Rick and Morty fans threaten to boycott show over 9/11 and Pearl Harbour jokes

One viewer accused the jokes of ‘adding fuel to the xenophobia of Islam’

Fans of the hit animation Rick and Morty have threatened to boycott the series over its inclusion of controversial jokes about the bombing of Pearl Harbour and 9/11.

During a new episode of the series, called “Promortyus”, the characters Rick and Morty are seen flying towards two skyscraper towers, in a clear reference to the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre.

After swerving to avoid them, Rick quips: “Honestly, I’m proud of us for not.”

“Totally. Would have been cheap,” replies his sidekick, Morty. Rick then says: ”Pearl Harbour on the other hand...”, before flying towards an alien harbour and bombing it.

Later in the episode, the characters banter about the incident, with Beth, Rick’s daughter, asking: ”So, you did a 9/11?” And Morty replies: “Almost did a 9/11. We... we went with a Pearl Harbour. We’re pretty classy.”

Fans have taken to Twitter to voice their discomfort with the jokes.

“Is Rick and Morty still doing 9/11 jokes?” asked one viewer, sarcastically adding: ”because wow, that’s so funny in 2020.”

Others picked up on a different aspect of the joke, with one commenter writing: “everyone’s reacting to the 9/11 joke, personally I was fine with it until they Rick said ‘ask the Saudis’. Just adding fuel to the xenophobia of Islam and the middle east when you could’ve easily made a George Bush or US gov joke.”

The Daily Mirror reported that some fans had said they were “boycotting Rick and Morty” as a result of the jokes.

“Promortyus” will air in the UK on E4 at 10pm on Thursday 14 May.