HBO adds trigger warning to classic film ‘Blazing Saddles’

"The intro was added to ensure that the film was put into the proper social context," said a spokesperson representing HBO in a statement.

The introduction runs approximately three minutes, and automatically plays before the film, with no options to skip it. The host of the introduction in the video says:

"As the storyline implies, the issue of race is front and center in Blazing Saddles. And racist language and attitudes pervade the film. But those attitudes are espoused by characters who are portrayed here as explicitly small-minded, ignorant bigots. The real, and much more enlightened perspective, is provided by the main characters played by Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder."

Jaqueline Stewart, a host for TCM and a professor of media studies at the University of Chicago, is the host of the introduction. At the end, she shares some trivia about the film to tries and lighten the tone of the introduction. Mel Brooks, the genius behind the film, apparently wanted Richard Pryor for one of the leading roles, but the studio wouldn't agree to it at the time because of Pyror’s substance abuse issues.

Together with HBO, she also did a similar short introduction for the early Hollywood classic, Gone with the Wind after the 1939 film was briefly pulled from the streaming service and later re-added with the disclaimer video.

The intro for Blazing Saddles wasn't present when people first logged on to HBO Max to view the film in July, and it's not clear at what point it was added.