Nathan Fielder Calls Out Paramount+ for Removing an Old Episode of His Show 'Nathan for You'
Nathan Fielder is calling out Paramount+.
On Sunday’s episode of The Rehearsal, Nathan revealed a conversation he had with Paramount after discovery Paramount+ removed a 2015 episode of his series Nathan for You, which originally aired on Comedy Central.
In that episode, titled “Horseback Riding/Man Zone,” after the Vancouver-based jacket company Taiga posted a tribute to Doug Collins, a Holocaust denier, Nathan launches a (real) winter-wear line called Summit Ice. Nathan is from Vancouver, and Taiga claims its apparel as “German-engineered” and “Canadian-made,” via THR.
Keep reading to find out more…
Summit Ice is actually a real brand that donates all of its profits to the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre in Vancouver. The Jewish actor and comedian says sales since 2015 have raised “millions of dollars.”
On The Rehearsal Season 2 Episode 2, Nathan calls Summit Ice his “proudest achievement,” and says it helps prove that “a comedy show could make a difference.”
“In late 2023, I discovered that the episode of Nathan for You featuring the Summit Ice story mysteriously went missing from the Paramount+ streaming service,” he said on The Rehearsal.
He then emailed “some contacts I had at Paramount,” and said it was “complicated.”
“The tricky thing is, Paramount is currently airing a different series of mine: a scripted drama that hadn’t yet been renewed,” he said, referring to The Curse. It still has not been renewed or canceled, and “how I spoke to them could have career repercussions.”
“I remember wanting to convey how urgent this was for me, and yet my email was extremely cordial, using phrases like ‘Forever grateful’ and ‘Happy Holidays,’” he said, hiring an actor to re-create the scene.
Paramount told Nathan the Summit Ice episode had been “taken down intentionally” due to “sensitivities.”
The decision originated with Paramount+ in Germany, where executives expressed being “uncomfortable” with “anything that touches on antisemitism” amid conflict in the Middle East, per the emails.
“Before long, the ideology of Paramount+ Germany had spread to the entire globe, eliminating all Jewish content that made them uncomfortable,” he said, adding “This is real, by the way.”
The Summit Ice episode is still not streaming on Paramount+. The decision came “following a standards review,” a spokesperson for Paramount told THR.
“Currently on the Paramount app, there are 50 results for ‘nazi,’ 10 for ‘Hitler’ and zero for ‘Judaism,’” Nathan said in the email. “We’ve been erased.”
Here’s when to watch HBO’s The Rehearsal:
Episode 1: “Gotta Have Fun” Aired April 20 at 10:30 P.M. ET
Episode 2: “Star Potential” Aired April 27 at 10:30 P.M. ET
Episode 3: “Pilot’s Code” Airing May 4 at 10:30 P.M. ET
Episode 4: “Kissme” Airing May 11 at 10:30 P.M. ET
Episode 5: “Washington” Airing May 18 at 10:30 P.M. ET
Episode 6: “My Controls” Airing May 25 at 10:30 P.M. ET
Nathan has also been visiting someone surprising in prison.