Denzel Washington plays a warrior in the new movie Gladiator 2. However, the filmmakers decided to exclude a significant scene: a passionate gay kiss. According to Washington, the decision to cut the kiss was a sign of cowardice, as the creators were too afraid to show it on screen.
In the Gayety interview, Washington said: “I actually kissed a man in the film, but they took it out, they cut it. I think they got chicken,” Washington revealed. “I kissed a guy full on the lips and I guess they weren’t ready for that yet. I killed him about five minutes later. It’s Gladiator. It’s the kiss of death.”
LGBTQ+ activists are urging a boycott of the movie on X (formerly Twitter). They point out that this is not the first instance of studio executives pressuring filmmakers to tone down depictions of homosexuality. For example, Disney reportedly made the lead character in Inside Out 2 from Pixar “less gay” at the company’s insistence.
