SILENCED

Jerrod Carmichael: ‘Criminal’ for NBC to Pull Shooting Episode

NBC yanked the episode after Wednesday’s congressional shooting.

Comedian and show runner Jerrod Carmichael argued against NBC’s decision to pull an episode of his series The Carmichael Show in the wake of Wednesday’s shooting at a congressional baseball practice. The episode, titled “Shoot-up-able,” dealt with gun violence and had been set to air Wednesday night. NBC skipped the episode, showing viewers the following week’s episode instead. Just before the network announced its decision, Carmichael appeared on Chelsea Handler’s Netflix show, where he made the case for broadcasting the episode despite the unfortunate timing. “I understand a corporation making that decision, but really to me what it says is you don’t think America is smart enough to handle real dialogue and something that reflects real family conversations and something that feels honest and true and still respects the victims,” Carmichael told Handler. “We handled the episode with as much love and integrity as we possibly could. To just pull that is just—it’s criminal. It seems to do a disservice to the viewer. It does a disservice to you. It does a disservice to all of us.”

-Matt Wilstein