The Elton John bio-pic Rocketman, which opened in theaters today, has been sliced and diced by a Russian media company, which cites the country's "homosexual propaganda" law.
This has outraged Elton and the filmmakers, who say, "We reject in the strongest possible terms the decision to pander to local laws and censor Rocketman for the Russian market, a move we were unaware of until today. Paramount Pictures have been brave and bold partners in allowing us to create a film which is a true representation of Elton’s extraordinary life, warts and all. That the local distributor has edited out certain scenes, denying the audience the opportunity to see the film as it was intended, is a sad reflection of the divided world we still live in and how it can still be so cruelly unaccepting of the love between two people. We believe in building bridges and open dialogue, and will continue to push for the breaking down of barriers until all people are heard equally across the world."
The Russians also removed a slide before the credits of Elton, his husband David Furnish and their two sons.
A similar thing happened to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody when it was released in China.