The official Twitter page for Netflix’s supernatural teen drama Chilling Adventures of Sabrina came under fire this past weekend after posting what many judged to be a wholly insensitive tweet. On Sunday, January 10th, the CAOS social media account shared a batch of behind-the-scenes pics of the show’s stars – namely, Kiernan Shipka (Sabrina Spellman), Jaz Sinclair (Roz Walker), Gavin Leatherwood (Nick Scratch), Miranda Otto (Zelda) and Lucy Davis (Hilda) – splattered with fake blood. The caption read: “Sunday bloody Sunday.”
That might seem innocent at first glance, but the tweet soon incurred backlash from users who felt the pun was in poor taste. You see, it was likely referencing classic U2 song “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” which was written about the atrocious Bloody Sunday massacre that took place in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1972, at the height of the civil unrest in the country during that period. Understandably, many didn’t take well to the tragedy being referenced in this context.
Netflix ended up paying attention to all the outrage and soon removed it. “Our tweet was unacceptable and has since been removed. We are very sorry for the hurt and distress it caused,” said a spokesperson to Deadline in response to the controversy.
You can see a screenshot of the now-deleted post below:
CAOS wrapped up its run after four seasons this past New Year’s Day, with the show ending on a shocking development. The titular teenage witch died after sacrificing herself to defeat the final Eldritch Horror, demonic entities that were threatening to cause Armageddon, last being seen in the afterlife with her boyfriend Nick. This generated controversy as well, but to be fair to the creators, it wasn’t intended as the series finale. And Shipka likes to think that Sabrina found a way to get herself back to Greendale. Whether we’ll see that play out in a revival or even a Riverdale crossover at some point, though, we don’t know.
You can catch all of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix now.
