Ridley Scott and Denzel Washington clash over cut scene
Director Ridley Scott emphatically denied Denzel Washington's claims that a scene featuring a gay kiss involving the actor was removed from the movie "Gladiator II."
In an interview promoting the long-awaited sequel to Gladiator, Denzel Washington stated that he kissed a man in one scene, but the scene was cut from the film. "I actually kissed a man in the film but they took it out, they cut it, I think they got chicken," he told Gayety.
After stirring controversy with his comments, Washington softened his earlier statement, noting that there was no kiss in the deleted scene, only a peck. "It really is much ado about nothing," the actor told Variety. "They’re making more of it than it was. I kissed him on his hands, I gave him a peck and I killed him."
The director of "Gladiator 2" presented a different version of events
In the latest interview, the director of "Gladiator 2" addressed the issue. Ridley Scott denies that such a kiss ever took place. A Variety journalist challenged Scott: "Denzel said he kissed a man on the lips but it didn't make the final cut." The director emphatically denied this: "No, that's bull----."
Another situation involving an improvised kiss occurred on the set of "Gladiator II." In a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, Paul Mescal revealed that he suggested kissing him on the forehead during a fight scene rehearsal with Pedro Pascal. "I did it in one of the takes, and then we're getting the radio messages back to Ridley [in video village], and I was like, 'Ridley: Kiss on the forehead, did you like it? Yay or nay?'" Mescal recalled. The director responded: "I'm afraid I did."
You can see "Gladiator 2" in theatres starting on November 22nd. After the first weekend of screening, the film recorded about 280,000 viewers in Poland. Everything indicates that it was only surpassed by "Letters to M. Goodbyes and Returns."
