Yahoo News 24 Legacy is sorry for using real terror attack footage
The producers of 24: Legacy are publicly apologising for using footage of a real terrorist attack in a recent episode.
Fox's reboot of the 24 franchise offended some with a scene in the episode '3:00 PM – 4:00 PM', in which footage from the actual Westgate shopping mall massacre was mixed in with fictional footage of US agents looking on.
That 2013 attack in Nairobi, Kenya left 67 dead and more than 170 injured when a terrorist affiliated with the extremist group al-Shabaab opened fire in a busy shopping mall.
Now, Fox and 24: Legacy producers Manny Coto and Evan Katz are promising to remove those real scenes from any future re-airings of the offending episode.
"In episode 4 of 24: Legacy we regretfully included news footage of an attack in Nairobi," Coto and Katz said in a statement. "It will be removed from all future broadcasts and versions of the show.
"We apologise for any pain caused to the victims and their families and are deeply sorry."
Outrage over the original broadcast sparked the hashtag #SomeoneTellFox, in which many on Twitter accused 24 of disrespecting Westgate victims:
#SomeoneTellFox that THIS IS unacceptable. Using #WestgateFootage for entertainment is Repulsive
https://t.co/5G93xgFKIb@alaminkimathi pic.twitter.com/gSfArlVPsv- النجاح Najar (@GhekoLishous) February 23, 2017
#SomeoneTellFOX using actual videos of #Westgate mall & crediting it as a market in Egypt is uncalled for.Kenyans lost families show respect pic.twitter.com/3HGjQZiprN
- Andrew💉 (@drekamau) February 22, 2017
I'm imagining what would happen if someone used 9/11 footage for entertainment just like @FOXTV has with #WestGate attack #SomeoneTellFox
- Gerald Cheruiyot (@Cheruiyot931) February 23, 2017
#SomeoneTellFox.....This is the only fox we know...Using our tragedy for your legacy is an all time low! pic.twitter.com/SzgFb8usax
- E D G A R ™ (@The_Mutai) February 23, 2017
24: Legacy also recently faced scrutiny when its opening episode depicted loyalists of a deceased terrorist violently torture and kill an American soldier and his family.
In that case, producers Manny Coto and Evan Katz defended their creative decision and urged viewers to keep watching before forming any judgments about their depiction of Muslims.
"If we didn't know the way the entire season went and how it came out the other side, we might be concerned," Coto explained.
"The story of this season deliberately starts on an image that you might call jingoistic, expected and possibly inflammatory. We weren't trying to be inflammatory, but it's what the story itself called for."
24: Legacy continues on FOX in the US and the UK.
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