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In late April 2021, social media users circulated a rumor that entertainment company Warner Bros. would start phasing out DVD and Blu-ray Discs in 2022. But the rumor originated from a Twitter post that took a Facebook exchange out of context and blew it out of proportion. The tweet that was the source of the rumor has since been deleted, but an archived version is still available, and posits that Warner Bros. is doing away with all physical media in favor of digital streaming: The tweet was picked up by various websites that further spread the rumor, like ComicBook.com, which posted the headline, Viral Tweet Claims Warner Bros. To Phase Out DVD and Blu-ray Beginning in 2022. But just because a tweet has gone viral doesn't mean the statement it contains is true. The viral tweet in question contains screenshots from Facebook comments made by animation historian and cartoon producer Jerry Beck, an adjunct professor of animation at Woodbury University, a private college based in Southern California. Along with the screenshots, the tweet said, Get any WB DVDs/Blu Rays while you can. According to this guy (who regularly works with Warner Archive, their boutique dvd service), Warner will begin to exit that market in 2022. The comments from Beck included in the tweet stated: But in a phone interview with Snopes, Beck said these comments were taken out of context. Beck said he was responding to a specific question from a cartoon fan about whether there would be anniversary collections of Daffy Duck and Tweety cartoons in a Facebook thread, and the comments above reflected his own opinion. He didn't intend the statement to go viral and be lifted from their original context, or to be used as an authoritative source about the future of Warner Bros. DVD and Blu-ray production, Beck told us. I don’t work for Warner Bros., I don’t know what’s going on on the inside, Beck told Snopes. I was only responding to the fact that from my point of view, I don’t know of any other cartoon releases. Beck published a follow up Facebook post to his page on April 23, also stating that his comments were taken out of context: We reached out to Warner Bros. asking about the rumor, but didn't hear back in time for publication. We will update this story when we do.
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