https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/resizer/KX7_rg3j2dzoAxmQbbyIPLn4qD8=/1200x600/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/raycom/H2VRRXOWQZDNNORU4C5M7Z6JBI.jpg — Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, questions Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a Senate Foreign Relations committee hearing on the State Department's 2021 budget on Capitol Hill Thursday, July 30, 2020, in Washington (Source: Greg Nash)

Cruz urges Department of Justice to investigate Netflix film ‘Cuties’

14 Sep 2020, 15:17 by CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, wants the Department of Justice to investigate Netflix over the film “Cuties.”

Cruz wants the department to examine whether Netflix or the filmmakers broke federal laws against the production and distribution of child pornography.

The senator detailed his concerns in a letter to Attorney General William Barr.

“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,” Cruz wrote. “These scenes in and of themselves are harmful.”

The Netflix film has received criticism from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, blasted the film on Twitter, calling it “child porn.”

A Netflix spokesperson said in a statement obtained by Variety that “‘Cuties’ is a social commentary against the sexualization of young children.”