So, I am sure that Friedkin knows about this at this point. I don't think he asked for that edit. It is odd that there is not a comment from him yet and that may be because Disney (who probably are the company most into deleting and removing things that may offend) is in talks with him over what they did. I fully expect Friedkin to come out guns blazing on this. He's never been one to hold back what he thinks. 

I'm not sure that the culture of Hollywood allows for people to speak up about this topic and honestly, I am not sure if they will. The problem is, if you say something that "offends" someone, then people will not work with you and projects you want to do, won't happen. I believe that applies even to people like Spielberg and Scorsese, who are closer to the end of their careers now and likely only have so many pictures left in them. I think this is why Tarantino is retiring after this next film. 

Friedkin is retired, so he can fire away. He does not need to worry about future projects. It will be interesting to see what he says, and I honestly hope he blasts Disney for doing this, but we'll see. 

We grew up with Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy followed in his footsteps. George Carlin, Don Rickles. We did not have this problem of it being "off limits" to offend people. It was like making them laugh or frightening them or making someone angry. All just part of being human and part of what was in the tool set for an artist or entertainer. Now, you can still make someone laugh, scare them, anger them. make them feel anything but offended. 

Makes no sense, but Disney wants to be a leader in these sorts of erasures and deletions. I don't think it benefits us to treat the past as if it never happened. Once you start erasing, there is no stopping.