Late last week, five women — Rebecca Theodore, Jamie Broadnax, Shanelle Little, Lauren Warren, and April Reign — launched a campaign to get HBO to drop their upcoming alt-universe slavery show Confederate.
This Sunday at 9pm ET, during @GameOfThrones, we ask you to stand with us. We want to send a message to @hbo using hashtag #NoConfederate.
According to a press release from HBO, Confederate will follow a world in which the American South seceded from the Union, resulting in a nation in which slavery "has evolved into a modern institution." The proposed show, from Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, would involve events leading up to "the Third American Civil War." The announcement about Confederate was immediately met with a backlash.
The women behind the campaign against Confederate asked people to tweet throughout Game of Thrones on Sunday night with the hashtag #NoConfederate. And they did...
#NoConfederate is trending #1 - let @HBO know that we don't want this show.
The hashtag trended #1, with a lot of people joining in on the conversation.
Because, for some, the Confederacy isn't alt-history. It's right now. #NoConfederate @hbo
Thread. (It's like telling us, "How do you know if our poison will kill you if you don't taste it?") #NoConfederate https://t.co/E4NC92Y1Nv
White people: omg slavery happened like 150 yrs ago get over it Also white ppl: lets make a show abt slavery never ending #NoConfederate
Censorship is when the gov bans content. Product launch failure is when you launch something & your customer base hates it. #NoConfederate
Make this show instead. Many don't know Black Wall Street even existed; this would be thoughtful and interesting. I… https://t.co/5SzTdv4OpQ
#NoConfederate is basically: White ppl: omg... what if... white supremacy....was still real????!?!?! could you ima… https://t.co/n5hYqdcb16
@petrella_donna The 1st Am prevents the Govt from unreasonable limiting speech. I'm excersicing free speech protest… https://t.co/doT2NVbgrB
In response, HBO issued a statement, saying that they still have faith in Confederate and its executive producers — Benioff, Weiss, and Nichelle and Malcolm Spellman:
"We have great respect for the dialogue and concern being expressed around Confederate. We have faith that Nichelle, Dan, David and Malcolm will approach the subject with care and sensitivity. The project is currently in its infancy so we hope that people will reserve judgment until there is something to see."
April Reign did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News' request for further information, but said on Twitter they plan to "keep trying."