The streamer’s delay of The Savant only raises questions.
Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photo: Apple TV+
Earlier this week, Apple TV+ put its shiniest new capital-S series, a Jessica Chastain thriller inspired by a true story about a hunter of white supremacists, on ice at the 11th hour. In the week before it was originally due to premiere, which was supposed to be tomorrow, Apple scrubbed or changed most of the show’s promotional materials on social media without notice and later released a clipped statement on the matter only after the removal was first reported by a tech blog. A day later, star and producer Chastain released a carefully worded statement disagreeing with the decision and advocating for the show’s relevance in 2025.
The timing raised questions. To be fair, there is a decades-long history of TV and movies being rescheduled in light of harrowing news events — especially mass shootings — so is the political climate just too hot for The Savant, which depicts explosive violence? Did Apple conclude that, in the wake of the intense reactions to the assassination of right-wing activist and MAGA martyr Charlie Kirk, it wasn’t the right moment for a show about tracking down violent radicals in online forums? Could Apple be “obeying in advance” and choosing not to ruffle the feathers of an administration known for its open threats to media companies and mercurial approach to tariffs? Was it — conversely and counterintuitively — a play calculated to give The Savant the halo of a Streisand effect? (At the very least, Google’s search trends indicate that interest is up.) Was the show not a big enough priority to drop on schedule? Or was it some combination of these factors or others? We don’t know. Apple hasn’t said anything further on the matter (and in fact revealed its plan only when asked by the press) and neither have producers on the show we reached out to beyond that public post by Chastain.
What we do know is the decision lands in strange and uncertain times for media companies. No one in charge seems to know the right way to navigate a moment in which speech theoretically protected by the First Amendment — including late-night comedy and dramatic television — has immediate and existential consequences. A USA Today analysis last week reported that at least 100 people across sectors had lost their jobs in the wake of comments made about the death of Charlie Kirk. That includes Kimmel, whom Disney, at least temporarily, threw under the bus as soon he caught backlash from the FCC commissioner and was preempted by the affiliate groups. Disney and Paramount both caved to President Donald Trump in lawsuits to the tune of $15 million and $16 million, respectively, for cases they arguably could have won. Just today, satirical news outlet The Onion announced “a major national movie chain” pulled out of releasing its mockumentary, Jeffrey Epstein: Bad Pedophile, in the wake of Kirk’s assassination because the movie “had Donald Trump in it.” (Kirk doesn’t appear in it, and The Onion is moving forward with it in select theaters.)
It’s easy to read cold, capitalist greed into all of these decisions, including the delay on The Savant, assuming it is just a delay, but also … fear. Captains of industry all look terrified of pissing off the wrong powerful guy. And that’s a shame, because reassurance is what their audiences crave most when the world around them teeters. Kimmel’s return to TV got higher ratings than ever before. Andor connected with critics and audiences in part because its revolutionaries make cogent arguments over and over about the insanity of authoritarianism. Whether The Savant has the potential to connect in the same way or not, it feels like an opportunity for Apple to say something, and right now the company is saying as little as possible.
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