Epic Games has actually pulled Fortnite’s Peaceful Hips Emote, which was part of a collaboration with the John Cena-led series. This sudden removal is all because the emote’s dance moves are now being scrutinized for what looks like a very problematic, unintended meaning.
The main issue comes from the huge plot twist at the end of Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 6. Fans were left absolutely stunned when they discovered the alternate reality Peacemaker had been exploring wasn’t “Earth-2,” but rather “Earth-X”—a fascist, Nazi world where the American flag features a swastika. It was a wild, dark turn for the show.
Fortnite Had Nazi Messaging and Didn’t Realize It
Once that episode aired, fans immediately started re-examining Peacemaker’s Season 2 opening dance, which is the exact basis for the Fortnite emote. The arm movements John Cena’s character makes in the dance now look incredibly suggestive of a swastika. The whole season may have been subtly foreshadowing this twist through the dance itself. When you look at the dance retrospectively, those rigid, right-angle arm movements suddenly look a lot more ‘Third Reich-y,’ as some are calling it.
It seems pretty clear that the dance was meant to hint at the show’s dark new setting. Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, clearly didn’t see this coming, which is pretty extraordinary considering how closely they must have worked with DC Studios on the collaboration. Over the weekend, Epic released a statement saying they were disabling the Peaceful Hips Emote because they needed to “inquire into our partner’s creative intentions in this collab emote”.
It really makes you wonder about the communication between the two massive companies if Epic was left to find out the emote’s true nature along with the rest of the audience. What’s really bad news for anyone who paid for the emote is Epic’s follow-up: “Assuming it’s not coming back, we’ll issue refunds in the next few days. Sorry folks”. That statement makes it sound like this emote is gone for good, so no more making multiple swastikas when you play in split-screen.
The idea of having an emote in a game played by millions of kids that could be interpreted as a ‘Nazi emote’ is clearly something Epic wants absolutely nothing to do with. Fan reaction to the pull has been mixed, as you can imagine. Some are acknowledging that an emote that players could misuse to grief others with hate symbols needs to go. After all, no one wants that kind of imagery in a family-friendly battle royale. On the other hand, many are pointing out that Epic’s standards seem wildly inconsistent.
Fortnite Has an Issue With Nazi Messaging
Players were raising eyebrows recently when Fortnite added the Tylil Dance, an emote featuring music by Kanye West (now known as Ye), a rapper who has made numerous anti-semitic comments and claimed he identifies as “a Nazi” in 2022. They also bring up the Rue skin, which many players liken to a Nazi uniform design. Epic hasn’t re-sold that skin in over five years, making it incredibly rare, but they haven’t removed it from the game entirely.
What this means for future DC collaborations in Fortnite is anyone’s guess, but I’d say the partnership might be feeling a little strained right about now. For now, if you bought the emote, make sure to hurry and check for that refund in the coming days.
Source: IGN
