Sony Pictures apologizes over allergy scene in new ‘Peter Rabbit’ movie

CAIRO: Sony Pictures has apologized after facing backlash for the depiction of what critics deemed “blatant food allergy bullying” in their major motion picture “Peter Rabbit.”
One scene in the film shows a character who suffers from a blackberry allergy being pelted with them by a gang of rabbits.
Putting an innocent allergic individual at risk prompted fierce backlash from allergy awareness groups and campaigners who adopted the Twitter hashtag #boycottpeterrabbit.
America’s Kids With Food Allergies Foundation (KFA) said in a Facebook post: “Foood allergy ‘jokes’ are harmful to our community,” in response to the movie scene.
A petition by Australian group Global Anaphylaxis Awareness and Inclusivity (Globalaai) demanding that Sony Pictures apologize for the scene has also attracted signatures from around the world.
“This mocks the seriousness of allergic disease and is heartbreakingly disrespectful to the families of those that have lost loved ones to anaphylaxis,” the petition reads.
Sony Pictures said in a statement on Sunday that it was wrong for the filmmakers to include the segment, “even in a cartoonish, slapstick way.”
The statement added: “We sincerely regret not being more aware and sensitive to this issue, and we truly apologize.”
The film is an adaptation of a Beatrix Potter book by the same name and was released in US cinemas this weekend.
Character Tom McGregor, who has an allergy to berries, is attacked by Peter and his friends who shower him with the fruit, even shooting one into his mouth, until he is forced to use an EpiPen to treat his reaction.