HBO Max removes Gone With The Wind over racism concerns

By Neil Wilkes, Editor-in-chief | 3d

US streaming service HBO Max removes Gone With The Wind from its library for its use of "racist depictions".

US streaming service HBO Max has removed classic movie Gone With The Wind from its library due to concerns over its portrayal of slavery and use of racial stereotypes.

The Black Lives Matter movement has forced broadcasters and platforms to reconsider whether all of their programming is appropriate, with Netflix already having removed shows including Little Britain, The League of Gentlemen and Summer Heights High.

Gone With The Wind was released in 1939 to much acclaim, winning 10 Oscars at the 12th Academy Awards - including Best Supporting Actress for Hattie McDaniel in what was the first Oscar win for an African-American - and remains the highest-grossing film of all time when adjusted for inflation.

In the last few decades, however, there has been mounting criticism of the movie for perpetuating black stereotypes and its depiction of slavery during the Civil War era.

"Gone with the Wind is a product of its time and depicts some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that have, unfortunately, been commonplace in American society," a spokesperson for HBO Max told CNN Business.

"These racist depictions were wrong then and are wrong today, and we felt that to keep this title up without an explanation and a denouncement of those depictions would be irresponsible."

The spokesperson added that the streamer does intend to restore the film in its entirety at some point in the future, "because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed", although when it does return it will be accompanied by "a discussion of its historical context and a denouncement of those very depictions".

In the UK, the film remains available on Sky's on-demand service and is also due to be broadcast in the early hours of next Monday morning on the Sky Cinema Drama channel.