Toonami Co-Creator Addresses Recent Fan-Art Controversy

January 9, 2023, 6:06pm

Toonami is one of the biggest names in the U.S. anime space and for good reason. The program helped usher anime into the West decades ago, and it continues to provide a space for the ever-growing medium on cable. If you want an anime fix, Toonami is the place to go on the weekend, and fans have followed the program for ages. But following a recent controversy, Toonami’s co-creator Jason DeMarco is now addressing fans.

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The update comes after Toonami kicked off a special fan-art segment in 2023. The addition was buzzed about online, but when it went live, things went awry. Reports surfaced that one of the fan-art pieces chosen was actually taken from a paywall, and DeMarco has confirmed a user submitted the alleged fan art and falsely claimed they made it.

So I guess the Toonami Fan Art submissions piece we aired last night had a person’s art in it that was a piece that lives behind a paywall. Someone sent it to us under a false name as a “fan.” We’ve pulled it off of the Toonami FB and asked YouTube to pull it down as well.
— NUNEKIN KAMUI DEMARCO (@Clarknova1) January 8, 2023

“So I guess the Toonami Fan Art submissions piece we aired last night had a person’s art in it that was a piece that lives behind a paywall. Someone sent it to us under a false name as a “fan.” We’ve pulled it off of the Toonami FB and asked YouTube to pull it down as well. Toonami has a very small staff and there’s just no way we could vet every single piece of art. We relied on people being honest- that was a mistake. We won’t be doing fan art submissions any longer on-air, going forward. We sincerely apologize for the error,” DeMarco shared on Twitter.

Continuing, the executive went on to stress the issue arose from a simple mistake, and Toonami will forego fan submissions moving forward. “Again, an honest mistake. I know you’re not allowed to/supposed to make mistakes these days, but it is what it is. The ppl I feel sorry for in all of this are the artist whose work was stolen, and the fans who wanted to submit more art who won’t get the chance now.”

Clearly, the situation is a disappointing one, but the Toonami staff did what it could for these submissions with available staff. So if you’re looking for a place to show off your anime art, maybe give Tumblr or TikTok a shot.

What do you make of this Toonami debacle? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.