'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUG/8QAFAEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABP/aAAwDAQACEAMQAAAAyFYOv//EACEQAAMAAAQHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECAwAEBUEGERIUITHR/9oACAEBAAE/ANB4avqUcvHuISlm1ek+cgzB5lR5PsA9W2IaNdYzUplCQoG/zH//xAAXEQEAAwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACAAEy/9oACAECAQE/AMA2Z//EABcRAQADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEAAjL/2gAIAQMBAT8A1ZGf/9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Comedy Central decided to discontinue the airing of The Office's contentious season 1 episode 2 titled "Diversity Day". The most streamed television program of 2020 was the US version of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's workplace sitcom.
It was a delightful mockumentary when Comedy Central removed one episode from The Office's Sunday marathon, which ran from beginning to end, the show became the victim of what social media refers to as cancel culture.
In the episode of The Office, Michael Scott (Steve Carell), the too-eager, impetuous, and yearning manager, attempted to dispel stereotypes by emphasizing them even more. Michael assigned all of the staff to participate in an activity where he put cards with various nationalities printed on them on everyone's foreheads in honor of Diversity Day at the branch.
The "Martin Luther King Jr." tag was stuck on his forehead. In addition to mentioning a well-known routine by Chris Rock, he spoke in an extremely thick Indian accent that made Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling), one of the staff members, slap him.
Why Was season 1 episode 2 of The Office banned in 2020? when it aired in 2005
In the first-ever episode with original writing from the US authors, Steve Carell's character Michael Scott attempted to get his staff to laugh by performing a parody of a classic Chris Rock comedy routine. Michael was ignorant of the frequent bombings and the possible offense that his mimicry could create.
On Diversity Day, Michael started a game where his coworkers had to act out various ethnic stereotypes. The episode, which aired on March 29, 2005, was the second in the show's first season. It was only the most recent example of material censorship in a wake-aware age where major internet companies and corporations now control what content viewers can and cannot see.
The episode offered a satirical look at diversity policies and corporate correctness. It highlights the ineffective attempts made by corporations to address these racial concerns without considering their prejudices or the complexity of the situation. When speaking on a panel at the Television Critics Association, Larry Wilmore was direct about how "Diversity Day" of The Office would be seen today compared to 2005:
“There’s no way 'Diversity Day' could be produced today and probably rightly so. In fact, I have outtakes from that scene with Steve Carell that I can’t even say what they are, you know, that was so funny. But you never know. Things swing back and forth all the time, you know. And the culture is very malleable in that way, you know. The things that we find — it’s not so much the things that we can make fun of, but the things we find we can laugh at and it’s okay to laugh at, you know. I think I have a — I have more things on my list than most people and I acknowledge that, you know. And it’s why I probably get in trouble sometimes. But I honestly think that the more we can laugh about tough things, I just think the better off we are.”
Comedy Central believed that Carrell's Indian accent in The Office would not connect with the present day's audiences, which was where the problems at hand started. When it originally aired, it didn't seem like a big deal, but in the modern world, it might have easily been enough to ruin Carell's career and the audience's perception of the entire program, so the episode was canceled altogether.
