‘The Wire’ Creator Won’t Film New HBO Show in Texas Over Abortion Law
‘BEYOND POLITICS’
The creator of The Wire is looking for filming locations that look like Texas but are not, since he won’t work in the Lone Star State. David Simon said he will not allow filming for his upcoming HBO show to take place in Texas due to the state’s new abortion law, which deputizes private citizens to sue anyone who provides an abortion to a woman after six weeks of pregnancy. Simon wrote on Twitter, “If an employer [sic], this is beyond politics. I’m turning in scripts next month on an HBO non-fiction miniseries based on events in Texas, but I can’t and won’t ask female cast/crew to forgo civil liberties to film there. What else looks like Dallas/Ft. Worth?” Responding to criticism of the decision from the Dallas Film and Creative Industries Office, Simon continued, “My response is NOT rooted in any debate about political efficacy or the utility of any boycott. My singular responsibility is to securing and maintaining the civil liberties of all those we employ during the course of a production.”