The Witches Runs Into Controversy

Flag on the play, y’all! Warner Bros. remake of The Witches has run into controversy with the disabled community, per Deadline.

In the film, Anne Hathaway’s character hands have a few digits missing. This is known as split hand. This is offensive because the use of distinct physical impairments in the hands is offensive to those with limb differences.

Paralympians, Paralympic Games organization and several prominent members of the disabled community have expressed their disapproval with the character. British Paralympic swimmer Amy Marren brought Warner Bros. to task on Twitter on the character. She expresses her overall “disappointment”.

A Warner Bros. spokesperson issued an apology for the controversy. The studio is “deeply saddened to learn that our depiction of the fictional characters in The Witches could upset people with disabilities. [The studio] regretted any offense caused. In adapting the original story, we worked with designers and artists to come up with a new interpretation of the cat-like claws that are described in the book. It was never the intention for viewers to feel that the fantastical, non-human creatures were meant to represent them.”

Read Marren’s full Tweet below!