Apple TV+ announced on Tuesday that it will be postponing the upcoming premiere of The Savant, a drama thriller starring Jessica Chastain, in the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination.
An Apple TV+ spokesperson told Variety that the series will be postponed until a more appropriate release date. It was originally slated for September 26.
“After careful consideration, we have made the decision to postpone The Savant,” the statement said. “We appreciate your understanding and look forward to releasing the series at a future date.”
According to Variety, the series was partly inspired by a 2019 Cosmopolitan article about “a top secret investigator known as the Savant” who infiltrated online hate groups “in an effort to stop large-scale attacks of domestic terrorism.”
The series, adapted by Melissa James Gibson, is based on the real woman profiled in the Cosmo story, but carefully conceals her identity. On the show, Jodi lives in a Cincinnati suburb, and her husband, Charlie (Nnamdi Asomugha), who is Black, is deployed overseas.
It’s clear that “The Savant” is precisely the type of show America needs right now. It looks at a sector of mostly white male individuals who believe that America belongs to them. Fueled by hate, bigotry, xenophobia and misogyny, they talk cruelly and candidly online about enacting harm and violence toward individuals or ‘others’ who they feel are unworthy of being in ‘their’ country. Nowhere in the show does it mention Donald Trump’s name, and other than depicting white nationalists in a negative light, The Savant is a straightforward, non-controversial character study — and a well-paced thriller — about one woman trying to stop domestic terrorism.
While Apple TV+ did not give a reason for its decision to postpone the show, the announcement comes roughly two weeks after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk whose alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, appears to have been motivated by left-wing ideologies, at least in part.
“I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out,” Robinson allegedly told his roommate in a text when explaining his motives to kill Kirk.
Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube, Tubi, or Fawesome TV. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
