Bugs: Blame Canada

01/18/1999 at 12:00 AM EST

And loonier even still: The Canadian Broadcasting Standards Council said Thursday it has rejected a complaint from a woman who accused the cartoon character Bugs Bunny of making a deeply sexist comment. The incident was triggered by a July 1998 episode of "Bugs Bunny and Tweety," featuring the short "Bewitched Bunny." In it, Bugs escapes from a witch by detonating a bag of magic powder. After a beautiful female rabbit emerges from the cloud of dust and she and Bugs walk off into the sunset, Bugs turns to the camera and says: "Ah sure, I know! But aren't they all witches inside?"

• "If the audience had been adults, perhaps we could chuckle and forget it," the unnamed woman complained to the Broadcasting Standards Council. "This cartoon was aimed at children who are forming their attitudes." The council rejected the objection, saying in its final judgment that while it sympathized with the viewer, the allegedly offensive phrase had clearly been a throwaway line. That's all, folks.