The release of The Savant, an upcoming Apple TV+ series starring Jessica Chastain, has been postponed – and some have suggested it might be due to the recent murder of Charlie Kirk.
The first two episodes of the limited series, in which Chastain plays a woman who infiltrates online extremist groups, were set to premiere this Friday (September 26), but they’ve now been postponed with no new date or an explanation.
Apple TV+ said in a statement: “After careful consideration, we have made the decision to postpone The Savant. We appreciate your understanding and look forward to releasing the series at a future date.”
While no reason has been given, it’s been suspected that the current political climate in the US was a factor, as reported by outlets including Deadline and IndieWire. Chastain’s character, Jodi Goodwin, attempts to discover mass shootings and acts of terrorism before they take place, with creator Melissa James Gibson being inspired by a 2019 article in Cosmopolitan titled, “Is It Possible to Stop a Mass Shooting Before It Happens?”
The trailer shows Goodwin interacting with extremists online and trying to stop them before they act on their plans. She attempts to think like them, and worries whether it’s morally right to engage with the people she does, even if it’s for the greater good.
Of course, The Savant wouldn’t be the first show to have its plans affected in the aftermath of Kirk’s murder. Disney suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! last week following comments Kimmel made regarding the killing, before it returned last night (September 23). However, ABC affiliates Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group said they’d refuse to air the show on the TV stations they own.
An episode of South Park originally set to air last week but held back, however, wasn’t delayed due to Kirk’s murder. Though some fans suggested that the delay may have been related, co-creator Matt Stone said they simply didn’t get the work finished on time.
“No one pulled the episode, no one censored us, and you know we’d say so if true,” Stone told The Denver Post. “We just didn’t get it done. When you always cut it close, sometimes you mess up. That’s the price of being a procrastinator.”
At the time, co-creators Stone and Trey Parker issued a statement that read: “Apparently when you do everything at the last minute sometimes you don’t get it done. This one’s on us. We didn’t get it done in time. Thanks to Comedy Central and South Park fans for being so understanding. Tune in next week!”
The delay came after a previous episode, aired last month, was pulled from reruns. The episode saw character Eric Cartman becoming a conservative commentator, mimicking Kirk, and featuring a prize called the Charlie Kirk Award for Young Masterdebaters.
While some of Kirk’s supporters criticised the episode, the executive producer of The Charlie Kirk Show urged for the episode to be reinstated. Andrew Kolvet wrote on X (Twitter), “As someone who can speak with some authority on this, Charlie loved that he was featured in South Park. He told me many times. He would want the episode back up.”
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