AceShowbiz -

Metro Los Angeles pulls "Red Band Society" ads from buses following complaints about offensive language. The ads, which have been up for five weeks, feature the cast of the hospital drama with captions like "Coma Boy" and "The Player" to describe their characters. Oscar winner Octavia Spencer is labeled "Scary Bitch".

A few dozen of protesters showed up at a Metro committee meeting on Thursday, September 18 to speak against the ads. One of the protesters, Jasmyne Cannick, said the nickname perpetuated negative stereotypes about black women. "I don't know if I find it more offensive because I'm black, or more offensive because I'm a woman," she said.

The decision to remove the ads was announced at the committee meeting. Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Mark Littman said the agency decided to remove the ads because that label "denigrates women." He added, "That speaks for itself. That was not acceptable."

Metro Los Angeles also tweeted, "Metro Board Exec Comte getting earful from community over allowing 'Red Band Society" ad on buses. Metro officials say ad is being pulled." It added in another post, "Board Chair [LA Mayor] @ericgarcetti and other Board Members say agency is sorry ad went up & ad policy needs to be tightened to prevent ads with offensive language from being used in the future."

FOX has released a statement addressing the issue. "We were notified this morning of the concern around the ads and immediately offered to remove the language," a spokeswoman for the network said. "Metro Los Angeles ultimately decided to take down the ads, and we respect that decision. We sincerely apologize if the copy was offensive to viewers."

"Red Band Society", which debuted on September 17, tells the daily lives of a group of teenagers living in a hospital who become unlikely friends. Steven Spielberg executive produces the series along with Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey and Sergio Aguero.