Pepe Le Pew cut from ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ due to controversial scene

There will be one Looney Tunes character that won’t be appearing with Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James in “Space Jam: A New Legacy.”

Pepe Le Pew, the French skunk, had his scene in the movie cut, according to Deadline’s Anthony D’Alessandro.

“He starred in the first Warner Bros. ‘Space Jam’ movie back in 1996, however, Pepe Le Pew will not be showing up at all in the upcoming theatrical sequel ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ on July 16,” D’Alessandro wrote.

“With the Looney Tunes French skunk besieged by controversy in the wake of New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow slamming that the cartoon character ‘added to rape culture,’ Deadline has learned that a hybrid live-action animation scene between Jane the Virgin actress Greice Santo and Pepe Le Pew, shot back in June 2019 for Space Jam 2 was left on the cutting room floor.

“The Pepe Le Pew character will likely be a thing of the past across all media. Warner Bros. also has no current TV series featuring the skunk and there are no plans to have him appear on Looney Toons, Bugs Bunny Builders, Tiny Toons Looniversary or future projects, sources confirmed to Deadline.”

It doesn’t seem like Pepe Le Pew played a big role in “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” which is scheduled to release on July 16 of this year.

James is following in the footsteps of NBA legend Michael Jordan who was the star in the original “Space Jam” movie.

While James and the Lakers are focused on bringing back-to-back titles to Los Angeles, the offseason release of his movie will give Lakers fans plenty to look forward to.