Disney Says It Won’t Edit ‘Beauty and the Beast’ for Malaysian Censors
We approved it with a minor cut." He said the movie would have been shown with a PG-13 rating had Disney agreed to cut the scene.
Russia agreed last week to let "Beauty and the Beast" be shown there,
but it barred children under 16 from attending unless accompanied by someone over 16.
The film’s director, Bill Condon, has called the scene in question — involving a character named LeFou, manservant to the villain, Gaston — an "exclusively gay moment." The film, starring Emma Watson
and Dan Stevens and costing $300 million to make and market, is a live-action remake of Disney’s 1991 animated blockbuster of the same name.
Disney said that The film has not been and will not be cut for Malaysia,
The Film Censorship Board of Malaysia recently ruled
that a shot involving two male characters dancing in a ballroom must be cut from the movie, on the grounds that it promotes homosexuality.
By RICHARD C. PADDOCKMARCH 15, 2017
BANGKOK — Walt Disney Studios has refused to cut a brief, gay-themed scene from "Beauty
and the Beast" as demanded by government censors in Malaysia, meaning the film will not open there Thursday as scheduled.