BTS’s Scenes Were Deleted From Chinese Broadcast Of “Friends: The Reunion” — Here’s Why
It was previously reported that BTS would be guest-starring in Friends: The Reunion. The members ended up appearing in a special interview segment where they talked about how treasured the show was.
However, according to Variety, BTS’s segment was unfortunately removed from all Chinese streaming platforms including iQiyi, Youku and Tencent. BTS appeared for a total of about 6 minutes during the special.
However, BTS was not the only one cut from the broadcast. Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, as well as any LBGTQ+ scenes were cut from the material as well. A scene of main cast member, Matt LeBlanc, appearing in his underwear was also cut.
It was reported that Chinese fans of BTS were surprised and baffled to not be able to watch BTS’s portion of the special. Some suspect this exclusion is due to BTS’s previous matter with regards to the Van Fleet award. During an acceptance speech, RM had thanked the various Korean soldiers who sacrificed their lives during the Korean war. Chinese netizens were miffed he failed to mention the Chinese soldiers who died in the war as well.
On the other hand, netizens have further speculated that Lady Gaga’s portion was cut due to her 2016 meeting of the Dalai Lama, an icon for Tibetan independence. And Justin Bieber’s interview was supposedly cut due to his 2014 visit to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, a commemorative location for Japanese soldiers who died in World War II.
Friends is a sitcom that spanned a total of 10 years between 1994 to 2004 due to its tremendous global success. RM is known to be a huge fan of the show, having learned the English language from it.
