By most accounts, “Normal People,” Hulu’s new drama series based on the novel by Sally Rooney, is a pretty big hit for the streaming platform. However, instead of being excited by the popularity and acclaim being given to the series, producer Ed Guiney is forced to contend with an issue that no one making the drama series predicted—Pornhub.
According to Variety, a video compilation of the sex scenes in “Normal People,” clocking in at around 22 minutes, popped up on Pornhub and drew a lot of interest from people wanting to see the steamier side of the new Hulu series. However, a production company involved with the series, Element Pictures, is not pleased at all with the sexualization of the drama series. Not to mention, there are legal matters of copyright claims that should stop the video from even appearing on the porn website.
“We’re hugely disappointed that excerpts from the series of ‘Normal People’ have been used in this way,” said the producer. “It’s both a violation of copyright and more importantly, it’s deeply disrespectful to the actors involved and to the wider creative team.”
Guiney added, “We have taken appropriate steps to require that the content be removed from the platform with immediate effect.”
In response to the video’s apparent controversial use and copyright issues, the VP of Pornhub, Corey Price, said, “Pornhub is fully compliant with the law. We respect all copyright requests and as soon as we become aware of the existence of these types of videos on our site, we have them removed.”
Unfortunately for Guiney, and the film/TV industry at large, the Pornhub issue isn’t an isolated case and is something that is almost impossible to fully stop. Sure, you can get Pornhub to take down the video, but the compilation has shown up on other websites already. And not only that, “Normal People” isn’t the first series (and definitely won’t be the last) to have to contend with pirates taking segments of the series (normally involving nudity, let’s be real) and spreading them all over unsavory websites.
That being said, at least the producers behind “Normal People” were able to stop at least one of these videos from being shown on the world’s largest porn website. For those that would rather watch the entire 12-episode series, “Normal People” is available to stream now on Hulu.