Olivia Wilde says she’s “heartbroken” after learning that a lesbian hookup scene in her directorial debut, “Booksmart,” was edited out of several airlines’ cut while similar heterosexual scenes remain.
The 35-year-old actress and director was made aware of the edit when a savvy fan tweeted that they noticed a scene between actresses Kaitlyn Dever and Diana Silvers was cut when watching on a flight.
“Tried watching Booksmart on the plane and they cut the ENTIRE lesbian hookup scene like not even a KISS was allowed!” the fan wrote. “Oh but don’t worry guys, the Straights got their kiss.”
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Wilde responded to the tweet noting that it is “truly a bummer” and argued that there is no nudity in the scene to merit the omission. She also inquired as to what airline refused to show it.
“I don’t understand it,” Wilde told Variety on the red carpet at the Academy’s Governors Awards on Sunday night. “There’s censorship, airline to airline, of films, which there must be some kind of governing board to determine. We rate it a certain way. If it’s not X-rated, surely it’s acceptable on an airplane.”
She continued, “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. My heart just broke. I’m trying to get to the bottom of it; I want people to experience the entire film.”
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The Twitter user eventually revealed that she was flying with Etihad Airways. Soon after, other users noted that they experienced the same thing on flights from Delta and Emirates, according to People.
The cast of ‘Booksmart’ Austin Crute, Diana Silvers, Olivia Wilde, Beanie Feldstein, Kaitlyn Dever, Billie Lourd, Molly Gordon and Jessica Williams attend the New York screening at the Whitby Hotel.
(Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
Representatives from Emirates told Fox News it was looking into the reports, while reps for Etihad did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Delta explained that its movies are edited either by the studios or a third-party vendor and it simply chooses which edit to run.
“Delta’s content parameters do not 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,” a statement read.
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“It’s ridiculous,” Dever said when told about the issue at the same red carpet Wilde spoke at. “I don’t even know what to say to that. That makes me so mad.”
