Sen. Ted Cruz Calls for an Investigation Into ‘Cuties’ Depiction of “Child Porn”

Senator Ted Cruz has called for an investigation into Netflix film Cuties following weeks of backlash from right-wing Twitter users. In a series of tweets released over the weekend, Cruz slammed the “deeply disturbing” French film and asked the Department of Justice to investigate if the filmmakers violated any federal laws regarding the production and distribution of child pornography.

In the weeks leading up to the release of Cuties (also titled Mignonnes), alt-right trolls have launched a coordinated attack on the film for its depiction of underage sexuality. As the Decider Staff has put it, Cuties serves as “a thoughtful criticism of the way society pressures girls to be sexy at far too young an age,” rather than an endorsement of such behavior. And yet, right-wing Twitter and Reddit users, the bulk of whom have not seen the film, have driven director Maïmouna Doucouré off social media with death threats, signed a petition demanding Netflix cancel the film, and spammed the trailer with comments.

Over the weekend, Sen. Ted Cruz brought the controversy into the mainstream with a series of tweets on the topic. “Netflix aggressively promoting new movie sexualizing children,” he tweeted on Friday. “Hollywood should not be celebrating & making $$ off of the sexual abuse of 11-year-old girls.” He later compared the film to “child porn” and weighed in on the #CancelNetflix trend.

Cruz also wrote a letter to Attorney General Bill Barr calling for a federal investigation into Cuties. “The video streaming service and content-producer Netflix is currently hosting a film entitled Cuties that sexualizes young girls, including through dance scenes that simulate sexual activities and a scene exposing a minor’s bare breast,” he wrote in the letter, sent Friday. “I urge the Department of Justice to investigate the production and distribution of this film to determine whether Netflix, its executives, or the individuals involved in the filming and production of Cuties violated any federal laws against the production and distribution of child pornography.”

“The film routinely fetishizes and sexualizes these pre-adolescent girls as they perform dances simulating sexual conduct in revealing clothing, including at least one scene with partial child nudity,” the letter continues. “These scenes in and of themselves are harmful. And it is likely that the filming of this movie created even more explicit and abusive scenes, and that pedophiles across the world in the future will manipulate and imitate this film in abusive ways.”

Netflix has continued to defend the film amid the controversy. “Cuties is a social commentary against the sexualization of young children,” said a Netflix spokesperson last week. “It’s an award winning film and a powerful story about the pressure young girls face on social media and from society more generally growing up — and we’d encourage anyone who cares about these important issues to watch the movie.”

Where to stream Cuties