The popular ABC sitcom Modern Family ignited controversy before an episode even aired when a showrunner announced that it would feature 2-year-old Lily, a character played by 4-year-old Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, using the F-word.

The innocuous comment from Steven Levitan ignited calls to pull the episode from the often-outraged Parents Television Council, as well as the No Cussing Club, “a student organization nobody has ever heard of until now”, according to EW.com.

Eric Stonestreet, who plays one of Lily’s fathers, responded to critics on Twitter, writing: “Lily didn’t ACTUALLY say FU*K. She said fudge. How bout see the episode, THEN form an opinion. For fudge sake people. Chill the f–k out.”

Reportedly, Anderson-Emmons did indeed say “fudge” on set, which was then bleeped out to seem like an expletive.

The episode aired according to schedule on Wednesday night.

The plot did not explain how Lily learned the word; but when she first utters it, father Cam is unable to contain his laughter. Seeing how much the word delights her dad, Lily later drops several more loud F-bombs… at a family wedding, where she is acting as flower girl, and where she sees Cam tearing up.

Response to the actual episode has been quiet compared to the reaction before. The subplot itself revolves around the response of Lily’s fathers to her profanity- and how to make her understand that it is a “bad word.”

Did you see the episode? What did you think?

[via THR]

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