The Netflix series BoJack Horseman was removed from Chinese streaming service iQiyi after some concerns over “content.”
As part of a licensing deal made with iQiyi in April, Netflix began streaming original series on the site this month. But three episodes of BoJack Horseman—an animated show about a depressed, drug-addicted horse-man voiced by Will Arnett—were removed from the site. A statement from iQiyi claimed, “Adjustments need to be made to the content.”
Indeed, the series’ darker themes probably didn’t make it past China’s media censors, which found The Big Bang Theory too offensive in 2014. In an interview before BoJack was pulled, iQiyi’s Yang Xianghua said one obstacle in the two sites releasing series concurrently—like, say, season 2 of Stranger Things—would be Netflix submitting content early enough for censors. Chef’s Table and Making a Murderer are reportedly still on the site.
BoJack creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg did recently tweet out one victory over censorship.
https://twitter.com/RaphaelBW/status/869589427672064004
We’ve reached out to Netflix for comment.
H/T Variety