‘Beauty and the Beast’ approved with minor cut on ‘gay moment’

After Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty spin-off Maleficent, Disney’s remaking classic animations as live-action films continues with Beauty and the Beast. But due to her involvement in the live-action movie, the actress had to turn it down.

Speaking about Josh Gad’s character Le Fou during an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, he said: ‘I think he is a gay character.

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Since the announcement, all cinemas have taken down the movie from their showtime listings. There are reports the film is “postponed indefinitely”.

In Malaysia, homosexuality can be punished with up to 20 years in prison.

But Malaysia’s Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Aziz told Asian Correspondent he found the uproar over Beauty and the Beast to be “ridiculous” and tantamount to “moral policing”. “I had to be there to do that and, as I was saying before, it’s like you can’t half-a*** a project like this, you know, you’re in or you’re out”.

A drive-through cinema in Alabama, United States, also banned the film from its screens because of the gay character.

Ewan McGregor has hit out at the controversy over the “gay scene” in Beauty and the Beast.

LeFou’s sexuality has been making headlines since the film’s director, Bill Condon, recently told the British magazine Attitude that LeFou has “a nice, exclusively gay moment” in the film.

“Disney films for children’s entertainment are usually associated with wholesome and mainstream values”. “The films would fall flat if they didn’t speak to the time that they’re being released in”.

Critics of the decision to censor the film worldwide have questioned why people are so offended by the concept of two men liking each other, but are relaxed about bestiality.

At issue is a scene in the film – described by USA critics as barely longer than a moment – in which one of the film’s villains, Le Fou, played by Josh Gad, appears to have feelings for Gaston.

He added that the release date is not decided by LPF.