'Game of Thrones' Bush head episode spiked from HBO Go, iTunes
In an apparent response to the controversy over an episode of the hit show that depicts President Bush's decapitated head, the episode has been pulled from HBO Go and iTunes.
One of the wonderful benefits HBO subscribers get these days is HBO Go, an online -- or mobile -- service that lets them access almost all of the network's archive.
But today, clearly embarrassed by the firestorm caused by an episode of its hit series "Game of Thrones" featuring former President George W. Bush's decapitated head on a spike, HBO has yanked the episode from both HBO Go and iTunes.
The controversy first arose earlier this week when the Web site io9 posted a story about its discovery of the Bush head in episode 10 of the show's first season. The producers of the show have insisted that the use of the head was simply because they had it lying around, and that it wasn't political in any way. HBO seems not to agree that it was harmless.
"We were deeply dismayed to see this and find it unacceptable, disrespectful, and in very bad taste. We made this clear to the executive producers of the series who apologized immediately for this careless mistake," HBO said in a statement published by the Chicago Tribune. "We condemn it in the strongest possible terms and have halted all future shipments of the DVDs, removed it from our digital platforms, and will edit the scene for all future airings on any distribution domestic or international."
But HBO's statement to the Tribune did not address the show's digital availability. The Web site Yidio.com wrote this afternoon about the episode having been removed from HBO Go and iTunes, presumably until an edited version can be finished.