There's a penis drawing in a children's show that's available on Netflix, and parents are not happy.
A brief frame in the European-produced Maya the Bee shows a penis drawing on a tree trunk.
Studio 100, the Belgian production company behind the show, has issued a statement about the controversy, after facing backlash on social media. The show first debuted in 2012, but it looks like the backlash has only started recently, thanks to concerned U.S. audience members.
"An absolutely inappropriate image has been discovered in a four-second fly-by scene in one episode of the total of 78 episodes of the series," Studio 100 said in a statement provided to The Hollywood Reporter. "The origin of this image obviously results from a very bad joke from one of the 150 artists working on the production."
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Studio 100 also said that "legal action has already been started" to address the image.
"Studio 100 very much regrets this incident and would like to offer its sincere apologies to all Maya the Bee fans," the statement continued. "At the same time, the company is taking all suitable technical measures to remedy the situation."
I’ll never watch Maya The Bee the same way again.. pic.twitter.com/vx2HmnI94n
— James Dyer (@jamescdyer) September 21, 2017
Netflix Children's Show Producer Says Penis Drawing Was "Very Bad Joke" From One Artist https://t.co/reXzMO6gOe pic.twitter.com/ant6FEdjLE
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) September 22, 2017
After facing backlash from U.S. parents, Netflix has removed the episode in question from its streaming service.
"I'm extremely disgusted by it, there should be no reason my kids have to see something like this," one U.S. mom wrote on Facebook, according to Variety. "I don't know if they're gonna do something about this or what, but there's no reason why this should be in this show."
To be fair, the image is only on screen for a few seconds; kids probably won't pick up on the drawing. And it's still more tame than some of those NSFW Disney rumors.
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