Sean Penn Hostage Comedy Pulled Due to Israel-Hamas War
The U.K. launch date has been delayed and an upcoming showcase has been called off for the Sean Penn-produced, satirical war comedy show C*A*U*G*H*T due to the unfolding conflict between Hamas and Israel that ignited over the weekend, Variety reports.
“In light of current events, the launch date of C*A*U*G*H*T on ITVX will be delayed until further notice,” the British streaming service ITV said in a statement. “We will be in touch when a new streaming date is confirmed.”
The six-episode season of the show, which also stars Penn, just started streaming in September on the Australian platform Stan. It follows “four Australian soldiers sent on a mission to a war-torn country,” who “are captured by freedom fighters and produce a hostage video that goes viral,” according to IMDb.
“In light of the current situation unfolding in Israel, we have taken the decision not to showcase C*A*U*G*H*T at [international TV conference] Mipcom this year,” production company Fremantle said in a statement. “At this time, our hearts and thoughts are with our colleagues and our partners in Israel, and all those affected.”
A U.S. distributor has yet to be announced—and is looking more unlikely given these latest developments.
The trailer for the show shows the Australian hostages collaborating with their captors to produce a faked hostage video in which one of the freedom fighters, clad in a head scarf, pretends to bludgeon one of the captives with a machine gun. Penn plays himself on C*A*U*G*H*T; specifically, a version of himself who “[makes] a fool of himself on Australian morning television,” one reviewer said.
The series is based on the premise that the Australian soldiers get caught up in “a geo-political mess because a minister of defense wanted a dick pic deleted and is too cheap to pay for a rescue,” the reviewer explained.
Penn has not spoken out about the show or about the Israel-Hamas war on his official Instagram channel, but he has a history of putting himself in the center of intense conflict zones.
Penn directed a documentary about the Russia-Ukraine war that involved the actor traveling to the front lines, and infamously interviewed murderous drug kingpin El Chapo in 2015 after accepting an invitation from the Sinaloa cartel leader, who’d recently escaped from prison, to discuss making a movie about his life.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Penn for comment.
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