Thursday it came long-awaited reunion episode of «Friends». Equally long-awaited was probably not the episode at three different streaming services, which simply chose to shorten it by six minutes.
The scenes that have been missing in the finished result are missing both Lady Gaga (35), Justin Bieber (27) and the k-pop band BTS.
Several international media have written about the censorship, among others Variety.
– Felt I was going to die
According to the website, there are individual reasons why the big stars have not appeared on the Chinese streaming services.
Dropped song scene
For Lady Gaga, it has to be her meeting with the Dalai Lama in 2016. At the time, the two discussed how to create a more humane world, and touched on topics such as meditation and mental health. This led to a ban on the artist.
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Relations with the Dalai Lama and China are strained due to disagreements over Tibet’s affiliation.
The scene Lady Gaga participated in during the reunion was a musical feature with Lisa Kudrow, where they started the iconic “Smelly Cat” – the character Phoebe Buffay’s self-composed show.
It is not known if China has any conflicts with foul-smelling cats, and if this may have something to do with the case.
EXILED: The meeting between the Dalai Lama and Lady Gaga put the latter on the blacklist for China. Photo: Kevin Mazur / AFP / NTB
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When it comes to Justin Bieber he reportedly ended up on China’s blacklist in 2017. Beijing’s cultural agency then stated that he had behaved badly, and therefore was not welcome in the country.
Censorship tradition
Variety writes that the omission from the “Friends” episode may have something to do with his visit to Tokyo in 2014. He was photographed visiting the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, a place of honor for fallen Japanese soldiers during World War II.
