Nickelodeon Pulls ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ Episode Due to ‘Sensitivities’ over ‘Clam Flu’ Storyline

Nickelodeon has pulled an episode of its popular cartoon series SpongeBob SquarePants from its 12th season due to what the network called “sensitivities” involving its “virus storyline.”

“The ‘Kwarantined Crab’ centers on a virus storyline, so we have decided to not air it due to sensitivities surrounding the global, real-world pandemic,” a Nickeledeon spokesperson told IGN in a statement.

The episode follows a health inspector who finds a case of “Clam Flu” at the Krusty Krab, and quarantines all patrons inside the restaurant.

The characters immediately start distrusting each other, and anybody assumed to have the virus is shunned, and thrown in a freezer. The episode appears to mirror mask mandate tension that has caused fights, shootings, and brawls across the U.S.

While Nickelodeon did not comment when asked by IGN when and where the “Kwarantined Krab” episode of SpongeBob SquarePants has aired, the report noted that a clip from the episode is available on YouTube, in Spanish.

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Last year, Nickelodeon celebrated “Pride Month” with SpongeBob. The show’s creator Stephen Hillenburg said before he died from ALS in 2018 that he regarded the cartoon sponge as part of the LGBTQ+ community, because he is asexual.

In 2019, a professor at the University of Washington claimed that SpongeBob SquarePants is secretly pro-America propaganda that aims to — among other things — whitewash American military violence and spread the “violent and racist expulsion of Indigenous peoples.”

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, on Parler @alana, and on Instagram.