Fans of AMC's zombie apocalypse television series "The Walking Dead" launched an online petition to fire showrunner Scott Gimple for killing Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs). So far, over 50,000 fans have already signed the petition.
In the midseason finale of the series, it was revealed that Carl was bitten by a walker. The decision by the showrunners resulted to backlash from longtime fans. A particular fan, Tyler Sigmon, then decided to launch an online application to fire Gimple for his decision to get rid of Carl. In the petition description, Sigmon wrote, "Scott has decided to kill off the shows most pivotal character Carl Grimes, son of the main character Rick Grimes. The entire show has been a lead up to showing Carl become the leader that his father is."
So far, the petition has received over 50,000 signatures and is making its way to 75,000. Sigmon also pointed out the fact that Riggs even considered postponing his college education to make way for the series. The petitioner concluded his message with, "This petition is meant to bring AMC TV into the spotlight and fire The Walking Dead showrunner Scott Gimple for his actions and unfair treatment of actor Chandler Riggs."
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Riggs himself said that it was painful for him that his character was killed off. "It was devastating for me and my family because the show has been such a huge part of my life for so long. For a few days, we didn't know what to do," he said.
Riggs also revealed that there was no discussion about the decision to kill Carl. Riggs stated, "I have no clue to be honest. When Scott told me, that was his decision."
Gimple has not addressed the petition for him to be axed. There are now questions if the show will change the fate of Carl due to the outrage from fans, or if AMC will indeed fire Gimple.
The series will resume on Feb. 25 at 9 p.m. EST on AMC.
