This seems like one of the odder pieces of media to get “cancelled” considering it is intentionally vague whether it counts as blackface, and that ambiguity is a not-so-subtle dig at the inherent racism that exists in a plethora of fantasy fiction, like the Dungeons & Dragons covers Community was deconstructing, as well as the decades of such fiction permeating the genre. (Hulu removed the episode hours after Netflix.) While Community creator Dan Harmon has remained silent on the decision, Sony Pictures Television, which produced the cult series, announced their “support” for Netflix and later Hulu’s decision. It was the 14th episode of Community Season 2. The potential poor taste and blackface implications of the makeup is immediately pointed out by the other characters with Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown), who is a Woman of Color, saying, “So we’re just going to ignore the hate crime, huh?” Chang responds, “I’m a dark elf or a drow.” In the episode in question, the controversial incident occurs early when the main characters of the series gather to play an absurdly high-stakes game of Dungeons & Dragons, and the character of Chang (Ken Jeong) arrives wearing pitch black makeup over his skin, a wig of white hair, pointed ears, and contact lenses.

By the company’s reasoning, this is due to the use of blackface in the episode. Netflix removed a fan favorite episode of Community from its streaming service on Friday, deleting “Advanced Dungeons and Dragons” from its selection of season 2 episodes.

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