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ABC cancels controversial pilot Alice of Arabia following backlash ABC cancels controversial pilot Alice of Arabia following backlash
(5 months later)
ABC Family has called time on ABC Family has called time on controversial pilot Alice of Arabia following widespread condemnation of its premise, which had been accused of racial and cultural stereotyping.
controversial pilot Alice of Arabia following widespread condemnation The project, which was greenlit just last week, was to centre on “a rebellious American teenage girl” who is kidnapped by her Saudi Arabian family. Writer Brooke Eickmeier penned the pilot while working as a US army cryptologic linguist. Following an enormous backlash on social media, Buzzfeed obtained an early draft and dismissed the script as “exactly what critics feared”.
of its premise, which had been accused of racial and cultural The Council on American-Islamic Relations had requested a meeting with ABC representatives last week. "We are concerned that, given media references to the main character 'surviving life behind the veil', the pilot and any resulting series may engage in stereotyping that can lead to things like bullying of Muslim students," said CAIR-LA executive director Hussam Ayloush. "We urge ABC Family Channel to meet with representatives of the Muslim and Arab American communities to discuss this important issue."
stereotyping. Following the uproar, ABC issued a statement announcing that Alice of Arabia would not go ahead. “The current conversation surrounding our pilot was not what we had envisioned, and is certainly not conducive to the creative process, so we’ve decided not to move forward with this project,” they said.
The project, which was greenlit just
last week, was to centre on “a rebellious American teenage girl”
who is kidnapped by her Saudi Arabian family. Writer Brooke Eickmeier
penned the pilot while working as a US army cryptologic linguist.
Following an enormous backlash on social media, Buzzfeed obtained an
early draft and dismissed the script as “exactly what critics feared”.
The Council on American-Islamic
Relations had requested a meeting with ABC representatives last week.
"We are concerned that, given media references to the main
character 'surviving life behind the veil', the pilot and any
resulting series may engage in stereotyping that can lead to things
like bullying of Muslim students," said CAIR-LA executive director Hussam Ayloush. "We urge ABC Family Channel to meet
with representatives of the Muslim and Arab American communities to
discuss this important issue."
Following the uproar, ABC issued a
statement announcing that Alice of Arabia would not go ahead. “The
current conversation surrounding our pilot was not what we had
envisioned, and is certainly not conducive to the creative process, so
we’ve decided not to move forward with this project,” they said.