Warner Bros. apologizes for 'insensitive' Barbenheimer posts amid backlash in Japan

Emlyn Travis
·2 min read
1
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Warner Bros. is apologizing after its Japanese branch criticized the company's decision to publicly support the Barbenheimer craze on social media.

"Warner Brothers regrets its recent insensitive social media engagement," the company said in a statement to EW. "The studio offers a sincere apology."

Its remarks come one day after the Barbie Japan Twitter account posted a statement denouncing the online movement that links Greta Gerwig's fun and fashionable Barbie with Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer — which chronicles the creation of the atomic bomb that killed at least 225,000 people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki — amid growing backlash in Japan that the trend trivializes the mass destruction caused by atomic bombs. The hashtag #NoBarbenheimer has recently been trending in Japan as a result.

"[We] consider it extremely regrettable that the official account of the US headquarters of the movie Barbie reacted to social media posts caused by this movement without consideration, and we take this situation seriously," the post reads, per Google Translate. "We apologize to those who were offended by this series of inconsiderate reactions."

The two highly-anticipated films, which shared a release date in several countries, were billed as a double feature by fans and led to record-breaking opening weekends at the box office for both projects.

In the weeks leading up to Barbie and Oppenheimer's release date, the Barbie U.S. Twitter account positively interacted with several Barbenheimer-inspired posts, including a fan-created poster that featured Barbie star Margot Robbie sitting on Oppenheimer actor Cillian Murphy's shoulder in front of a plume of orange smoke. The Barbie account commented on the fan-made image, writing, "It's going to be a summer to remember."

The tweet, which has since been deleted, was later updated with a community note by the platform that explained the image's historical context: "At 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945 (Showa 20), an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima for the first time in human history. The particular nature of the damage caused by the atomic bombs is that mass destruction and mass murder occurred instantaneously and indiscriminately."

Barbie will be released in Japan on Aug. 11. Oppenheimer does not currently have a release date in the country.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Related content: