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HBO Max's first month hasn't been a disaster, but there have been some hiccups especially with the Gone with the Wind brouhaha

  • The WarnerMedia streaming service turns turns one-month-old on Saturday having endured several high-profile issues, including the Gone with the Wind controversy, the confusion over all the HBO names and not being on several platforms. As Josef Adalian points out, the biggest -- and most unnecessary -- controversy was HBO Max making headlines for pulling Gone with the Wind without making it clear from the get-go that the move was only temporary. "The movie was pulled before Max could explain that it had no intention of permanently removing it from circulation, and once journalists and Twitter noticed, well … it was too late," says Adalian. "The streamer put out a statement within hours of the first report noting that GWTW would be back soon with an appropriate and contextual introduction, but that’s an eternity in the age of Twitter. Right-wing snowflakes whining about cancel culture seized on a chance to bash Hollywood, while one of Max’s biggest assets — its deep library of classic movies — became a source of controversy rather than celebration. GWTW is back on Max as of yesterday, complete with a new intro, but the whole thing was a needless distraction. Max programmers should’ve addressed this before the service launched."

    TOPICS: HBO Max, Gone with the Wind