Alexis Rose would only have one reaction to this news: "Ew, David!"
Less than a month after Schitt's Creek swept the 2020 Emmys with an impressive nine wins, co-creator and star Dan Levy clapped back to an unfortunate update: His beloved show is being censored in another country.
On Tuesday, Oct. 6, Levy took to Twitter to express concern over the fact that Comedy Central India chose to edit out a same-sex kiss that's central to a storyline, just one of the many reasons why the show has been championed as an accelerator of LGBTQ+ representation.
"You showed the kiss between two women, you showed the kiss between a woman and a man, then removed the kiss between two men? This is a show about the power of inclusivity," Levy wrote on Twitter. "The censorship of gay intimacy is making a harmful statement against that message. #loveislove"
Levy quickly followed up to clarify that the issue is specific to Comedy Central India, not the cable channel's American counterparts.
In the original scene from season five, episode five, Levy's David and Dustin Mulligan's Ted are playing spin the bottle along with Annie Murphy's Alexis, Emily Hampshire's Stevie and Noah Reid's Patrick. While Comedy Central India showed a kiss between Stevie and Alexis, the moment in which David and Ted actually lock lips is removed from the episode.
At the 2019 GLAAD Gala San Francisco, Levy accepted the Davidson/Valentini Award and reflected on his own experience of coming to terms with his own sexual identity.
"I legitimately thought that I would have to live with this secret—my being gay—for the rest of my life," he said, "because I didn't have the security of seeing a lot of people like myself being celebrated in popular culture." He then thanked his loved ones and inner circle for supporting him no matter what, support which eventually allowed him to dream up and make Schitt's Creek.
Hopefully, LGBTQ+ fans all across the world will be able to see themselves and their struggles represented in David.