Less than a week after six Dr. Seuss books were pulled because of insensitive and "hurtful" racist imagery, cartoon skunk Pepé Le Pew is out of a job.
The character will no longer be featured in any upcoming Warner Bros. Television projects, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The news comes a day after it was reported Pepé Le Pew was pulled from the upcoming "Space Jam: A New Legacy," preceded by a lengthy op-ed in The New York Times saying the controversial cartoon "normalized rape culture."
The piece also called out potentially problematic traits in cartoons like Speedy Gonzales and Mammy Two Shoes.
The decision not to have Pepé Le Pew in future projects was reportedly made more than a year ago.
"A French skunk, the cartoon character was often on the quest for love, but his unwanted advances - usually toward a black cat that accidentally got a white-painted stripe - were often forceful," The Hollywood Reporter said.
The Pepé Le Pew character was featured in the original "Space Jam."
It remains to be seen how the decision will reverberate.
In the case of the shelved Dr. Seuss works, several immediately shot to the top of best seller lists, while public libraries across the country said they’d continue to carry the six questionable books.
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