Don't Believe the Rumors, 'OITNB' Fans

This morning, I woke up to a few disturbing Facebook posts. "Netflix Pulls Plug On Orange Is the New Black ; The Reason Why May Shock You" read the headline. My heart sank, but then I clicked on the article. Something didn't seem right. My fellow OITNB fans can rest easy: The article isn't real, though many seem to have been fooled.

The article comes from Empire News, a satirical site in the style of The Onion. If all its other recent stories are to be believed, Colorado has legalized crystal meth and George Zimmerman is running for governor in Florida. The article itself is pretty obviously satirical if you read past the beginning, but like most good satire, it seems like it could almost be real. The article's premise is that there was a feud between the Netflix's CEO Reed Hastings and OITNB's creator Jenji Kohan over including more male leads in the show. It's an interesting commentary on the fact that OITNB has met with such critical and popular success despite the fact that it breaks the rules of most popular TV in primarily focusing on the lives of struggling women. I have to wonder how people could think the article was real after reading this quote, however.

“A woman’s place is in the home, in the kitchen, taking care of children,” Hastings told San Jose Mercury News reporter Noah Houpt as he was leaving Netflix headquarters Monday afternoon. “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.”

It's (somewhat) funny stuff, but thankfully it's false. We can still expect the third season of OITNB next year. And, remember folks, read before you post.

Image: Netflix