Following online backlash from passengers and even actress Olivia Wilde, Delta airlines has confirmed it will replace its in-flight versions of Booksmart and Rocketman so that all the LGBT love scenes will be included.
The airline had previously been showing both of the movies on their flights with LGBT love scenes edited out - something they say was done by a third-party provider. They now claim certain scenes were "unnecessarily excluded" despite the fact they are "well within" their guidelines.
The airline came under fire last week after one passenger took to Twitter to voice her grievances about the edited version of Booksmart she had watched on her flight. She noted that a lesbian love scene - which contained zero nudity - and kissing scenes between two of the female characters had been removed.
Certain dialogue between the characters had also been omitted, and the words "vagina" and "genitals" had been muted throughout the film's duration.
The movie did include sex/kissing scenes between hetero couples, as well as all profanity.
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Passenger Michaela Barton tweeted:
"Tried watching Booksmart on the plane and they cut the ENTIRE lesbian hookup scene like not even a KISS was allowed! oh but don't worry guys, the Straights got their kiss.
"Update, watched a different film and they had completely unedited hetero sex scenes so pretty sure it's definitely a lesbian bias thing."
In fact, actress Olivia Wilde - who not only has played several bisexual roles in her career but also directed Booksmart - replied to Barton's tweets, saying: "This is truly a bummer. There is no nudity in this scene. What makes it too obscene for airplane viewing? What airline?"
The star then revealed in a series of tweets that she had the opportunity to watch the edited version in question, and hit out at any airlines for excluding such content, saying she was left disappointed and heartbroken over the decision to cut certain scenes/words.
"I finally had the chance to watch an edited version of Booksmart on a flight to see exactly what had been censored. Turns out some airlines work with a third party company that edits the movie based on what they deem inappropriate. Which, in our case, is … female sexuality?
"I urge every airline, especially those who pride themselves on inclusivity, to stop working with this third party company, and trust the parental advisory warning to allow viewers to opt out if they choose."
On Friday, per the Daily Mail, a spokesperson for Delta announced that the movie's "content parameters do not in any way ask for the removal of homosexual content from the film."
"We value diversity and inclusion as core to our culture and our mission and will review our processes to ensure edited video content doesn’t conflict with these values,’
The airline pointed out that it also offers Gentleman Jack, 'Imagine Me and You, and Moonlight on thier flights, and have shown "countless content in the past that clearly shows it is not our practice to omit LGBTQ+ love scenes".
"We are immediately putting a new process in place for managing content available through Delta’s in-flight entertainment. We are working to make sure this doesn’t happen again"
Wilde has since thanked the airline on Twitter for addressing the issue.
