Paw Patrol is not canceled but why did Kayleigh McEnany lie? Internet says it's to 'distract from 145K deaths'
‘Cancel’ culture seems to the hottest topic this season. And everyone seems to/wants to give their opinion about this concept. The latest to join the party is White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. According to Deadline, while she was finishing her briefing with reporters on July 24, she criticized the so-called ‘cancel’ culture, citing decisions to drop shows like ‘Cops’ and ‘Live PD’ in the wake of protests over the death of George Floyd. In her list, she also mentioned the animated series for children, ‘PAW Patrol’. The popular cartoon franchise is on air on Nickelodeon since 2013.
According to the report, McEnany said that President Donald Trump "is also appalled by cancel culture, and cancel culture specifically as it pertains to cops. We saw a few weeks ago that PAW Patrol, a cartoon show about cops, was canceled. The show Cops was canceled. Live PD was canceled. Lego halted the sales of their Lego City police station."
But no need to worry, it has not been canceled. The show on their official Twitter handle wrote: "No need to worry. PAW Patrol is not canceled." A spokesperson for Nickelodeon, told Deadline that the show has not been canceled. Naturally, fans of the show, especially parents, were relieved that the show is still on air. One Twitter user said, "Thank you! This lie made children even more sad than the notion that they were going to be forced to return to school during a pandemic."
Another user mockingly said, "Amazing times we live in when the verified twitter account of a bunch of cartoon dogs has to fact check the white house." A user opined, "There is no cancel culture. They are just correcting the Press Secretary. Sad that a cartoon has to correct the White House." An irate Twitter user said, "The WH press lady just claimed (in all seriousness and with great distress) that Paw Patrol has been canceled." A happy parent wrote, "My two-year-old daughter thanks you. I thank you for not bowing down to the mob. My daughter looks forward to the new season and more of Rex!"
Some were angry that the press secretary was spreading fake news. One wrote: "Kayleigh McEnany is standing on stage spreading fake news that Paw Patrol, a show about cartoon puppies, is canceled. Not 140,000 dead Americans and 4.17 million confirmed Covid-19 cases. Not Russian bounties on our troops. Cartoon puppies. Let that sink in." Another wrote: "You might want to let @PressSec know so she can update that little notebook of hers." One user stated, "I realize you had to do it, but this is so, so sad. Due to the pure incompetence of the @PressSec and @WhiteHouse, and their attempts to distract Americans from 145,000 deaths."
The rumors about the show being canceled started last month after a social media statement was posted on Twitter by the show, according to Snopes.com. The tweet read: "In solidarity of #amplifymelanatedvoices we will be muting our content until June 7th to give access for Black voices to be heard so we can continue to listen and further our learning. #amplifyblackvoices." The show was renewed earlier this year by Nickelodeon.
As stated in Deadline, last month, other networks did decide to cancel reality shows that told stories from the point of view of police. Paramount Network dropped ‘Cops ‘and A&E canceled ‘Live PD’, in the wake of protests over Floyd's death. That spared a national conversation about systemic racism. The report also states that Lego did not discontinue sales of cop-themed toys, but it did stop some marketing efforts in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests.