Ridley Scott Hits Back At Denzel Washington’s Claim Same-Sex Kiss Got Cut From ‘Gladiator 2’

“Gladiator II” director Ridley Scott is clearing the air about Denzel Washington’s claim that a same-sex kiss was cut from the new movie.
“No, that’s bullshit,” Scott, 86, told Variety on the red carpet at the action film’s Los Angeles premiere on Monday.
He told the publication that there was a scene with Washington’s character Macrinus and an unnamed “senator,” but he said the pair “never did [kiss].”
“They acted the moment — it didn’t happen,” he clarified.
Ridley’s comments come after Washington, 69, told Gayety that he “actually kissed a man” in the sequel to the 2000 blockbuster, but said they “took it out” of the final cut of the film because “they got chicken.”
“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,” the Oscar winner said in an Oct. 31 interview with the publication.
Washington later clarified to Variety at Monday night’s premiere that the kiss was simply 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.”
Washington’s co-star, Paul Mescal, claims another scene was also nixed before the film’s release: a forehead kiss scene between the “Aftersun” star and 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?’ There was radio silence for a second,” Mescal recalled in an Oct. 22 interview with Entertainment Weekly.
“His radio crackles back, and [Ridley] goes, ‘I’m afraid I did,’” Mescal recalled.
“Gladiator 2” hits theaters Nov. 22.