Adolescence creator Jack Thorne slams ‘absurd’ race-swap theory spread by Elon Musk: ‘Nothing is further from the truth’ | Web Series
Mar 31, 2025 04:48 PM IST
Jack Thorne refutes allegations that Adolescence is based on a real crime story. The Netflix show attracted over 66 million viewers in just two weeks.
Adolescence creator-writer Jack Thorne has vehemently rejected the claims that the show is based on a real crime story committed by a Black child, a theory that entrepreneur Elon Musk has amplified.
(Also read: Will Netflix hit Adolescence be back with a second chapter? Creators respond)
Directed by Philip Barantini, the show, with each of its four episodes shot in a single take, centres around a 13-year-old schoolboy, Jamie Miller (played by Owen Cooper), who is arrested for the murder of a classmate. The Netflix series has taken the internet by storm for its outstanding performances and nerve-wracking cinematography.
Creators react to “anti-white propaganda” claims
The show’s creators, Stephen Graham and Thorne, have insisted that the show is inspired by multiple stories in the UK and not based on a particular crime. However, last week a post on X (formerly Twitter) claimed that show was based on “real life cases such as the Southport murderer” and by making the protagonist white, the creators have pushed an “anti-white propaganda”. While Musk did not openly accept the claim, he reacted to post with “Wow” which amplified its reach.
When asked about “race-swapping” allegations on The News Agent podcast, Thorne said, “They’ve claimed that Stephen and I based it on a story, and another story, so we race-swapped because we were basing it on here and it ended up there, and everything else. Nothing is further from the truth. I have told a lot of real life stories in my time, and I know the harm that can come when you take elements of a real life story and put it on screen and the people aren’t expecting it. There is no part of this that’s based on a true story, not one single part.”
‘We are making a point about masculinity’
When asked by host Jon Sopel, how he reacted to the criticism, Thorne replied “That it should have been a Black boy? It’s absurd to say that (knife crime) is only committed by Black boys. It’s absurd. It’s not true. And history shows a lot of cases of kids from all races committing these crimes. We’re not making a point about race with this. We are making a point about masculinity. We’re trying to get inside a problem. We’re not saying this is one thing or another, we’re saying that this is about boys.”
According to The Variety, Netflix revealed that the show has broken all records for a limited series and garnered 66.3 million viewers in two weeks.
