Family Guy episode showing mass death at Boston Marathon pulled by Fox
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.America’s Fox network has pulled an episode of animated comedy Family Guy which depicts mass death at the Boston Marathon and says it has “no immediate plans” to broadcast it.
The episode showed Peter Griffin mowing down a crowd of runners in his car.
When asked by sports announcer Bob Costas about his performance in the marathon Peter Griffin says: “I’ll tell ya, Bob, I just got in my car and drove it. And when there was a guy in my way, I killed him.”
Fox spokeswoman Gaude Paez said the episode had been removed from Fox.com and Hulu.com.
In a later scene Peter Griffin is seen befriending a terrorist who is plotting to blow up a bridge. When he then calls a mobile phone the friend had given him sounds of explosions and screams can be heard.
An edited clip which fuses the Boston Marathon scene with the terrorist explosion sequence making it seem – entirely incorrectly – as if the explosion was during the race, has been circulating on the internet.
The show’s creator Seth MacFarlane condemned the edited clip and offered condolences to the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings which left three people dead and hundreds injured on Monday.
“The edited Family Guy clip currently circulating is abhorrent,” MacFarlane tweeted. “The event was a crime and a tragedy, and my thoughts are with the victims.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments