Televangelist T.D. Jakes Wants âPeppa Pigâ Cartoon Taken Off Air, Claims Show Contains Racist Subliminal Messages
Superstar television evangelist T.D. Jakes is in the news this morning, after ranting about a popular childrenâs cartoon during a radio interview on WGOD AM,Â  a non-profit, non-denominational based radio program which airs throughout the state of Texas.Jakes, who is Bishop of The Potterâs House, the famous mega-church located in Dallas, claims that the animated childrenâs programÂ Peppa PigÂ contains several unethical subconscious messages, most notably of sexual and racist content.âWe live together in a loving world, and sometimes that gets taken advantage of in an evil manner,â Jakes said. âRecently it was brought to my attention by a nice young lady in our congregation that while watching the cartoon programÂ Peppa Pig, she noticed several suspicious, and very adult, references. When I sat down with her to watch an episode, I was overwhelmingly appalled to learn that her suspicions were, in fact, reality.âThe 57-year-old Man of God went on to explain that the characters featured on Peppa PigÂ highly resembled penises, and that characters were often gallivanting and making racist comments.âThey snort and laughÂ at the other animals, making fun of anyone who is not a pig. Plus, all the pig faces are drawn to look like penises and testicles. In the episode I watched, they told the rabbit and the turtle to âsit in the back of the busâ as they snorted and giggled,â Jakes said. âItâs really inappropriate for young children. They even make reference to âmuddy puddles,â which is definitely a slang for African-Americans if Iâve ever heard one. Despicable!âThis is not the first time Peppa Pig has been called out for being racist. Members of the Muslim communities in the United Kingdom, where the show is recorded and produced, signed a petition in recent months claiming the show was clearly anti-Muslim and promoted the gross consumption of pork.Empire News attempted to contact Jakes to no avail, but Nickelodeon officials did return an email saying there was absolutely no truth behind the claims of racism or sexual innuendo, and that the popular childrenâs program would continue to be aired in heavy rotation.Peppa Pig, as most parents of toddlers are no doubt aware,Â currently airs at least 167 timesÂ daily, on networks such as Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. in the United States, and several others internationally.Â Â Â