SACRAMENTO, California (LifeSiteNews) – Almost $100 million worth of reserved tax credits in California went to the production of just two television shows that have been accused of promoting suicide and teenage sexual promiscuity, government records show.
On Wednesday, government watchdog organization Open the Books reported that California’s Film and TV Tax Credit program awarded $45.8 million in reserved tax credits to the first four seasons of the Netflix drama 13 Reasons Why and $48.4 million to the first three seasons of the HBO drama Euphoria for a combined total of $94.2 million.
13 Reasons, about the litany of factors contributing to a high-school student’s decision to take her own life, was associated with a 28.9% increase in suicides of Americans age 10-17 a month after the show’s 2017 debut, according to a 2019 study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Euphoria, meanwhile, follows a “queer” teenage girl’s struggles with drug addiction, sexual relationships, and various other issues, which has drawn even mainstream scrutiny for what Parents Television Council president Tim Winter argued in 2019 constituted “overtly, intentionally marketing extremely graphic adult content — sex, violence, profanity and drug use — to teens and preteens,” and a level of full-frontal nudity and graphic sexual depictions that prompted one actor (Brian “Astro” Bradley) to quit the production.
“Although the governor and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, have made teen mental health a top public concern, neither spoke out against either series,” wrote Open the Books CEO and co-founder Adam Andrzejewski, who added that Netflix, Paramount, and HBO parent company Warner Brothers Discovery have donated heavily to Newsom’s political campaign.
“As other states roll back peoples’ rights, California will continue protecting fundamental freedoms for all and welcome businesses that stand up for their employees,” Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom said last year in support of expanding the $330 million program. “Extending this program will help ensure California’s world-renowned entertainment industry continues to drive economic growth with good jobs and a diverse, inclusive workforce.”
Newsom, a far-left governor and the subject of persistent speculation that he may replace Joe Biden as Democrats’ 2024 presidential nominee, has a record of promoting leftist values through entertainment, government, and education. Up until September, his administration forbade funding for state employees’ travel to states with conservative LGBT policies, and this summer he intervened to pressure a local school district to accept a supplemental textbook lionizing the dead LGBT icon Harvey Milk, whose life and death differed greatly from the prevailing LGBT narrative.