“We’re disabling the Peaceful Hips Emote in Fortnite as we inquire into our partner’s creative intentions in this collab emote,” the official Fortnite Support social media account posted. “Assuming it’s not coming back, we’ll issue refunds in the next few days. Sorry folks.”
Epic’s newfound questions about “artistic intent” are a bit baffling from the outside, as there’s nothing in the show that suggests the show or its creators intended to impart a pro-Nazi message. Still, in the limited context of a 10-second dance clip, the arm motions could be seen as evoking a Nazi symbol without any of the anti-Nazi circumstances presented in the show itself.
A shot from the latest Peacemaker episode shows a swastika replacing the stars on an American flag.
Credit:
Warner Bros.
We also have to wonder how much visibility Epic had into the show’s plotlines when the emote partnership was approved weeks ago. What could have just seemed like a goofy reference to the show’s opening dance might have raised more alarm bells if Epic had seen the scripts for the entire season in the first place.
DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn promoted the emote’s launch on social media earlier this month, calling it a “peace-spreading, hip-swaying” dance.
Epic Games has faced numerous controversies surrounding its dancing emotes in the past. In 2021, it removed a Travis Scott-related emote following a tragic crowd stampede incident at a Scott concert. And last year, the company allowed individual users to disable some emotes that were viewed as “confrontational” when used in certain competitive settings.
Epic has also faced at least one lawsuit over potential copyright issues surrounding its use of specific dance moves for emotes. That lawsuit was settled out of court last year under undisclosed terms.
[This story originally suggested Sunday’s episode was the season finale. Ars regrets the error.]
