NBC has pulled an episode of “Nurses” from digital and future airings after a scene was criticized as anti-Semitic, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The scene in question featured an Orthodox Jew refusing a bone graft from a dead “Arab” or “woman” donor, the outlet reported Wednesday. Orthodox Judaism does not have restrictions on receiving bone grafts from cadavers, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The scene was publicly criticized by the Simon Wiesenthal Center before being pulled by NBC.
WATCH:
I think this is the most antisemitic thing I have ever seen in a TV show pic.twitter.com/oS1hPFIjcj
— Seffi Kogen (@seffikogen) February 24, 2021
“The writers of this scene check all the boxes of ignorance and pernicious negative stereotypes, right down to the name of the patient, Israel — paiyous and all,” the statement said, according to the outlet. “In one scene, NBC has insulted and demonized religious Jews and Judaism.” (RELATED: REPORT: Viacom CBS Could Rehire Nick Cannon Following Fallout From Anti-Semitic Rant)
“Overreaction? Orthodox Jews are targeted for violent hate crimes — in the city of New York, Jews are number one target of hate crimes in U.S.; this is no slip of the tongue,” the statement reportedly continued. “It was a vile, cheap attack masquerading as TV drama. What’s NBC going to do about it?”
The episode originally aired on Feb. 9 and was first called out in an article published by Jew In The City and titled, “NBC Needs To Apologize For Their Libelous Portrayal Of Hasidic Jews.”
NBC picked up the Canadian series “Nurses” in late 2020 due to lack of content from coronavirus, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
This isn’t the first time the network has had to pull episodes following controversy. NBC previously pulled episodes of “30 Rock” that used blackface at creator Tina Fey’s request. Fey appeared in multiple sketches wearing blackface.