'Rocketman' banned in Samoa for depictions of homosexuality

ANI
12 Jun 2019, 18:55 GMT+10

Washington D.C. [USA], June 12 (ANI): The Pacific nation of Samoa has banned singer-songwriter Elton John's biopic 'Rocketman' over its depiction of homosexuality.

The Samoan government has banned the widely acclaimed Taron Egerton starrer film from screening in the South Pacific island country, reported Entertainment Weekly.

Breaking the news on Facebook, the Apollo Cinemas Samoa wrote, "Unfortunately due to censoring issues we have had to cancel Rocketman."The film follows John's journey starting from a young piano prodigy named Reginald Dwight, to a rockstar struggling with addiction who finally finds his way to sobriety. The biopic is directed by Dexter Fletcher and is produced by Elton and his husband David Furnish.

According to Samoa's principal censor Leiataua Niuapu Faaui, the film clashes with the country's culture and its Christian beliefs.

"(The film is) not good for public viewing and violates laws against same-sex marriage," Faaui asserted.

Reportedly, the film features multiple instances of intimate same-sex acts, including a kiss between a young John and an American musician. In addition to this, the biopic also features an explicit sex scene involving John and his former manager John Reid, played by Richard Madden.

Earlier this week, the makers of 'Rocketman' and Elton John blasted the Russian distributor of the film for removing same-sex intimate scenes from the musical biopic.

The film, which is a musical rendition of the iconic singer's breakthrough years, is scheduled to release on May 31. (ANI)

Watch latest videos

News RELEASES

Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to China National News.

More Information

26 ℃

Fair in Shanghai/Hongqiao

International

Section

News Corp shuts down 112 historic Australian newspapers

SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - The largest publisher of newspapers in Australia, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp has closed 112 suburban and ...

U.S. president to step up pressure on Facebook, Twitter

WHITE HOUSE - U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Thursday regarding social media platforms, after Twitter tagged ...

Hair salons adapt to evolving new standards

When this writer recently looked into the mirror and took a good look at how long his hair had grown ...

How London's 100 or so billionaires are faring

Over cups of tea in his ramshackle London home I chatted with a novelist. It felt a valuable opportunity, given ...

Are the Golden Days over?

As lockdown measures start to be eased in most countries around the world, the experts of The Conversation's global network ...

Australian-based News Corp reporter and whistleblower escape charges

CANBERRA, Australia - Australian Federal Police said Wednesday they were dropping an investigation of a prominent journalist who obtained classified ...