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China is censoring parts of the Friends reunion involving musicians, LGBTQ content

Friends has always been very, very popular in China. However, the new reunion show has apparently run afoul of government censors, specifically the bits of the show featuring musicians and LGBTQ comments.

  • BTS’ appearance was cut, probably because one of the members recently made a comment about the Korean War contrary to the official PRC line.
  • Lady Gaga is missing. China won’t forgive her for meeting with the Dalai Lama in 2016.
  • Bieber? “Bad behaviour.” Maybe that has something to do with a selfie he posted when visiting a controversial shrine in Japan. He’s banned from performing in all of China.

Also cut were some random references to urine as well as some LGBTQ comments. If you’ve seen the show, you might remember a German fan who says “I was a gay man who wanted to be like Jennifer Aniston, so you can imagine how lonely I was.” You can’t say that in China, apparently.

Another shot that didn’t make the cut was when Joey showed off his underwear with a picture of Ross stuck to the front. Not funny, says China.

Read more here. (Via Sean)

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 38031 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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