An Apple TV+ series chronicling the rise of controversial blogging network Gawker Media was reportedly canned after Tim Cook learned about the project and intervened, according to a new report.
Earlier this year, Vanity Fair claimed Apple was in the early stages of developing a series about Gawker. Called "Scraper," the series was reportedly pitched by two former Gawker staffers, Max Read and Cord Jefferson.
According to a New York Times report on Sunday, however, Apple scrapped the show after Cook heard about its development. Sources told the publication that Cook was "surprised" to learn Apple was making the show and emailed an Apple executive to express his "distinctly negative view" towards the project.
Mr. Cook, according to two people briefed on the email, was surprised to learn that his company was making a show about Gawker, which had humiliated the company at various times and famously outed him, back in 2008, as gay. He expressed a distinctly negative view toward Gawker, the people said. Apple proceeded to kill the project. And now, the show is back on the market and the executive who brought it in, Layne Eskridge, has left the company. Gawker, it seems, is making trouble again.
As the report notes, Apple had a fraught relationship with the now-defunct media company. Notably in 2010, it was Gawker-owned Gizmodo that got its hands on an iPhone 4 prototype that had been accidentally left in a bar by an Apple employee.
This isn't the first time we've heard about Apple executives influencing Apple TV+ content development. In 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported that Cook killed off a Dr Dre biopic "Vital Signs" after being troubled by the show's scenes depicting drawn guns, sex, and drug use.
In addition, Sunday's NYT report claims that Eddy Cue, Apple's senior VP for internet software and services, has informed Apple TV+ partners that "the two things we will never do are hard-core nudity and China."
As the report notes, Apple has explained its "corporate red lines" to creators before. As early as 2018, when Apple's original programming production got underway, company executives reportedly gave guidance to some show creators to "avoid portraying China in a bad light."
The full report about the Gawker show development and Tim Cook's intervention is available to read at The New York Times.
Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
