‘Looney Tunes’ Character Pepé Le Pew Removed From ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ & Other Warner Bros. Projects

Warner Bros. will be removing the infamous Looney Tunes character Pepé Le Pew from the upcoming film Space Jam: A New Legacy and other Looney Tunes related projects in the future. Pepé Le Pew is infamous for being a stereotypical French skunk, who constantly chases after female characters who are the objects of his affection. Most of the time, his romantic advances are done without consent and only made to play to the joke of him being infatuated with certain characters. The character has been a subject of controversy for quite some time, all the way back to his first appearance in 1945.

Pepé Le Pew had a standout scene in Space Jam: A New Legacy, which was ultimately removed following the decision to retire the character. The scene in question features the skunk in a black-and-white Casablanca-like Rick’s Cafe sequence. The character is a bartender who is hitting on a character played by Greice Santo. As Pepé starts to kiss her arm, the woman retaliates and slams him into the chair next to him before pouring a drink on him and smacking him away. As Pepé spins around on a stool in pain, he also reveals that the cat he had infamously stalked in the classic cartoons named Penelope had filed a restraining order against him. He is then approached by Lebron James and Bugs Bunny, who are looking for Lola Bunny. James apparently makes a remark that the skunk should not grab other Tunes without their consent. The scene will no longer be featured when the film is released.

The character will not appear in any other future projects, making him the first famous Looney Tunes character to be outright banned.