Claims that Amazon Prime Video deliberately removed the opening text of the 2010 film “Robin Hood” starring Russell Crowe and directed by Ridley Scott circulated on social media in early May 2025.

The viral claims that appeared on social media platforms such as Facebook (archived), X (archived) and Instagram (archived), in addition to a popular thread on Reddit, purported that Prime Video censored words seen during the film’s opening scroll that set the stage for the story to follow. Based on the popularity of the claim, many Snopes readers reached out asking for verification of the alleged censorship.

The text allegedly removed from the start of the film read, “In times of tyranny and injustice when law oppresses the people, the outlaw takes his place in history. England at the turn of the 12th century was such a time.”

The assertion in the claims was that Amazon removed the “antiestablishment” text under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, which has faced accusations of operating as an oligarchy.

However, these claims were not based on factual evidence. Rather, signs point to a simple mistake that Prime Video has since addressed.

A spokesperson for Amazon told Snopes via email, “While the HD [high-definition] and SD [standard-definition] versions of the film are correct, the UHD [ultra-high-definition] version that excludes the quote was delivered to us incorrectly by the provider in 2020. We now have the correct version from them.”

We also reached out to the production companies involved in the film, Imagine Entertainment, Relativity Media and Scott Free Productions via email, telephone and LinkedIn. In addition, we contacted Universal Pictures, the distributor of the film, via email. Should any of these entities respond with a statement, this article will be updated.

First, a test of the movie in question on Amazon Prime Video showed the text displaying as intended. Prime Video blocks users from taking screenshots of its content, but multiple Snopes employees based across the U.S. and the U.K. also tested and confirmed the scroll appeared. A screenshot from a YouTube video of the scene in question matching the version that appears on Prime Video appears below.

(Captain Darrow on YouTube)

While the video evidence shared in various claims showed that the text was indeed missing at one time, there was no evidence this was due to pressure from the Trump administration.

“It’s most likely a textless file,” Max Nicholson, a digital media professional with experience in asset delivery for major studios such as Paramount, told Snopes. “The most typical use case for these would be international distribution so partners in other countries could superimpose their own native languages on top of the blank graphic card. My guess is Amazon Prime just uploaded a textless version of the movie.”

Further, claims that the Prime Video version of “Robin Hood” removed the opening text date back to at least 2022, when a social media user posted about the issue on X (archived) with no mention of censorship.

The fact that the 2022 post appeared during the presidency of Joe Biden casts further doubt on the theory that the text was intentionally removed as an act of censorship.

Complaints about the problem also appeared on the Amazon forums on April 12, 2025, when a user posted about the issue. A customer service representative inquired about which device the user was streaming the film on, indicating that the problem could also have been related to different files appearing on different types of devices.

The final response from a customer service representative in that thread occurred on May 3, 2025. There appeared to be no resolution in the thread — nor any suggestion of censorship until the thread became inundated with new posts from users starting on May 5, 2025, coinciding with the spread of the claim on social media.

Sources:

Amazon Digital and Device Forums – US. https://www.amazonforum.com/s/question/0D5Kf00003BupZUKAZ/missing-text-in-robin-hood-movie. Accessed 7 May 2025.

Robin Hood (2010) | Rotten Tomatoes. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/robin_hood_2010. Accessed 7 May 2025.

Watch Robin Hood | Prime Video. https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0T60AQIIEVWM6EOCIGL7EW5JDX/ref=atv_plr_detail_play. Accessed 7 May 2025.

Updates:

May 8, 2025: This article was updated to add a statement from Amazon.