History Main / OffendingTheCreatorsOwn

* ''Film/Adam2019'' was accused of transphobia as its premise revolved around a cis boy attempting to pass off as a trans boy to deceive a lesbian girl, even though director Rhys Ernst is himself a trans man. It should be noted that much of this criticism derives from [[https://www.themarysue.com/adam-movie-ariel-schrag-book-not-lgbtqa-friendly/ the original novel by Ariel Schrag]], which has been accused of being full of racist, homophobic, and transphobic comments.

* Mia, the iconic "[[IndianMaiden]]" mascot who was depicted in the packaging for Land O'Lakes butter for 92 years, was dropped in 2020 by the brand themselves, citing perceived ValuesDissonance as the reason due to her being widely seen nowadays as a racist stereotype of Native American women and the decision was commended by some Native advocates such as Peggy Flanagan, Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota and a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. This becomes ironic when you consider that the person who redesigned her into her iconic look in TheFifties, Patrick [=DesJarlait=], was an Ojibwe Native American himself and his son Robert has been [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/29/my-ojibwe-father-drew-land-olakes-maiden-she-was-never-stereotype/ critical of]] [[https://web.archive.org/web/20201211221448/https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/there-s-another-story-behind-that-land-o-lakes-butter-box-v-QWAwVzCUCmHEs3OmHTdA the decision]] about it, refuting claims about her being either a stereotype or offensive towards Native women.

* Mia, the iconic "Indian Maiden" mascot who was depicted in the packaging for Land O'Lakes butter for 92 years, was dropped in 2020 by the brand themselves, citing perceived ValuesDissonance as the reason due to her being widely seen nowadays as a racist stereotype of Native American women and the decision was commended by some Native advocates such as Peggy Flanagan, Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota and a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. This becomes ironic when you consider that the person who redesigned her into her iconic look in TheFifties, Patrick [=DesJarlait=], was an Ojibwe Native American himself and his son Robert has been [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/29/my-ojibwe-father-drew-land-olakes-maiden-she-was-never-stereotype/ critical of]] [[https://web.archive.org/web/20201211221448/https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/there-s-another-story-behind-that-land-o-lakes-butter-box-v-QWAwVzCUCmHEs3OmHTdA the decision]] about it, refuting claims about her being either a stereotype or offensive towards Native women.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': The character Eric Cartman is a raving anti-Semite, who at least OncePerEpisode bullies Kyle for being Jewish. This has caused some moral watchdogs to accuse the show of being anti-Semitic, despite the fact that one of its creators, [[Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone Matt Stone]], is ethnically Jewish (albeit an atheist by personal belief). On top of that, Cartman is far more often the villain of an episode than its hero, and episodes where he ''is'' the hero never have him bullying Kyle (though he will still sometimes behave harshly to Kyle). The show itself also tends to poke fun at Judaism more than other groups of people, with Sheila, Kyle's mom, being an obvious stereotype of a Jewish mother.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': The character Eric Cartman is a raving anti-Semite, who at least OncePerEpisode bullies Kyle for being Jewish. This has caused some moral watchdogs to accuse the show of being anti-Semitic, despite the fact that one of its creators, [[Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone Matt Stone]], is ethnically Jewish (albeit an atheist by personal belief). On top of that, Cartman is far more often the villain of an episode than its hero, and episodes where he ''is'' the hero never have him bullying Kyle (though he will still sometimes behave harshly to Kyle).

* ''Series/Riverdale'' has a character named Kevin, who is typically regarded as a flat gay character who mostly falls into gay stereotypes and his only defining character trait being that he's gay. One of the characters even directly refers to him as the "GayBestFriend" trope. However, the showrunner of Riverdale, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, is openly gay.

* Creator/MelBrooks' "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu2NqfISm9k Hitler Rap]]" was widely criticized as insensitive to Jews, if not actually anti-Semitic. In an interview for ''Series/SixtyMinutes'', Brooks stated that his life's goal was to reduce Hitler to a figure of such ridiculousness that no-one would ever take his ideas seriously again (if the numerous Tonys that ''Film/TheProducers'' won are any indication, it's working). Being both Jewish and a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII veteran, if anyone has NWordPrivileges to joke about UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, it's him.

* Music/{{Prince}} frequently explored sexually taboo themes in his music, drawing ire from conservative Christian commentators to the point where one of his songs was supposedly the catalyst for the [[MoralGuardians Parents Music Resource Center]]. Prince was a lifelong Christian - he was raised Seventh Day Adventist, later converting to a Jehovah's Witness.

* Music/TheKillers lead singer Brandon Flowers was raised as and is a practicing member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The band's seventh album ''Pressure Machine'' focused on the experience of life in small town UsefulNotes/{{Utah}} where religious culture can be an oftentimes overwhelming presence, leading to some Latter Day Saints assuming the album was a dig at the faith. Flowers pointed out as a retort the album was meant to empathize with those who felt ostracized in rural Utah with an honest viewpoint regarding their life stories, including those who struggled with religion.

* Music/MichaelJackson's ''Music/{{Thriller}}'' opens with a disclaimer that "Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult. -- Michael Jackson", inspired by Jackson's then-current involvement with Jehovah's Witnesses.

* It has been said about Music/{{Madonna}} that only a Catholic could piss off the Catholic Church as much as she used to. Especially during TheEighties, her highly sexual persona and use of Catholic imagery (with "Like a Prayer" being the most notorious) earned her the ire of the Catholic Church more than a few times. Some have even claimed that Madonna's very name is offensive, that she chose it specifically to mock the Virgin Mary. In fact it is her actual birth name--Madonna Louise Ciccone--given to her by her devoutly Catholic parents. Her mother, in fact, was also named Madonna.

* It is easy for a modern-day reader to view many of the writings of St. Augustine of Hippo (''Confessions'', ''City of God'') as overly harsh and even bigoted toward non-Christians. In fact, St. Augustine was a pagan himself for a good portion of his life, and much of the condemnation in his writings arguably was aimed at himself and his former lifestyle.

* ''Literature/TheSatanicVerses'' by the Indian Muslim-born author Creator/SalmanRushdie (though he was an atheist at that point) became famous in no small part because it offended his own so much that Ruhollah Khomeini, the religious leader of Iran at the time it came out, issued a fatwa against him. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabbing_of_Salman_Rushdie Rushdie survived an assassination attempt in 2022, but was seriously injured]].

* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'':
** It's pretty much a fact to say that no-one hates the show more than the nerds it's supposed to be writing about and appealing to. A common criticism among self-identified "nerds" is that it is "nerdface" and laughs ''at'' nerds rather than ''with'' them. Given that the show tends to get nerd-culture and science references meticulously correct, it can be reasoned that there are at least a few nerds working on the show, although they may simply be fact-checkers that have little to no say on the characters or story.
** The character of Sheldon Cooper has also been widely criticized by the autistic community for allegedly reinforcing negative stereotypes about the condition, despite [[DiagnosisOfGod the creators refusing to label him as having it]], instead preferring to stick with an unnamed mental disorder for the RuleOfFunny (though actor Creator/JimParsons disagrees, saying he deliberately played him as an autistic character). Either way, this ultimately became an example when co-creator Bill Prady revealed in 2021, two years after the show ended, that he is himself autistic.

** Due to its EqualOpportunityOffender style of humor, its common for the show to poke fun at various minority groups. One group frequently mocked is Jewish people, leading to accusations of the show being anti-Semitic. However, a number of the show's cast and crew members, including Creator/SethGreen, Creator/AlexBorstein and Alec Sulkin, are Jewish.

** The show's deliberately offensive style of humor means the show has poked fun at various minority groups. One group frequently mocked is Jewish people, leading to accusations of anti-Semitism. However, a number of the show's cast and crew members, including Creator/SethGreen, Creator/AlexBorstein and Alec Sulkin, are Jewish.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In the episode "Extra Large Medium", Chris dates a girl, Ellen, who has Down Syndrome. This, and the fact that it is implied in the episode that Ellen's mother is UsefulNotes/SarahPalin, whose son has Down Syndrome, caused a lot of controversy. Yet, the role of Ellen was played by actress Andrea Fay Friedman, who has Down Syndrome herself. Once Palin herself criticized the show, the voice actress wrote an open letter telling Palin to "get a sense of humor".

* Red Mesa High School in Teec Nos Pos, UsefulNotes/{{Arizona}}, despite being in a town that is over 95% Native American, has Redskins as their team name. Despite the controversy regarding the UsefulNotes/{{NFL}} team[[note]]Which had, in the 2020s, rebranded first as the "Washington Football Team" and then as the Commanders following decades of said controversy[[/note]] the town appears to have little problem with their own school using the term, although that could just be because they regard themselves as having NWordPrivileges (well, "R-Word privileges").

* Creator/CSLewis' ''Literature/ChroniclesOfNarnia'' are sometimes accused of being "pagan" or "occultist" due to the inclusion of supernatural beings from Classical Graeco-Roman mythology among Narnia's native sentients. This is in spite of Lewis himself being an avowed Christian who wrote the series with some extremely obvious Christian {{allegory}}.

* The character of ''Film/{{Borat}}'' often makes antisemitic remarks, but the actor who plays him, Creator/SachaBaronCohen, is a Jewish man himself. In fact, his fake "Kazakh" language is actually Hebrew. Baron Cohen has stated that the character's purpose is to mock antisemites. The Kazakhs didn't appreciate being used as the foil, however, especially since the movie implies that Borat's prejudices are the norm in Kazakhstan.

* ''Series/UnitedStatesOfAl'' is a {{sitcom}} with the premise of a soldier finishing a tour of duty in Afghanistan and returning home to the US with his translator, Awalmir. Trailers tended to highlight a FunnyForeigner angle to the show (with some {{dramedy}} on the side) which had a fair share of backlash. Thing was that the show was produced by the Creator/ChuckLorre crew and made a conscious effort to bring in a writing staff primarily of middle eastern background to aim for some authenticity. When the Taliban retook Afghanistan in 2021, the real-life stories of family members was translated into an episode of the show.

* Some people complained that the ''Film/BridgeToTerabithia'' movie supposedly contained messages mocking Christians. One character questions whether God would go around damning people to Hell, and another character says that an atheist girl would go to heaven after death for having been a good person, in spite of not being a Christian. The author of the book on which the movie is based ''is'' a Christian, though apparently a more moderate or liberal one than the Christians she offended with her open message. In fact, the author's parents were missionaries to China, and the author herself is married to a Presbyterian minister; moreover, many of the issues that caused offense are actual live debates in Christian theology, with there being serious arguments on both sides firmly rooted in logic and in Scripture. Furthermore, the film's backer, media mogul Phillip Anschutz, is an outspoken conservative Christian.

* One of the criticisms levelled against ''Fanfic/TwilightPrettyCure'' was that the author, who is autistic herself, portrayed the autistic character Riko in an offensively stereotypical way, as well as [[KarmaHoudini failing to show those who picked on Riko because of her autism getting their comeuppance]]. The author protested that she hadn't realised her portrayal of Riko was problematic, and set out to rewrite the story to fix this and other controversial elements, but ended up abandoning it. However, she appears to have learned her lesson as the autistic characters in her subsequent fanfics (such as Julia in ''Fanfic/PokemonAMarvelousJourney'' and Mary in ''Fanfic/TheSunWillComeUpAndTheSeasonsWillChange'') are much more rounded and those who treat them badly are clearly portrayed as being in the wrong.

* One of the criticisms levelled against ''Fanfic/TwilightPrettyCure'' was that the author, despite being autistic herself, portrayed the autistic character Riko in an offensively stereotypical way, as well as [[KarmaHoudini failing to show those who picked on Riko because of her autism getting their comeuppance]]. The author protested that she hadn't realised her portrayal of Riko was problematic, and set out to rewrite the story to fix this and other controversial elements, but ended up abandoning it. However, she appears to have learned her lesson as the autistic characters in her subsequent fanfics (such as Julia in ''Fanfic/PokemonAMarvelousJourney'' and Mary in ''Fanfic/TheSunWillComeUpAndTheSeasonsWillChange'') are much more rounded and those who treat them badly are clearly portrayed as being in the wrong.

* The FreakyFridayFlip that turned Psylocke from a relatively wholesome Caucasian Brit to a very sexualized Japanese ninja. It was odd back then, but dismissed as just comic stuff that's par for the course. Today, it would've likely raised a vocal backlash. After so many years, people just accepted it, and that in itself created a multitude of hurdles. However, Creator/JimLee, the man who wanted to [[RuleOfSexy draw her as a sexy ninja chick]], is himself ethnically East Asian (albeit Korean American).

* Creator/CSLewis' ''Literature/ChroniclesOfNarnia'' are sometimes accused of being "pagan" or "occultist" due to the inclusion of supernatural beings from Classical Graeco-Roman mythology among Narnia's native sentients. This is in spite of Lewis himself being an avowed Christian who wrote the series with some extremely obvious Christian allegory.

* The popular "Beatie" adverts for British Telecom (later BT) from the late Eighties to the mid Nineties was criticised by elderly Jewish women, who felt the character was not a good depiction of them. This is despite the fact that actress Maureen Lipman, who played the character, is Jewish herself.