"Usually obscenity prosecutions are designed to make a point, they're not usually about the level of punishment," says Rusty Hardin, a former prosecutor and high-profile Houston defense attorney, Who is the district attorney pursuing the case?īabin, 41, is a lawyer, onetime model and actor who appeared as Spider in "School of Rock" and played Rocky on "The Young and the Restless" (2006 to 2007). He's also seen as a fashion photographer in Paris Hilton's 2006 "Stars Are Blind" video.īabin, who was elected to the district attorney's office in 2018, said in his statement that he had heard about "Cuties" and watched the movie, and felt it crossed the line. But it's a drop in the bucket for a $200 billion company like Netflix. There could be more penalties if the court determines the company benefited financially from the film. The charge is a state jail felony in Texas a corporation convicted of a felony would not receive jail time but could face fines up to $20,000, according to Texas penal code. "You're basically saying the company is so imbued with this type of behavior that the entire company is responsible," he says. Though Netflix co-CEOs Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos are named in the Tyler County indictment for authorizing or "recklessly" tolerating "Cuties" promotion, the DA has filed the charge against the California-based corporation.ĭuncan Levin, a former federal prosecutor and now managing partner at New York legal firm Tucker Levin, says charging a corporation is not uncommon and sends a message. "This charge is without merit and we stand by the film." Netflix has stood its ground. " 'Cuties' is a social commentary against the sexualization of young children," the company told USA TODAY in a statement after the indictment. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said it "sexualizes 11-year-old girls.' " Both urged U.S. Attorney General William Barr to investigate. Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, whose son is the Tyler County district attorney, called "Cuties" "pornography," and Sen. Predominately Republican politicians have expressed outrage. Netflix pulled the image after outcry, saying it was "deeply sorry" for the "inappropriate" artwork.Ĭritics made #CancelNetflix a trending hashtag and launched a "Cancel Netflix" petition on Change.Org.
CUTIES NETFLIX MOVIE
Director Maïmouna Doucouré told Time the film is a social commentary and part of the battle against "hypersexualization of children."īacklash kicked in around the movie in August, when Netflix released promotional material depicting the young cast in suggestive dance poses with bare midriffs and short shorts. "Cuties" earned strong reviews and a director's award at Sundance Film Festival. 'Cuties' controversy: Why the Netflix film became a combatant in the culture war Let's break down the burning questions around the "Cuties" case: "I had to look up where Tyler County is," says Thomas Leatherbury, director of the First Amendment Clinic at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, who calls the legal proceedings a "test case" and "very unusual." The case arising in a remote East Texas county (population: 21,766) has stirred sensational headlines, First Amendment issues and even more questions.
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1 for streaming the French coming-of-age film, which centers around an 11-year-old French-Senegalese girl who joins a dance group known as "The Cuties." 6 that the streaming giant had been indicted for "promotion of lewd visual material depicting a child." Tyler County District Attorney Lucas Babin announced in a statement on Oct.
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The culture war around "Cuties" went next level last week when a Texas grand jury brought criminal felony charges against Netflix. Watch Video: 'Cuties:' Netflix faces felony charges in Texas over controversial film