her will. 2. She struggles mightily to get away from him, but he won’t release her 3. He locks a door to prevent her from escaping.
"This helped teach boys that 'no' didn't really mean no, that it was a part of 'the game', the starting line of a power struggle."
Back in 2000, comedian Dave Chappelle called Le Pew a rapist in his first HBO special, Killin' Them Softly.
He said: "They use the TV to program us from a young age. You ever watch like a cartoon that you used to watch while you were little as an adult? That s**t is wild s**t."
Chappelle recalled watching Looney Tunes with his nephew, saying: "I'm like good God, what kind of f**king rapist is this guy? Take it easy!"
"That dude [his nephew] was sitting there cracking up, like 'see, sometimes you got to tap that p***y like Pepe,'" he went on
"I had to turn the channel real quick and turn on Sesame Street."
The Mirror has contacted Warner Bros. for comment.
