(Netflix)
“Orange Is The New Black” has NOT been canceled!
A hoax published by a “satirical” site called Empire News fooled fans of the hit prison series on Friday and Saturday when it falsely claimed Netflix had “announced” its decision to cancel the show “in a bizarre turn of events.”
Thousands of alarmed fans spread the phony story on Facebook and Twitter, leading to even more confusion.
It’s 100 percent bogus.
The fake press release quoted by Empire News quotes Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings as saying, “We regret to inform Netflix members that Orange is the New Black has been permenantly cancelled. Also, starting September 1st, 2014, past episodes will no longer be available for streaming on Netflix.”
But if you read beyond the first few lines, it becomes clear that the whole thing is a joke.
Empire News creates a scenario in which Hastings battles with show creator Jenji Kohan about making “Orange Is The New Black” more male-centric.
“A woman’s place is in the home, in the kitchen, taking care of children,” Hastings is “quoted” as telling a reporter in the totally fictional satire. “A woman in jail? How does anyone even watch this show in the first place? It’s like we took everything bad about OZ, and make this show with the leftovers.”
If only people had finished the article, its phoniness (if not necessarily funniness) would have been apparent.
