Apple TV+ pulls ‘Savant’ show about online ‘hate group’ researcher after Charlie Kirk assassination

“After careful consideration, we have made the decision to postpone The Savant,” an Apple TV+ spokesman told The Hollywood Reporter. “We appreciate your understanding and look forward to releasing the series at a future date.”

The series surrounds star Jessica Chastain who identifies and infiltrates so-called online hate groups. Although the series is centered around political motives, that is the extent with which the series aligns with the assassination of Kirk. The limited series is based on an individual featured in a Cosmopolitian article known as the "Savant," that profiles a woman who was able to stop a bombing, but as of late has been focused on "the alt-right, a younger, more misogynistic version of the white supremacist movement that’s converting a new generation on message boards and social media."

Robinson has been charged with murder and is facing the death penalty in Utah for the assassination of Kirk, and left-wing media outlets have attempted to paint Robinson as a far-right extremist, although evidence clearly shows that he was of the left politically.

The bullets that were used in the shooting used Antifa-linked slogans and Robinson previously told his family he was tired of Kirk "spreading hate." In text messages between Robinson and his romantic partner, a male who identifies as transgender, Robinson said, “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out."

The series' cast also includes actors Nnamdi Asomugha, Cole Doman, Jordana Spiro, Trinity Lee Shirley, Toussaint Francois Battiste and Pablo Schreiber. The premiere of the series was supposed to take place on Friday, however on the Apple TV app, "The Savant" says that it is "coming at a later date."

The suspension of the series also comes after there were some on social media who mocked the concept of the show, using a screenshot of Chastain in a meme.

Some speculated that the use of the meme was connected to the suspension of the show, with one user saying, "They canceled a show with just a meme" in a viral post. Multiple accounts had used the still of the Chastain as a meme to portray some on the left as being obsessed with labeling average conservative views as "hateful."