According to the Hollywood Reporter, Disney and 20th Century Studios' West Side Story has been banned in multiple Gulf nations due to a character in the film who is trans and portrayed by a non-binary actor.
Steven Spielberg and Rachel Zegler attend the premiere of "West Side Story" at the Rose Theater. The photo was taken by Charles Sykes.
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
The film has been banned in several countries.
The film was not given a release certificate in Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, and Disney refused to cut parts of the film that were requested to be removed.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, unnamed regional sources said the bans were made in response to Anybodys, a character in the film who is trans and is portrayed by non-binary actress.
Disney refused to cut scenes from The Eternals that portrayed the studio's first openly gay couple sharing a kiss. Disney refused to allow the film to be shown in those countries. In the past, Disney has acquiesced to censorship demands from Gulf nations, removing a brief same-sex kiss from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Homosexuality is illegal in several countries.
