Censored Icon emotes in Fortnite are common and a necessary sacrifice to watch Peter Griffin hit the Jabba Switchway after clipping Piccolo — but Epic Games’ latest censorship decision is leaving players scratching their horned heads.
UPDATE: Epic Games confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) that censorship in the Rebellious emote is a mistake and will be amended in the near future.
The new Rebellious Fortnite emote, released as part of the ‘24 Coachella collection, features the player dancing to the chorus of Paint The Town Red by Doja Cat. However, the word “devil” in the line “She the devil” is entirely censored, despite both the animation and icon featuring the player making devil horns with their fingers.
While censoring explicit language in Fortnite emotes that use real-world songs is common practice — such as the word “b*tch” in the following line — fans across social media were baffled by the decision to omit such a benign word in a game where you can play as a demon using The Devil’s Wings glider and shoot Aang in the face.
Ironically, the Burning Beast glider is also featured in today’s Item Shop. You know, the flaming red demon with horns and the heavy metal trill? Not to mention the Jam Track with the title MakeDamnSure.
As a Doja Cat fan ready to splash my precious V-Bucks, I joined the many K̶i̶t̶t̶e̶n̶z̶ fans disappointed by this (seemingly) unnecessary censorship. Comments such as “It totally ruins it. Why even bother adding it” and “Literally ruins the whole emote lol, I was gonna buy it but not with the double censor” were among the most upvoted in a Reddit discussion on r/FortniteBR.
Why was “devil” censored in the Rebellious emote?
This decision was likely due to its religious connotation, with Epic Games previously censoring “Jesus” in Walk on Water by Eminem and Beyoncé. However, the word “devil” remains intact in the beloved Get Griddy emote, which features the line “The devil under your feet, you’re on your way to see him” in its entirety.
To play devil’s advocate, Get Griddy was released before Fortnite’s metaverse initiative, which labeled all Experiences and select cosmetics with age ratings. All emotes currently fall into the E for Everyone rating, which allows them to be used in any experience.
The new Paint The Town Jam Track does not censor the word “devil” due to Fortnite Festival’s 12+ rating. Players with their age set to 11 and under also won’t be able to hear the audio anywhere in the game, including the Item Shop preview screen.
If this level of censorship is needed to have free Experiences like LEGO Fortnite and allows lyrics and themes I would’ve never expected from Fortnite in Festival, then maybe the odd botched emote is worth it. Just don’t take the almighty Griddy away from us, please.
