Gladiator II director Ridley Scott is shutting down claims that a same-sex kiss was cut from the new movie.
Denzel Washington, who plays power-hungry former slave Macrinus in the film, recently said he kissed a man on the lips, but the moment did not make the final cut.
“No, that’s b——t. It was a senator. They never did. They acted the moment and [it] didn’t happen,” Scott, 86, told Variety on the red carpet at the Gladiator II Los Angeles premiere on Monday, November 18.
In an interview with Gayety published on October 31, Washington, 69, said, “I actually kissed a man in the film but they took it out, they cut it. I think they got chicken.”
The Oscar winner continued, “I kissed a guy full on the lips and I guess they weren’t ready for that yet. I killed him about five minutes later. It’s Gladiator. It’s the kiss of death.”
However, speaking to Variety on Monday night, Washington said the kiss was merely a “peck” on the lips.
“It really is much ado about nothing,” the actor said. “They’re making more of it than it was. I kissed him on his hands, I gave him a peck and I killed him.”
Speaking to Variety at the Governors Ball in Los Angeles on Sunday, November 17, producer Michael Pruss said of the scene: “There was so much stuff that was shot that didn’t make it into the film. It was truly a non-event.”
Meanwhile, actress Connie Nielsen, who reprises her Gladiator role as Lucilla, told the outlet that some of her scenes were also cut from the sequel.
“My grieving scene didn’t make it into the film either. It’s not homophobia. It’s just there was no room for it,” she said.
Gladiator II stars Paul Mescal as Lucius, the former heir of Rome who is forced to become a gladiator. Pedro Pascal plays a general named Marcus Acacius. While their characters are rivals on screen, the actors teased that they also shared a tender moment in the movie that was cut.
“There was a moment when we were rehearsing my fight scene with Pedro, and I had an idea towards the end of the scene to kiss Pedro on the forehead,” Mescal, 28, told Entertainment Weekly in October. “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?’ There was radio silence for a second. His radio crackles back, and [Ridley] goes, ‘I’m afraid I did.’”
Gladiator II is in theaters on Friday, November 22.
