Dan Levy
Dan Levy is done with Comedy Central India after the TV station removed a kiss between his character, David Rose, and Dustin Milligan’s Ted Mullens from a “Schitt’s Creek” clip.
In March 2019, Comedy Central India tweeted a scene from the show, which sees David, Ted, Stevie (Emily Hampshire), Patrick (Noah Reid) and Alexis (Annie Murphy) play spin the bottle. The promo includes kisses between Alexis and Stevie and Alexis and Ted, but cuts David and Ted’s smooch.
“You showed the kiss between two women, you showed the kiss between a woman and a man, then removed the kiss between two men?” Levy tweeted on Tuesday in belated response. “This is a show about the power of inclusivity. The censorship of gay intimacy is making a harmful statement against that message.
“I thought I made this pretty clear but for those who are confused, this is about a channel in India,” the “Schitt’s Creek” star and cocreator added in a follow-up tweet. “@Comedycentral in America is not censoring the show. They have been lovely and respectful. Thank you for your time.”
The Los Angeles Times has reached out to Comedy Central U.S. with a request for comment from its sister station in India.
During its six-season run, fans and critics alike have hailed the Canadian sitcom for its inclusivity of LGBTQ storylines. And this year, “Schitt’s Creek” won the GLAAD Media Award for comedy series after wrapping its final season, which saw David marry Patrick in a sweet series finale. On Wednesday, GLAAD responded to Comedy Central India’s controversial tweet as well, writing, “Schitt’s Creek was designed by @danjlevy to be a place free from homophobia, so removing this kiss flies in the face of the show’s intent and what makes Schitt’s Creek so extraordinary.”
The hit POPTV program took home the coveted comedy series prize at last month’s virtual Emmy Awards, where “Schitt’s Creek” made history by sweeping the comedy bracket with additional wins for lead actress (Catherine O’hara), lead actor (Eugene Levy), supporting actor (Dan Levy), supporting actress (Murphy), writing (Dan Levy) and directing (Dan Levy and Andrew Cividino).