Following controversy, ABC Family has decided to stop plans to move forward with Alice in Arabia. They had announced previously that they would be producing a pilot based on a script by Brooke Eikmeier. In a statement ABC Family said, “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.”
The Los Angeles Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations released a statement as well stating, “We welcome ABC Family channel’s decision to respond to community concerns by canceling plans for a program that had the potential to promote ethnic and religious stereotyping. We thank all those who voiced their concerns on this issue”
Alice in Arabia was one of three pilots announced by ABC Family last week. Unstrung and Recovery Road, along with Alice in Arabia, were new ABC Family head Tom Ascheim’s first drama pilots to move forward.