Nathan Fielder used a recent episode of The Rehearsal to recount the removal of a 2015 Nathan for You episode from Paramount+. The episode focused on the creation of Summit Ice, a winter apparel brand Fielder launched after discovering that a Vancouver company had published a tribute to Holocaust denier Doug Collins. Summit Ice donates its profits to the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre.
Fielder said he noticed the episode, titled “Horseback Riding/Man Zone,” was missing from Paramount+ in late 2023. After contacting representatives at the company, Fielder was informed that the removal followed a “standards review” and that concerns over “sensitivities” were the reason. According to emails presented by Fielder, the initial decision was made by Paramount+ Germany, which raised concerns about content related to antisemitism following the Israel-Hamas conflict. The removal then expanded to other regions.
In The Rehearsal, Fielder detailed his efforts to communicate with Paramount+ carefully, noting that his ongoing collaboration with Showtime on The Curse made the situation more complicated. He presented reenacted scenes showing how he approached the correspondence, using an actor to portray a Paramount+ executive in a staged office designed for the episode.
The fictional conversation depicted the executive stating that Paramount+ Germany had developed policies against presenting imagery that could evoke hate or violence. Fielder incorporated commentary on the platform’s search results, pointing out that numerous titles are associated with terms like “Nazi” and “Hitler,” while few references to Judaism appeared.
Sources reported that Paramount+ was not informed beforehand about its depiction in the episode. When contacted by media outlets, Paramount declined to comment on the removal decision or the portrayal of the company in The Rehearsal.
