Netflix kids' show producer blames rogue artist for penis drawing: 'A very bad joke'

The Wrap
September 22, 2017 at 3:09PM
The children's TV show "Maya the Bee" airs on Netflix.
The children's TV show "Maya the Bee" airs on Netflix. (Randy Salas/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Blame one "Maya the Bee" artist for that penis drawing on a log in Season 1, Episode 35, which has since been yanked from Netflix over the obscenity.

It was a "very bad joke," per "Maya" production company Studio 100, which also called the background illustration "unacceptable."

"Legal action has already been started," apologetic producers continued in their Friday morning statement. "At the same time the company is taking all suitable technical measures to remedy the situation."

Sounds like Studio 100 will try to scrub that scene so Netflix can re-upload the episode. Studio 100 has not returned TheWrap's multiple requests for comment. When reached, Netflix had no comment on the drawing.

Here is the production house's full statement:

"An absolutely inappropriate image has been discovered in a four-second fly-by scene in one episode of the total of 78 episodes of the series," production group Studio 100 in a statement on Friday, per THR. "The origin of this image obviously results from a very bad joke from one of the 150 artists working on the production."

"This is indeed unacceptable to the Studio 100 Group as owner of the brand and all its partners and doesn't reflect the quality of its work and its values," the company's statement continued. "Legal action has already been started. Studio 100 very much regrets this incident and would like to offer its sincere apologies to all 'Maya the Bee' fans. At the same time the company is taking all suitable technical measures to remedy the situation."

This whole thing started after a mother named Chey Robinson discovered a drawing of a penis in the background of the episode. Robinson posted a video of her findings on Facebook, where it quickly spread. The streaming service removed Episode 35 sometime on Tuesday.

"Please be mindful of what your kids are watching!! I did NOT edit any images whatsoever, this is Maya The Bee, Season 1, Episode 35," Robinson wrote on the social media website, per The Mirror, including a screen grab of the offending image.

"I know I'm not going crazy and I know that something like this shouldn't be in a kids' show whatsoever," she said in a video available there. "I'm extremely disgusted by it, there should be no reason my kids have to see something like this."

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