Rocketman and Booksmart gay love scenes restored by Delta airlines following backlash

Director Olivia Wilde tweeted this week: ‘What message is this sending to viewers and especially to women?’

Delta Air Lines has pledged to no longer show edited versions of Rocketman and Booksmart after claims that gay sex scenes and references had been removed from in-flight versions of the films.

Controversy arose last Monday (28 October) when Booksmart director Olivia Wilde was alerted on Twitter that Etihad Airways had cut a gay sex scene from the film.

Other followers claimed that they had also watched cut versions of the film on airlines including Delta and Emirates, along with a cut version of the Elton John biopic Rocketman that omitted a gay sex scene.

On Wednesday (30 October), Wilde tweeted that she had since discovered that airlines had removed a character saying the word “vagina”, along with an animated scene featuring two naked dolls, and a scene in which characters played by Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein watch pornography.

“What message is this sending to viewers and especially to women?” Wilde wrote. “That their bodies are obscene? That their sexuality is shameful? 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.”

In a statement, Delta said that it had not asked for “homosexual content” to be removed from the films, adding: “We value our in-flight entertainment options as a means to reflect the diversity of the world. We are reviewing the processes of our third-party editing vendors to ensure that they are aligned with our values of diversity and inclusion.”

Delta also said that the films included as part of its in-flight entertainment were edited by a third-party company, and not Delta itself.

In a further statement to Variety, Delta spokesperson Emma Protists said that “special Delta edits” of both films will soon be available on all flights which retain their original content. She added that Delta currently has films and television series including Gentleman Jack, Moonlight and Imagine Me & You available for viewing, proving that “it is not our practice to omit LGBTQ+ love scenes”.

Delta’s statement has been welcomed by Wilde, who tweeted yesterday (1 November): “Thank you, @delta”.