TheQuartering [7/19/2022]

According to BoundingIntoComics:

A new rumor claims that Tom Shippey, The Lord of the Rings scholar and former consultant on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, was fired from the Prime Video show because he was warning them that they were “polluting the lore.”

When Prime Video first announced The Lord of the Rings series in July 2019, they revealed Shippey was part of the production as a Tolkien Scholar.

However, back in February, Vanity Fair led their readers to believe that Shippey was canned for giving an “unsanctioned interview to a German fan site” where he opined “on what the show could and could not explore.”

Now this new rumor from YouTuber George Molho of YouTube channel George The Giant Slayer claims Shippey was actually canned because he was warning Prime Video that they were “polluting the lore.”

Molho states, “I’m now beginning to believe the real reason that Tom Shippey was fired wasn’t because he gave some interview to a German magazine that broke his NDA. That’s — you get a slap on the wrist for that.”

He then revealed, “It’s because I heard from three separate sources that he would weekly tell the Bobbsey Twins of Payne and McKay that Prime was polluting the lore.”

Not only would Molho detail this rumor regarding Shippey’s firing, but he would also excoriate Prime Video for including nudity in the show as revealed in a number of behind-the-scenes photos from the production as well as a newly released photo from the show.

Molho says, “The professor never once hinted at carnal nudity or lascivious sexuality ever in his writing. Period. End of statement.”