Olivia Wilde, director of Booksmart, has a bone to pick with airlines such as Delta and Etihad Airways which are reportedly omitting scenes that have anything to do with lesbian love—from kissing scenes to the mere mention of the word “lesbian.”
“Censoring the word lesbian is just batshit insane what is going on,” Wilde tweeted on Monday.
Censoring the word lesbian is just batshit insane what is going on 😳 https://t.co/Rdq2wh68QO
— olivia wilde (@oliviawilde) October 28, 2019
Wilde was quote-tweeting a viral post from user @peachyfxkinkeen, who reported censorship on Wilde’s Booksmart on a recent Delta flight.
Delta tells the Daily Dot that a third-party contractor edits its in-flight movies.
Delta is okay with people saying fuck, shit, son of a bitch, and motherfucker but not lesbian
— kimberley (@tamagotchicat) October 12, 2019
Wilde quoted another user who made the same complaint about Etihad Airways. In the responses to this tweet, some others said Emirates Airlines has a similar issue.
This is truly a bummer. There is no nudity in this scene. What makes it too obscene for airplane viewing? What airline? https://t.co/5QwlomY2fR
— olivia wilde (@oliviawilde) October 27, 2019
Mine was Etihad. By the sounds of it some airlines allow it, others don’t
— michaela 🌙 (@MichaelaBarton_) October 27, 2019
Is this on emirates? Happened to me too
— finding the balance between tofu and cigarettes (@newyorkpigeons) October 27, 2019
Michaela Barton, who wrote the other tweet that Wilde quoted, said in an update that Etihad Airways, on the same flight, had “completely unedited hetero sex scenes” in another film.
“Pretty sure it’s definitely a lesbian bias thing,” Barton wrote.
Update, watched a different film and they had completely unedited hetero sex scenes so pretty sure it’s definitely a lesbian bias thing 😒
— michaela 🌙 (@MichaelaBarton_) October 27, 2019
The tweets inspired similar allegations about other movies on Delta:
Pretty sure Delta is the airline that edited out lesbian kisses in the film Carol three years ago. Kind of thought three years down the road they would have advanced their “praise be” thinking by now.
— Pawlie Pockets (@PaulDon09592081) October 28, 2019
In a separate interview, Wilde told Variety that she was heartbroken to learn about this.
“There’s insane violence of bodies being smashed in half and yet a love scene between two women is censored from the film. It’s such an integral part of this character’s journey. I don’t understand it,” she said.
Other people dragged Delta for showing support for the LGBTQ community in its tweets and during Pride while perpetuating the invisibility of the community:
https://twitter.com/tpfbsh/status/1188867347395821569?s=20
— Chris Carter (@WanderinChild) October 28, 2019
In an email to the Daily Dot, Delta Airlines said they work with third-party contractors to curate such content and then pick versions from those edits. They said in a statement that they don’t “in any way ask for the removal of homosexual content from the film.”
“We value diversity and inclusion as core to our culture and our mission and will review our processes to ensure edited video content doesn’t’ conflict with these values,” the said to the Daily Dot.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways.
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