YouTube Bans ‘The Nun’ Promo After Insane Jump Scare Terrifies Users and Violates Company Policy

Corin Hardy’s upcoming horror movie “The Nun” is hoping to leave audiences terrified when it opens next month, but it’s already scaring the crap out of people on YouTube. The streaming platform has removed a controversial “The Nun” advertisement after it caused backlash among users for a horrifying jump scare that violates YouTube policy.

The ad in question was an online promo that played before select videos on YouTube. The ad began with the image of an on-screen volume sign that held on the screen for several seconds before cutting to an image of a demonic nun screaming at the camera. The promo was only six seconds long, but the jump scare and the extreme cut from silence to deafening screams proved too terrifying for some. One tweet complaining about the ad earned over 100,000 re-tweets on social media.

YouTube eventually pulled the promo, saying the clip “violates our shocking content policy and it’s no longer running as an ad.” As pointed out by Gizmodo, YouTube’s parent company Google has an advertising policy that prohibits “shocking content.” Any promo featuring “violent language, gruesome or disgusting imagery, or graphic images or accounts of physical trauma,” as well as ads “that are likely to shock or scare,” are prohibited on YouTube.

“The Nun,” directed by indie director Hardy, stars Demián Bichir and Taissa Farmiga and is the story of a Catholic priest and a novice investigating a nun’s suicide at the Cârța Monastery in 1952 Romania. The film is the latest spinoff of “The Conjuring” franchise, which also includes the “Annabelle” films. Warner Bros. will release the film in theaters nationwide September 7.