“Love is love. No compromises.”
Taron Egerton has slammed Russia for censoring same-sex scenes in the Elton John biopic, Rocketman.
On Facebook, one Russian journalist confirmed that “all scenes with kissing, sex and oral sex between men have been cut out.”
Another added that scenes depicting drug use had been cut. In all, five minutes of the film had been cut, including a photograph of Sir Elton with his husband, David Furnish, shown in the credits.
Olga Lyubimova, the head of the Culture Ministry’s cinema department, told Tass that no specific restrictions were put on the film, but films had to abide by Russia’s laws on “paedophilia, ethnic and religious hatred and pornography.”
Writing on Instagram, Taron – who plays Sir Elton in the critically-acclaimed film – said: “I am crestfallen that the decision was made to censor our movie for the Russian market.
“I’m even more disappointed to hear about it second hand today on the day of our domestic release. I in no way condone this decision and feel disappointed I wasn’t made aware and given the chance to fight this move. Love is love. No compromises.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByJS3V0lEhg/
Over the weekend, Sir Elton also criticised their decision. In a statement on social media, he said: “We reject in the strongest possible terms the decision to censor Rocketman for the Russian market, a move we were unaware of until today.
“Paramount Pictures have been brave and bold partners in allowing us to create a film which is a true representation of Elton’s extraordinary life, warts and all.
“That the local distributor has found it necessary to edit out certain scenes, denying the audience the opportunity to see the film as it was intended is a sad reflection of the divided world we still live in and how it can still be so cruelly unaccepting of the love between two people.
“We believe in building bridges and open dialogue, and will continue to push for the breaking down of barriers until all people are heard equally across the world.”
Rocketman, which also stars Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, Bryce Dallas Howard and Stephen Graham, made history by becoming the first major Hollywood production to show a gay male sex scene on-screen.
Watch the trailer for Rocketman below.
Rocketman is in cinemas now.
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