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Nathan Fielder Confronts Paramount+ Over Their Censorship of 'Nathan For You'
I am legitimately in awe of Nathan Fielder. Week in and out, the guy makes me laugh so hard, and also cringe and hide with some of the situations he puts himself in. His second season of The Rehearsal is currently airing on HBO, and taking us into some peculiar places as we sort through his life. On last night's episode, the comedian confronted the removal of the 'Summit Ice' episode of Nathan for You from Paramount+, an act that reeks of censorship. For those of you who are not fans of the show, let me catch you up to speed. In the show Nathan For You, Nathan sets out to work with a business to help them find outside-the-box solutions. In the case in question, we see that a Vancouver-based jacket company, Taiga, has honored a Holocaust denier. So Nathan launches the apparel brand Summit Ice, which sells jackets for people who acknowledge that the Holocaust happened. - YouTube www.youtube.com It led to one of the funniest episodes in the series' history and a legitimate act of goodwill. Summit Ice became a genuine company. Fielder donates 100% of Summit Ice profits to the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, raising millions of dollars since 2015.It's one of those things that shows comedy can actually change hearts and minds. In the second episode of The Rehearsal's second season, Fielder calls this his “proudest achievement” and said it proved that “a comedy show could make a difference.” - YouTube www.youtube.com Fielder's new show, The Rehearsal, has him put together scenes from his own life, or other people's lives, and help them confront mistakes.In the most recent episode, he reveals that Paramount+ has taken down this episode of Nathan For You. And he decides to address it head-on. Fielder says he emailed Paramount about it, and digs into this, saying, "I remember wanting to convey how urgent this was for me, and yet my email was extremely cordial, using phrases like ‘Forever grateful’ and ‘Happy Holidays.’”According to the show, we learn that the episode was “taken down intentionally” due to “sensitivities,” Fielder read off their emails. Apparently, the decision to do this came from Paramount+ in Germany. There were execs there who were “uncomfortable” with “anything that touches on antisemitism” due to the Israel/Hamas conflict. Fielder goes on to say, “Before long, the ideology of Paramount+ Germany had spread to the entire globe, eliminating all Jewish content that made them uncomfortable,” Fielder says, then adds, “This is real, by the way.”THR did a fact check and was told that this was real, and a decision made by Paramount+ “following a standards review.”Fielder fought back in the episode, using some iconic Paramount logos as a placeholder for Nazi ones and even using WWII-style maps with Paramount's logo on them to give us similar feelings. 'The Rehearsal' Credit: HBOLater in the episode, Fielder confronts a fake Paramount exec to address what he wishes he had said to the real exec in the moment. He says, “When it comes to art, I think you have to know your place, and you have to let us Jews express ourselves, because honestly, the way you’re approaching this whole thing, people might get the wrong idea about what you actually stand for." When you look at someone edgy and real, like Fielder, I think there's such an interesting way he uses comedy to talk about important things and to highlight what he cares about. Fielder made art that was supposed to confront people and to push them to acknowledge something awful...that the holocaust happened. He made us laugh while also confronting the horror that if we bury that stuff or push off those who deny it happened, it's just as bad. Taking that down is censorship. There's really no middle ground there. It happened because these giant corporations only care about making money, and they'll do whatever it takes to make sure that happens. Still, they should just have left the episode alone, or if they were that uncomfortable, run a disclaimer before it.I can't imagine an episode of that show was such a big deal to them internally. Even if the desire was to have a 'safe space,' erasing an episode of TV that has raised millions for charity seems really short-sighted. And stupid. It is the degradation of art.But if you want a bright side in all of this, it's really fun to see Fielder use the art he's making now to fire back. It's also pretty daring to do it on such a big platform. Obviously, he takes it to the extreme, but it goes there to shine a light on how wild it is that this happened in the first place. And while you're laughing, you get to learn an important lesson about censorship, art, and expression, which winds up being the point of the whole thing anyway. Let me know what you think in the comments.
I am legitimately in awe of Nathan Fielder. Week in and out, the guy makes me laugh so hard, and also cringe and hide with some of the situations he puts himself in.
His second season of The Rehearsal is currently airing on HBO, and taking us into some peculiar places as we sort through his life.
On last night's episode, the comedian confronted the removal of the 'Summit Ice' episode of Nathan for You from Paramount+, an act that reeks of censorship.
For those of you who are not fans of the show, let me catch you up to speed.
In the show Nathan For You, Nathan sets out to work with a business to help them find outside-the-box solutions. In the case in question, we see that a Vancouver-based jacket company, Taiga, has honored a Holocaust denier. So Nathan launches the apparel brand Summit Ice, which sells jackets for people who acknowledge that the Holocaust happened.
- YouTube www.youtube.com
It led to one of the funniest episodes in the series' history and a legitimate act of goodwill.
Summit Ice became a genuine company. Fielder donates 100% of Summit Ice profits to the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, raising millions of dollars since 2015.
It's one of those things that shows comedy can actually change hearts and minds.
In the second episode of The Rehearsal's second season, Fielder calls this his “proudest achievement” and said it proved that “a comedy show could make a difference.”
- YouTube www.youtube.com
Fielder's new show, The Rehearsal, has him put together scenes from his own life, or other people's lives, and help them confront mistakes.
In the most recent episode, he reveals that Paramount+ has taken down this episode of Nathan For You.
And he decides to address it head-on.
Fielder says he emailed Paramount about it, and digs into this, saying, "I remember wanting to convey how urgent this was for me, and yet my email was extremely cordial, using phrases like ‘Forever grateful’ and ‘Happy Holidays.’”
According to the show, we learn that the episode was “taken down intentionally” due to “sensitivities,” Fielder read off their emails.
Apparently, the decision to do this came from Paramount+ in Germany. There were execs there who were “uncomfortable” with “anything that touches on antisemitism” due to the Israel/Hamas conflict.
Fielder goes on to say, “Before long, the ideology of Paramount+ Germany had spread to the entire globe, eliminating all Jewish content that made them uncomfortable,” Fielder says, then adds, “This is real, by the way.”
THR did a fact check and was told that this was real, and a decision made by Paramount+ “following a standards review.”
Fielder fought back in the episode, using some iconic Paramount logos as a placeholder for Nazi ones and even using WWII-style maps with Paramount's logo on them to give us similar feelings.
'The Rehearsal' Credit: HBO
Later in the episode, Fielder confronts a fake Paramount exec to address what he wishes he had said to the real exec in the moment.
He says, “When it comes to art, I think you have to know your place, and you have to let us Jews express ourselves, because honestly, the way you’re approaching this whole thing, people might get the wrong idea about what you actually stand for."
When you look at someone edgy and real, like Fielder, I think there's such an interesting way he uses comedy to talk about important things and to highlight what he cares about.
Fielder made art that was supposed to confront people and to push them to acknowledge something awful...that the holocaust happened. He made us laugh while also confronting the horror that if we bury that stuff or push off those who deny it happened, it's just as bad.
Taking that down is censorship. There's really no middle ground there. It happened because these giant corporations only care about making money, and they'll do whatever it takes to make sure that happens.
Still, they should just have left the episode alone, or if they were that uncomfortable, run a disclaimer before it.
I can't imagine an episode of that show was such a big deal to them internally.
Even if the desire was to have a 'safe space,' erasing an episode of TV that has raised millions for charity seems really short-sighted. And stupid. It is the degradation of art.
But if you want a bright side in all of this, it's really fun to see Fielder use the art he's making now to fire back. It's also pretty daring to do it on such a big platform.
Obviously, he takes it to the extreme, but it goes there to shine a light on how wild it is that this happened in the first place.
And while you're laughing, you get to learn an important lesson about censorship, art, and expression, which winds up being the point of the whole thing anyway.
Let me know what you think in the comments.
