NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- NBC has pulled an episode of its medical drama “Nurses" amid backlash from several Jewish organizations that called one of its storylines anti-Semitic, inaccurate and “inflammatory.”
A “Nurses” episode that aired Feb. 9 centered around an Orthodox Jewish patient whom the show’s doctors said would need a bone graft to repair his shattered leg after an accident, the Hollywood Reporter reported.
In the episode, the patient’s father objected to the procedure — an objection organizations including the Anti-Defamation League said inaccurately portrayed Jewish beliefs and perpetuated harmful stereotypes.
“You want to put a dead leg inside of me?” the patient asked in the episode, according to the outlet.
“A dead 'goyim' leg — from anyone. An Arab, a woman,” his father said.
“Or God forbid an Arab woman,” a nurse responded sarcastically.
In a statement calling for NBC to pull the episode and “review their standards for approving dramatic content,” ADL CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt said the episode’s “entire premise is wrong.”
“In Jewish law, anything that is potentially lifesaving or health-preserving is not only permitted but indeed mandated,” he explained. “Unfortunately, myths about Jewish religious beliefs and practices are far too commonplace, and this episode only serves to amplify such longstanding misperceptions about Jews.”
“The portrayal of a Hasidic Jew making hateful remarks about ‘an Arab, a woman’ is gratuitous and inflammatory, and only validates longstanding anti-Semitic stereotypes,” he added.
In its own statement, the Simon Wiesenthal Center called the episode “a vile, cheap attack masquerading as TV drama.”
NBC pulled the episode from its digital platforms and vowed not to air it in the future following the backlash, but did not immediately issue a statement, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The “Nurses” uproar is not the only controversy NBC has dealt with in recent weeks.
Former Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind earlier this week announced he and others planned to protest outside the network’s Midtown headquarters on Saturday after “Saturday Night Live" aired a segment about Israel’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout that they claimed was anti-Semitic.
“Israel is reporting that they’ve vaccinated half of their population,” “Weekend Update” host Michael Che said during the segment. “I’m going to guess it’s the Jewish half.”