Rupert Murdoch’s Fox network has pulled an episode of animated series Family Guy, after a series of clips from the show were edited and put online that appeared to depict parallels with the fatal attacks at Monday’sBoston Marathon.
In the episode, called Turban Cowboy, main character Peter Griffin is seen crashing into runner in a car in order to win the race.
When asked by sports announcer Bob Costas about his performance he says: “I’ll tell ya, Bob, I just got in my car and drove it,” Griffin says. “And when there was a guy in my way, I killed him.”
Later in the show in an unconnected incident he is seen befriending a terrorist who is plotting to blow up a bridge. The terrorist gives Griffin a mobile phone, which he uses to accidentally detonate the bomb.
Fox spokeswoman Gaude Paez said the episode, which was broadcast on TV in the US last month, has been removed from Fox.com and Hulu.com.
Fox moved to pull the episode after an internet mash-up of the two scenes from the show appeared online on Tuesday which made it look as if the explosions happened at the marathon.
Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy, said on Tuesday that the hoax clip currently circulating is “abhorrent”.
“The edited Family Guy clip currently circulating is abhorrent,” he tweeted. “The event was a crime and a tragedy, and my thoughts are with the victims.”
Paez said that Fox officials were working with YouTube to take down the edited clips.
Channel 4‘s movie station, Film4, has taken the film Four Lions out of its schedule next week after the Boston Marathon bombings.
The comedy is about a group of British Muslims planning a bomb attack at the London Marathon.
In a statement, the channel said: “In light of recent tragic events, Film4 has decided not to proceed with the planned broadcast of Four Lions which was scheduled for Monday 22 April.”
A previous episode of Family Guy was pulled after last December’s Sandy Hook school shooting in which 20 children were killed in Newtown, Connecticut.
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As posted by Laura Tyco on http://2012indyinfo.com/
The truth at last!