Denzel Washington Says His Gay Kiss Was Cut From Gladiator II

Gladiator 2 arrives in theaters this weekend, and if you were hoping to see Denzel Washington’s character kiss a man, well I’ve got bad news for you. While that scene was apparently filmed, it was cut because, according to Washington, the people in charged chickened out.

The original Gladiator was released all the way back in 2000 and became a massive hit for director Ridley Scott. It starred Russel Crowe as Maximus, a powerful Roman general who is betrayed, made a slave, and forced to fight in the gladiator arena. The sequel stars Paul Mescal as Lucius Verus, the son of Maximus, who finds himself in a similar situation. The movie also stars Denzel Washington as Macrinus, a former slave looking to take over Rome, and according to returning director Scott, the character was supposed to have a “twinkle” of bisexuality. However, one scene showing this part of the character has seemingly been cut.

In a recent interview with Gayety, Washington sat down to talk about just how gay the Roman Empire is in the new historical epic. That’s when the Equalizer actor revealed the deleted gay kiss.

“I actually kissed a man in the film but they took it out, they cut it,” said Washington. “I think they got chicken. I kissed a guy full on the lips and I guess they weren’t ready for that yet.”

Washington then explained that the man he kissed in the deleted scene didn’t last long, adding: “I killed him about five minutes later. It’s Gladiator. It’s the kiss of death.”

Meanwhile, Denzel Washington is set to have a role in the next Black Panther movie from Marvel and Disney. As he explained in a different interview, at this point in his career he wants to do things he hasn’t done before because he doesn’t know “how many more films [he’s] going to make.” He also suggested that “it’s probably not that many.”

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