Pepe Le Pew found himself at the center of the cancel culture conversation when New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow slammed the cartoon character because of its link to "rape culture." The character will no longer be used in future Looney Tunes projects, most notably the upcoming Space Jam: A New Legacy. A scene featuring the character was shot back in June of 2019 when it was filmed by the film's first director, Terence Nance. The director left the production with Malcolm D. Lee taking over at the helm and under the direction of Lee, Pepe Le Pew was eliminated from the sequel a while ago and never animated for the live-action footage which was shot. No one is confirming if the New York Times piece is the reason that the character has been cut from the final film but Linda Jones, daughter of the late Pepe Le Pew creator Chuck Jones, thinks the character should not be canceled and is asking that the character be rebranded instead.
Jones spoke with "TMZ" about the matter and she first and foremost "strongly disagrees" with the idea that the popular Looney Tunes character contributed whatsoever to rape culture. Jones goes on to state that she strongly believes that nobody who watched Pepe "was inspired to out and rape, or even harass, people." The running gag, according to Jones, was never meant to be predatory and was more about how he "stunk" as a suitor despite the fact that he thought he was so desirable. Considering the character is a skunk, I would be inclined to believe her that "stinking" as a suitor was the intended joke.
Linda Jones also shared perspective on her father, who she said was very liberal and that his intention with Pepe Le Pew was always meant to be purely comedic. His daughter does agree that Pepe's aggressive approach doesn't look good in 2021 but she makes a good point that most people watching the cartoon in previous decades never thought of him being predatory in any sense of the word. Jones goes on to say that maybe it's "wrong or ignorant" of the audience back then to not see it that way but "that just wasn't the vibe then, nor the intention."
Jones believes it's up to Warner Bros. to remove him from the Space Jam sequel if they feel the timing for him to appear in the film isn't right but she thinks they really missed a rebranding opportunity by eliminating him entirely. Jones pitched an interesting idea to save the character that would maintain the spirit of the idea behind Pepe by having him be a "perpetual job-seeker who keeps getting rejected, but constantly changes up his routine thinking he's the perfect candidate."
I think there are a lot of interesting pieces that can be written about all types of art. Charles M. Blow's piece on Pepe Le Pew didn't have to be a call to cancel the character. It could've maybe made us think about how why the character may not work in today's culture but trying to erase it from existence as if it never happened is a dangerous form of ignorance as well. Is the character problematic in today's culture? Maybe so but there are also teachable moments that can take place if you allow the art to exist and let the individual who discovers it choose how they perceive it. Cancel culture is a VERY slippery slope and I think we'll soon find that a lot of art that we cherish, will be in serious danger of being written off.