Gone with the Wind has been taken off HBO Max following requests for it to be removed from the US streaming service, the BBC reported.
HBO Max stated the 1939 film was “a product of its time” and portrayed “ethnic and racial prejudices” that “were wrong then and are wrong today”.
It said the film would return to the platform at an unspecified date with a “discussion of its historical context”.
Set during and after the American Civil War, Gone with the Wind has long been attacked for its depiction of slavery.
Based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell, it features slave characters who seem content with their lot and who remain loyal to their former owners after slavery’s abolition.
Gone with the Wind received 10 Oscars and remains the highest-grossing movie of all time when its takings are adjusted for inflation.
Hattie McDaniel became the first black actress to be nominated for, and win, an Academy Award for her role as domestic servant Mammy.
In a statement, HBO Max said it would be “irresponsible” to keep the film on its platform without “an explanation and a denouncement” of its “racist depictions”.
It said the film itself would return “as it was originally created”, saying “to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed”.
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