Same-sex love scene, word ‘lesbian’ cut from Delta in-flight film

Delta Air Lines is under fire after the company cut a same-sex love scene and the word “lesbian” from one of its in-flight movies.

In “Booksmart,” an R-rated film that passengers can watch in the air, there is a love scene between two women. The movie also mentions the words “vagina,” “genitals” and dialogue about a lesbian sex act.

But all of these elements were censored by a third-party company that works with the airline, drawing backlash from celebrities and others who say the deleted scenes were key to the film and that the move marks one of several times Delta has modified on-screen same-sex romances.

Actress Olivia Wilde, who directed the film, said Sunday that “if it’s not X-rated, surely it’s acceptable on an airplane.”{mosads}

“There’s insane violence of bodies being smashed in half [in other movies], 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 continued.

She later tweeted that the edited version included every mention of the F-word and a scene in which a character imitates a sex act. She added, “What message is this sending to viewers and especially to women?” 

By the way, they didn’t cut ANY cursing. Every “fuck” is heard loud and clear, sometimes in the same scene where they muted “vagina.”  . They showed George (elegantly) deep-throating a microphone but couldn’t stomach a consensual love scene between two women.

— olivia wilde (@oliviawilde) October 30, 2019

Variety reported that the outside company gives Delta a copy of both the original version of the movie and an edited version. If the airline decides the original has problematic pieces, it uses the altered version on its flights, The Washington Post reports, adding that it isn’t clear which part of the movie violated the airline’s standards.

Delta told the Post in a statement that its “content parameters do not in any way ask for the removal of homosexual content from the film.”

The airline has also been criticized over its in-flight version of “Rocketman” in which a scene depicting physical abuse remained in the film, but a scene in which two men kiss was removed, the Post reports.