ABC Family drops ‘Alice in Arabia’ due to concerns of racism

ABC Family is backing down on plans for a series based in Saudi Arabia amid criticism that the show has racist undertones.

The station announced last week it had ordered a pilot episode of “Alice in Arabia,” a show about an American teen who is kidnapped by her Saudi Arabian extended family. The show was widely criticized as having the potential to reinforce negative Arab and Muslim stereotypes, though.

The criticism only built after BuzzFeed obtained a copy of the script and posted it on Friday.

“The current conversation surrounding our pilot was not what we had envisioned and is certainly not conducive to the creative process, so we’ve decided not to move forward with this project,” an ABC Family spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter.

Contact Stephanie Grimes at sgrimes@reviewjournal.com. Find her on Twitter: @stephgrimes