Controversial ‘Black-Ish’ Episode About Politics And Racism Is Finally Available To Watch
A controversial episode of black-ish that was banned from ABC over two years ago is available for the first time on Hulu. Titled "Please, Baby, Please," involved the show’s lead character Dre (Anthony Anderson) talking to his toddler son about political unrest and racism in the country in the form of a bedtime story. The episode was originally set to air on February 27, 2018, but was pulled by ABC at the last minute due to “creative differences.”
Show creator Kenya Barris broke the news of the episode’s release on social media, writing on Instagram, “In November 2017, we made an episode of black-ish entitled ‘Please, Baby, Please.’ We were one year post-election and coming to the end of a year that left us, like many Americans, grappling with the state of our country and anxious about its future. Those feelings poured onto the page, becoming 22 minutes of television that I was, and still am, incredibly proud of. ‘Please, Baby, Please’ didn’t make it to air that season and, while much has been speculated about its contents, the episode has never been seen publicly… until now.
He continued, “I’m excited to share that ‘Please, Baby, Please’ is now available on Hulu. Following the re-airing of ‘Juneteenth’ and ‘Hope,’ I asked Walt Disney Television to revisit making the episode available. Recognizing the importance of this moment, they listened and agreed.”
Barris also added, “I cannot wait for everyone to finally see the episode for themselves and, as was the case nearly three years ago, we hope it inspires some much-needed conversation -- not only about what we were grappling with then or how it led to where we are now, but conversations about where we want our country to go moving forward and, most importantly, how we get there together.”
He closed with, “Thank you to ABC Entertainment for allowing this moment to happen. And thank you to the entire black-ish family for never shying away from tough conversations, making telling stories like this possible.”
The episode was set to spark some much-needed social commentary. Coming in at a $3 million budget, it included animations, a voice over from Spike Lee, and news footage of Donald Trump, the Charlottesville attacks and the NFL kneeling protests.
According to Variety, the episode was eventually pulled the week before it was set to run and was, instead, replaced with a rerun. One of the reported discrepancies remained the discussion of the NFL's highly publicized #TakeTheKnee protests.
