Disney has refused to yield to a demand they cut an LGBTQ reference from “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” for audiences in Saudi Arabia, according to the Middle Eastern country.
Saudi Arabia denied reports they had banned the MCU film. Nawaf Alsabhan, a Saudi general supervisor of cinema classification, said it was “barely 12 seconds” they were asking to be left on the editing room floor involving a lesbian character (America Chavez) played by Xochitl Gomez.
“It’s just her talking about her moms, because she has two moms,” the official said, per The Guardian. “And being in the Middle East, it’s very tough to pass something like this.”
But he said “Disney has told us they are not willing.”
Meanwhile he downplayed reports they had banned the film saying: “There’s no reason to ban the film. It’s a simple edit … So far they have refused. But we haven’t closed the door. We’re still trying.”
Star of the film, Benedict Cumberbatch, recently reacted to several markets attempting to censor or ban the movie over LGBTQ representation:
Last week THR reported the film was banned in Kuwait.
In 2021 MCU film “The Eternals” got similar requests from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries — it featured a gay couple — and Disney denied those demands as well resulting in the film not showing in those places.
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