John Oliver slammed Disney-owned Hotstar on Sunday for censoring his present, “Final Week Tonight With John Oliver”, in India saying the native streaming service has edited no less than three episodes in current months.
A current episode of “Final Week Tonight”, through which Oliver criticised the Indian authorities’s current insurance policies and its chief, Narendra Modi, by no means aired on Hotstar, which is the unique syndicating associate for many HBO content material in India. [The same episode is available unedited on YouTube in India.]
Oliver additionally referenced an episode of the present from late final 12 months the place he had mocked Disney, a section he mentioned was cleverly edited earlier than streaming in India. After which, one other occasion in a section centered on China’s one-child coverage through which he once more joked that Donald Duck’s penis. That was additionally edited earlier than going up for streaming in India, Oliver mentioned.
“They minimize out a joke about Mickey Mouse being a cocaine addict. Why would they do this? It’s arduous to say. But it surely could be as a result of Hotstar is owned by Disney and so they appear further delicate to Disney references,” mentioned Oliver.
(As a part of its take care of Fox final 12 months, Disney owns Star India, and all its properties, together with Hotstar.)
Oliver ended the section with this recommendation to Hotstar: “If you happen to assume that you must take away something that displays poorly on Disney from this present, I’ve some dangerous information for you, my associates. I’m fucking Zazu right here. Every part that comes out of this beak is a ‘Disney Truth’,” he mentioned.
“If I say that Cogsworth collects Nazi memorabilia, guess what? That’s canon, child. That’s a ‘Disney fucking Truth’ proper there. And for the foreseeable future, Hotstar, you’ll be able to look ahead to studying much more of them on this present as a result of we’re going to be sliding them into our tales like Chip and Dale slid into Richard Gere. That’s proper — ‘Disney Truth,’ motherfuckers.”
You’ll be able to guess your cash that this episode won’t air unedited on Hotstar tomorrow. And that’s simply the form of promotion Disney should be searching for in India proper now. Disney+ launches in India, via Hotstar, later this month.
We’ve reached out to Disney and Hotstar in India — however don’t assume they are going to reply. They by no means do on such issues.
