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Credit: ITMWarner Bros. has generated a ton of public vitriol as of late — and we’re going to look at why.
Related: Fans Declare War Against Warner Bros., Light Up Times Square for Beloved Show
Warner Bros. Hate: Birth of the Boycott
Warner Bros Entertainment Inc. is a global entertainment conglomerate specializing in producing and distributing film, television, and music content under Warner Media LLC (formerly Time Warner). Founded in 1923, it has grown into one of the foremost and most profitable media corporations worldwide, renowned for its rich heritage of beloved movies in franchises such as JK Rowling’s Harry Potter, the DC Universe (DCU), Steven Spielberg’s Jaws and E.T., and Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.
Apart from its contributions to film and television, Warner Brothers (now under Warner Media) also controls the renowned Max (formerly HBO Max) streaming platform. Warner Bros. also prominently features its intellectual properties in Universal Studios theme parks worldwide.
Recently, the company underwent a significant merger with Discovery Communications to form Warner Bros Discovery Inc (WBD) — the corporate catalyst for all the recent hatred.
You thought the drama around former CNN CEO Chris Licht was it for WBD? Prepare for a tale of “greedy” corporate dealings, hatred for one specific Chief Executive Officer, numerous (and aggressive) tax write-offs for money, and thousands of pissed-off fans.
Why Do People Hate David Zaslav?
On top of the egregious cancelations, internal reshuffling within Warner Bros. Discovery, and blatant “destruction of history” (goodbye, Turner Classic Movies), fans became suspicious of WBD CEO David Zaslav when he sold his Warner Bros. shares following the sudden cancelation of the beloved queer pirate comedy Our Flag Means Death, fanning the flames of hatred towards the studio. More specifically, it widened the target on the head of the man at the core of the operation, Zaslav.
Credit: Warner Bros Discovery
Related: Fans Try To Get Warner Bros. CEO Fired As Company Makes Big Moves To Shut Down Diversity
Naturally, the #FireDavidZaslav hashtag, calling for the exit of the Warner Bros Discovery CEO, began being bandied about on social media.
Fandoms United Against Warner Bros.
The vitriol against Mr Zaslav has currently led to multiple Save(insert show) campaigns and the #DontStreamOnMax movement. From #SaveOFMD to #SaveCoyoteVsAcme the #FireDavidZaslav, #DontStreamOnMax (a play on WBD’s #StreamOnMax social media tag) and #BoycottWBD movement has been steadily picking up steam.
With a plethora of canceled television series and movies axed in the name of taxes — see Leslie Grace-led Batgirl that will never see the light of day — Warner Bros. Discovery has been slowly generating a steady stream of hate across fandoms of the affected franchises.
Some of the biggest discussions and fan campaigns are currently surrounding the written-off Coyote vs Acme, and canceled shows Our Flag Means Death, Final Space, just to name a few. These fandoms (and more) are uniting in an attempt to rob Warner Bros. of the very thing they’re desperate for — revenue.
Let’s take a dive into the biggest anti-Warner Bros. movements and why the fires of rebellion are ever-growing.
Coyote vs. Acme (#SaveCoyoteVsAcme)
Is it possible for a film that doesn’t exist (for all intents and purposes) to have a dedicated fan following? Well, Coyote vs. Acme certainly begs to differ.
To say that Warner Bros. has jerked fans of this unreleased movie around would be an understatement.
Directed by Dave Green and written by Samy Burch, James Gunn (also serving as producer), and Jeremy Slater, Coyote Vs Acme draws inspiration from the iconic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons, as well as the similarly named 1990 The New Yorker magazine article by Ian Frazier. Produced by Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, it included the voice talents of Will Forte as Wile E. Coyote’s lawyer, John Cena as the Acme Corporation’s lawyer, Lana Condor, P.J. Byrne, and longtime Looney Tunes voice actor Eric Bauza.
With such a promising cast, the decision to cancel, then un-cancel, then re-cancel the Cartoon Network staple franchise film has left fans, actors, cast, and crew reeling.
Coyote Vs Acme star Will Forte (Saturday Night Live, The Last Man On Earth) shares his sorrows about the film below:
To the cast and crew of Coyote vs Acme…(text in image) To the Cast and Crew of Coyote Vs Acme —
I know that a lot of you haven’t gotten a chance to see our movie. And sadly, it’s looking like you never will.
When I first heard that our movie was getting “deleted,” I hadn’t seen it yet. So I was thinking what everyone else must have been thinking: this thing must be a hunk of junk.
But then I saw it.
And it’s incredible.
Super funny throughout, visually stunning, sweet, sincere, and emotionally resonant in a very earned way. As the credits rolled, I just sat there thinking how lucky I was to be a part of something so special. That quickly turned to confusion and frustration. This was the movie they’re not going to release?
Look, when it comes to Hollywood business stuff, I don’t know shit about shit. Even when a movie tests very well (like ours), there’s no guarantee that it’s gonna be a hit. And at the end of the day, the people who paid for this movie can obviously do whatever they want with it. It doesn’t mean I have to like it (I fucking hate it). Or agree with it. And it doesn’t mean that this movie is anything less than magnificent.
You would be so proud of it — a movie that should be seen, but won’t. Please know that all the years and years of hard work, dedication and love that you put into this movie shows in every frame.
That’s all folks,
Will Forte
To the cast and crew of Coyote vs Acme… pic.twitter.com/UdttuEs9J7
— Will Forte (@OrvilleIV) February 29, 2024
Fans have come out in droves in support of the #SaveCoyoteVsAcme movement:
Animated Antic: If there’s one thing that we can all agree on with Coyote Vs. Acme (apart from that it should be saved, #SaveCoyoteVsAcme), it’s that we need to make absolutely sure Hollywood studios NEVER try to pull this tax write off stuff ever again. Like, this needs to be outlawed for good.
If there's one thing that we can all agree on with Coyote Vs. Acme (apart from that it should be saved, #SaveCoyoteVsAcme), it's that we need to make absolutely sure Hollywood studios NEVER try to pull this tax write off stuff ever again. Like, this needs to be outlawed for good. pic.twitter.com/KnPsbUe1FP
— Animated Antic (@Animated_Antic) February 22, 2024
It’s a sad situation all around. But this isn’t even the only project WBD has thrown in the trash.
Our Flag Means Death (#SaveOFMD, #RenewAsACrew)
Now, the #SaveOFMD campaign is another anti-Warner Bros. campaign ready to, as they say, throw hands.
And overall ready to shine the light on Warner Bros. Discovery for their unceremonious (and overall, suspicious) cancelation of the Taika Waititi (Blackbeard/Edward Teach) and Rhys Darby (Stede Bonnet) led pirate romance and office comedy in one breath (#RenewAsACrew) — while simultaneously campaigning for a new home for their beloved show (#AdoptOurCrew).
There’s an entire website dedicated to organizing the effort to save the Warner Bros television show on RenewAsACrew.com.
Vico Ortiz: Idk if I’ll ever be able to say thank you enough times 😭🥹🫶🏽❤️🩹✨ living in constant gratitude 🥰
RenewasaCrew: 💥 WE! ARE! LIVE! 💥
Thanks to your generous support, and @otherjunglecat
who is paying for the first day, we have two full days of #SaveOFMD with #HoistTheAdsExpect our ad every hour at :00, :01, :02, :15, :38, :42, :50.
#RenewAsACrew
Idk if I’ll ever be able to say thank you enough times 😭🥹🫶🏽❤️🩹✨ living in constant gratitude 🥰 https://t.co/f9wTDzlsNM
— Vico Ortiz (@V_Vico_Ortiz) January 19, 2024
Despite their show’s sudden cancelation potentially being rooted in homophobia and the consistent erasure of queer television, the #SaveOFMD campaign has come a long way. From their fundraising efforts lighting up Times Square in New York City, gaining the love of the show’s cast, crew, and creator David Jenkins, to somehow acquiring the support of lubrication company Astroglide in a fit of corporate social media solidarity, coining the term #LubeAsACrew.
The following contains suggestive language not suitable for younger readers.
Getting ready to #LubeAsACrew this Valentine’s Day. (One of these is specifically for @PinkNews
but I wont tell you which one 😘)
Getting ready to #LubeAsACrew this Valentine's Day. (One of these is specifically for @PinkNews but I wont tell you which one 😘) https://t.co/LHBhKnUGMf pic.twitter.com/prhXTuZGET
— ASTROGLIDE 💦 (@ASTROGLIDE) February 14, 2024
Final Space
The Conan O’Brien-endorsed adult animated series could have been something truly great — but it was unfortunately canned before it could see its epic climax through.
The creator of Final Space, Olan Rogers, had indeed planned for a six-season run — before Warner Bros. decided to scrap the popular animation altogether to fans, writers, and the creator’s dismay:
Never forget what they took from us…
#FIREDAVIDZASLAV #BoycottWBD #DontStreamOnMax
(quoted) @FinalSpace: I’m having to condense some story and come up with new stuff to wrap up everything in the novel. In a perfect world 6 seasons would have been incredible but this isn’t a perfect world.
Never forget what they took from us…#FIREDAVIDZASLAV #BoycottWBD #DontStreamOnMax https://t.co/hGq1ofqSNe pic.twitter.com/vWPVn9eqkS
— Tater Bits (@Tater_Bots) February 17, 2024
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
The British-born comic John Oliver wields sardonic wit (and the HBO coffers) to provide viewers with hard-hitting journalism through the sponsorship of Australia Zoo’s koala chlamydia ward and the purchasing of Russell Crowe’s Cinderella Man jockstrap, all in the same breath.
Unfortunately, despite being a news show primarily and thus reliant on providing timely current events coverage, Oliver’s Last Week Tonight is yet another show that has had its distribution altered. User @pirateidiot maintains that the sudden YouTube upload reschedule the show has undergone is in fact a “ploy to gain more subscribers to Max”. They quote Oliver’s own post on the topic, which apologizes for the upload change which now necessitates viewers not on Max to wait until for Thursday before they get to watch clips of the show.
@pirateidiot: You cannot tell me this isn’t a ploy to gain more subscribers to Max. Last Week Tonight has always posted their main stories on youtube the very next day. Feeling some pain from our cancelled subscriptions maybe?
#DontStreamOnMax
(image of post) @iamjohnoliver: I know I usually share a link to our main story here on Mondays, but HBO has decided they’re going to wait until Thursday to post them to YouTube from now on. I hope they change their mind, but until then, you can see our piece about the Supreme Court on HBO, on MAX, and on YouTube in a few days
You cannot tell me this isn’t a ploy to gain more subscribers to Max. Last Week Tonight has always posted their main stories on youtube the very next day. Feeling some pain from our cancelled subscriptions maybe? #DontStreamOnMax pic.twitter.com/N1ChSKt7Gk
— rose #SaveOFMD #AdoptOurCrew (@pirateidiot) February 19, 2024
It’s not breaking news to say that the public is more than upset with Warner Bros. Discovery at this point.
WBD has definitely tarnished its reputation with heavy-handed tactics that do nothing but prime the company for a slew of never-ending hate campaigns. The hate seems to exceed that of former Disney CEO Bob Chapek and even that of the company’s current Bob Iger.
Fans of the media affected by these cancelations, as well as the often devastated cast and crew, will certainly not stop letting their voices be known. Should WBD continue to push the public further against them, their reputation might take a hit that could prove difficult to recover from, even if they manage to please Wall Street in the short term.
What do you think about the #BoycottWarnerBros campaign? Should WBD fire David Zaslav? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!