Amy Winehouse joke removed from 'Glee Project'

The death of Amy Winehouse spurred Oxygen to delete a joke made about the singer from its reality show The Glee Project. A Sunday night repeat of an episode dropped the audio on a joke a cast-member made about the 27-year-old singer, who died Saturday after years of struggling with substance abuse.

In the episode, Glee creator Ryan Murphy teased Alex, a contestant on the show: “I’m surprised you didn’t come out here dressed like Amy Winehouse. Why didn’t you?” Alex said he could go change — and then the audio dropped out. The deleted line, first reported by the Boston Herald, was of Glee choreographer Zach Woodlee joking that all Alex needed was “a mop and a bottle,” sparking Murphy and others to laugh.

An Oxygen spokesperson says the network choose to make a change out of respect for Winehouse’s family and friends.

Incidentally, Glee Project has been blooming in the ratings, hitting a series high last week.

The story comes on the heels of a producer on Fox’s Family Guy deliberately making a Winehouse joke at Comic-Con after her death. Networks are already preparing shows about the singer, with cable channel Bio airing a one-hour special on the singer tonight and HD Net scheduling a tribute for next Sunday.

Read more:

Russell Brand on his friend Amy Winehouse: ‘She was a f—ing genius’

‘Family Guy’ producer makes Amy Winehouse joke at Comic-Con

Amy Winehouse, gifted Grammy-winning vocalist, frequent tabloid subject, passes away