Olivia Wilde Slams Airline That Edited Out the Gay Kiss in 'Booksmart'

In another instance of gay censorship, it looks like an airline edited out the same-gender hookup scene in Booksmart. 

Writer Michaela Barton watched the underrated gem of a film on a flight, but the tender hook-up scene with Kaitlyn Dever's character Amy had been cut.

"Tried watching Booksmart on the plane and they cut the ENTIRE lesbian hookup scene like not even a KISS was allowed!" tweeted Barton. "Oh but don't worry guys, the Straights got their kiss."

Another film on the flight contained heterosexual sex scenes, so Barton believes a "lesbian bias" led to the scene getting cut. 

Olivia Wilde, who directed the film, was disappointed to hear of the scene getting left on the cutting room floor.

"This is truly a bummer," she tweeted. "There is no nudity in this scene. What makes it too obscene for airplane viewing?"

According to The Mary Sue, "Twitter users have claimed the sex scene had been cut on versions of the film streaming on Etihad Airways, Emirates, and Delta."

At the Governors Awards on Saturday, a reporter with Variety asked Wilde about the incident. 

"There’s censorship airline to airline of films," said Wilde. “There must be some kind of governing board to determine. We rated a certain way. If it’s not X-rated, surely it’s acceptable on an airplane. There’s insane violence of bodies being ripped in half and yet a love scene between two women is censored from the film. It’s such an integral part of the character’s journey. My heart just broke. I don’t understand it. It’s confusing."

Beanie Feldstein, star of the movie opposite Dever, echoed Wilde's sentiment. 

"Our movie is a beautiful representation of the queer experience as young people. I’m a queer person. So we’re getting to the bottom of it. If you can watch me and Skyler [Gisondo] kiss, you can watch Kaitlyn and Diana kiss."

According to The Advocate, the censorship of romantic scenes with LGBTQ+ scenes is an ongoing issue and it's hard to actually hold anyone accountable when the self-proclaimed LGBTQ-friendly airlines shift the blame onto their hired editing studios and the studios blame the airlines. Two years ago when Bad Moms premiered, a same-gender make-out session was edited out of the film while a heterosexual one remained. "Delta accused the studio of the anti-LGBT edits, and the studio called out the airline for running this particular edited version of the film," wrote feminism editor Tracy E. Gilchrist. "Both companies adamantly reaffirmed a commitment to depicting LGBT people with respect and equanimity, but that doesn't change the fact that countless numbers of Delta customers watched a neutered version of Bad Moms."

Neither Etihad Airways, Emirates, or Delta have issued comments.