HBO’s tone poem of millennial life Girls is known for its unique and often graphic ways of approaching modern sex and dating, which will certainly be missed when the series bows out with its final season this spring. But believe it or not, there was actually one NSFW scene that even HBO couldn’t justifiably get behind. Allow showrunner Lena Dunham, producer Judd Apatow, and former HBO entertainment president Sue Naegle to break down that sexy small-screen disappointment for you in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter:
APATOW: From the beginning, we were aware that what we were doing was sexually provocative, and that’s what made it interesting and new and fun. Lena wanted to reveal something that is normally hidden — so often you’re not talking about a giant part of most people’s lives because people don’t want to portray it on film — and that opened up tons of stories that you’re usually not able to tell. But then we had a scene with a conclusion shot …
DUNHAM: It was actually cum arcing through a shot.
APATOW: And HBO said, “If this is in the show, we could lose our license.†We were like, “Oh my God, we’ve actually found the line at HBO.â€
NAEGLE: In HBO’s defense, it was like a fire hose!
Mike Lombardo, who was president of HBO’s programming at the time, responded to the proposed scene with a simple comment: “You don’t need it.â€