Adult Swim Pulls The Boondocks and Aqua Teen Hunger Force Episodes Due to Cultural Sensitivities

Adult Swim has chosen to retire a handful of episodes between two of its most popular television shows — Aqua Teen Hunger Force and The Boondocks. A new report Tuesday afternoon (via The Daily Beast) confirms the adult-oriented animated block and its corporate parent WarnerMedia, have chosen to throw at least two episodes from each series into the vault due to content the company deems “cultural insensitivity.”

When it comes to Aqua Teen Hunger Force, both “Shake Like Me” and “Boston” are missing from the show’s catalog on HBO Max. In the earlier episode, Shake is bitten by a Black man who’s been “irradiated by toxic waste.” The latter of the pair was an unfinished episode that poked fun at an attempt of guerilla marketing the show pulled in 2007, an event that led to a bomb scare that shut down a major Boston highway during the height of rush hour.

Despite a reboot for The Boondocks currently on the way, HBO Max has removed three episodes of the first series from the service. “The Story of Jimmy Rebel,” “The Hunger Strike,” and “Pause” have all been removed at the behest of the streamer.

“When Adult Swim transitions series to a new platform,” one HBO Max spokesperson told the Beast. “We determine what episodes are selected through creative and cultural filters and our standards and practices policies. Oftentimes these decisions are made in collaboration with the show’s creators.”

A third show — The Shivering Truth — also had an episode removed, due to a stop-motion skit involving a woman giving birth to a police officer. In the skit, the officer is then called “a dirty pig.” Adult Swim says the episode will return at some point.

The same report suggests the removed episodes of The Boondocks have been “permanently retired” by Adult Swim, though it’s unclear if the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episodes could return at a later date.

Adult Teen Hunger Force and The Boondocks are now streaming on HBO Max.