Fox News Banned Ad for Oscar-Nominated Nazi Documentary for Some Reason
It's almost definitely not because they're Nazi sympathizers, though.
You'd think there would be few sentiments less controversial in America than "Nazis are bad."
After all, much of America's prominence on the global stage stems from our victory over Germany during WWII. Many of our great-grandparents went to war to fight the Nazis. Captain America beat Nazis. Nazism goes against everything our country stands for.
And yet, for the good folks at Fox News, Nazism is controversial.
Fox News's most recent fling with Nazism revolves around a 30-second ad for the Oscar-nominated documentary short, A Night at the Garden. The movie covers a terrifying American Nazi rally held at Madison Square Garden on February 20, 1939. The ad expresses the movie's sentiment with a single line of text at the end: "It can happen here."
"The film shines a light on a time when thousands of Americans fell under the spell of a demagogue who attacked the press and scapegoated minorities using the symbols of American patriotism," said director Marshall Curry to The Hollywood Reporter.
Again, we're talking about actual Nazis here – Americans who legitimately identified with the Nazi party during WWII.
After running the ad on a local slot during Sean Hannity's primetime Monday night show, the film's distributor, Field of Vision, purchased a national spot. That's when Fox News's CEO, Suzanne Scott, stepped in, telling THR the ad was "not appropriate for our air."
Yes, Suzanne, certainly advertising a documentary about an actual historical event is not appropriate for a "news network."
"It's amazing to me that the CEO of Fox News would personally inject herself into a small ad buy just to make sure that Hannity viewers weren't exposed to this chapter of American history," said Curry.
It really is amazing. What genuine reason could Fox News possibly have for actively shielding its viewers from an award-nominated documentary about relevant American history. Are their viewers so fragile that the mere image of Nazis might send them into cardiac arrest? Or do they think a significant portion of Sean Hannity's viewer base might actually identify as white supremacists?
"The ad in question is full of disgraceful Nazi imagery regardless of the film's message and did not meet our guidelines," Fox News president of ad sales Marianne Gambelli told Gizmodo.
Weird, I thought Fox News hated censorship.
Dan Kahan is a writer & screenwriter from Brooklyn, usually rocking a man bun. Find more at dankahanwriter.com
POP⚡DUST | Read More...
5 Romantic Movie Gestures That Are Actually Super Creepy
Now In Theaters: 5 New Movies for the Weekend of February 15
Why Bad Movies Are Better Than Good Ones
- Oscars 2018 Preview: Best Picture Nominees - Popdust ›
- Now in Theaters: New Movies for 1/25 - Popdust ›
- Tucker Carlson Has an Opening for a (Secretly Racist) Writer - Popdust ›
- The 5 Best Banned Movies of All Time - Popdust ›
- Three Questions to Determine Whether You Should #FireTuckerCarlson - Popdust ›
- Film about American Nazis aims to send message to Trump voters ... ›
- Fox News turns down national ad for anti-Nazi documentary, calling ... ›
- Nazis and anti-Semites slip through GOP primaries, causing ... ›
- Fox News Rejected Anti-Nazi Ad Because It's 'Not Appropriate for ... ›
- Ocasio-Cortez compares members of migrant caravan to Jews ... ›
- Fox News rejects ad for anti-Nazi film - Diaspora - Jerusalem Post ›
- Fox News Turns Down Ad That Contained Nazi Imagery – Variety ›
- Fox News rejects ad warning against Nazism as 'not appropriate ... ›
- Watch the Anti-Nazi Ad Banned by Fox News ›
- Fox News Rejects National Ad for Oscar-Nominated Anti-Nazi ... ›
POPULAR NEWS
