HBO Responds to Viral #NoConfederate Campaign
HBO has received major flack for green-lighting its slavery-themed project, Confederate, and as a result of this backlash, a grassroots campaign was born, started by the hashtag #NoConfederate, which quickly took over Twitter in a matter of hours.
Since the hashtag became a noticeable trending topic, the network took the time to respond to the controversy, directly.
Organized by April Reign, the activist who was famously behind #OscarsSoWhite, the hashtag was coordinated with the airing of Sunday night's episode of Game of Thrones, which executive producers will spearhead Confederate.
Reign, whose hashtag trended No. 1 nationwide and No. 2 worldwide on Twitter last night, spoke out with her intentions, explaining that she hopes to halt production of the show before it moves any further and fully materializes.
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Seeing the hashtag's resonance with much of Twitter and its success on the trending list, HBO released a statement.
"We have great respect for the dialogue and concern being expressed around Confederate," the statement reads, via The Hollywood Reporter. "We have faith that Nichelle, Dan, David and Malcolm will approach the subject with care and sensitivity. The project is currently in its infancy so we hope that people will reserve judgment until there is something to see."
The network gave a series order to Confederate on July 19. The show will reportedly take place in an alternate timeline where Southern states have successfully seceded from the Union and, as a result, give rise to a climate where slavery remains legal and has turned into a modern institution.
See how the Twitter community implemented the #NoConfederate hashtag, below:
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