A new Apple TV+ series that was supposed to show the rise of the controversial blogging network Gawker Media has reportedly been canceled, with Apple boss Tim Cook reportedly dropping the project after learning about it.
Earlier this year, Vanity Fair claimed that Apple was planning to produce a series about Gawker. The series, titled "Scraper," was reportedly proposed by two former Gawker employees, Max Read and Cord Jefferson. However, according to a new New York Times report, Apple canceled the series after Cook learned of its development. Sources say Cook was "surprised" to learn that Apple was producing the series and sent an email to an Apple executive to express his "clearly negative opinion" of the project. The report states: report:
iPhone 4: Gizmodo found prototype
According to two people briefed in the email, Mr. Cook was surprised to learn that his company was doing a show about Gawker, which had humiliated the company at various times and famously outed him as gay in 2008. People said he had a distinctly negative view of Gawker, so Apple killed the project.
As the report notes, Apple has had a strained relationship with the now-defunct media company. Most notably, in 2010, Gawker-owned Gizmodo got its hands on an iPhone 4 prototype that was accidentally left behind by an Apple employee in a bar. It's not the first time the Apple boss has influenced the development of Apple TV+ content.
Apple TV+: No content that portrays China negatively
In 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported that Cook pulled the Dr. Dre biopic "Vital Signs" after being disturbed by the show's scenes depicting drawn guns, sex and drug use. In addition, the new report claims that Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet software and services, informed Apple TV+ partners that "the two things we will never do are hardcore nudity and China." Specifically, the report says Apple does not want to produce content that portrays China in a negative light. (Photo by Burdun / Bigstockphoto)
