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Warner Bros. censors gay dialogue from Harry Potter movie

Warner Bros. has bowed to Chinese censorship in removing dialogue that alludes to Dumbledore’s gay affair.

Unsurprisingly, lines of dialogue in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore have been removed for release in China, as they reference the titular character’s gay orientation.

The six seconds from the third instalment of the trilogy refer to a romantic past between Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore and villain Gellert Grindelwald.

mads mikkelsen
Photo: Warner Bros.

The censored dialogue includes, “because I was in love with you” and “the summer Gellert and I fell in love”.

Warner Bros. stated that they believe the “spirit of the film remains”.

Ironically, they also state that they are “committed to safeguarding the integrity of every film we release”, which requires them to “sensitively” make “nuanced cuts” for certain markets, *rolls eyes*.

They added, “our hope is to release our features worldwide as release by their creators, but historically we have faced small edits made in local markets”.

“In the case of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, a six-second cut was requested, and Warner Bros accepted those changes to comply with local requirements, but the spirit of the film remains intact.

“We want audiences everywhere in the world to see and enjoy this film, and it’s important to us that Chinese audiences have the opportunity to experience it as well, even with these minor edits.”

Despite this censorship, the film hit number one in China over the weekend, grossing $9.8 million even with over half of the country’s cinemas currently closed.

This is not the first time China has required media to be censored due to “sensitive” subject matter. In 2021, Hong Kong passed a new legislature banning films that violate China’s national security interests that punishes violators with up to three years imprisonment and $130,000 in fines.