Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber or South Korean group BTS were among the guest stars of the Friends reunion episode, but Chinese viewers did not see them.

Indeed, several fans have expressed their dissatisfaction after the suppression by censorship of several passages of this reunion event.

This special episode, consisting of anecdotes, reading scenes and guests and marking the reunion of the six heroes of the series after 17 years of absence, was broadcast on three Chinese video platforms.

But the appearances of several celebrities, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and BTS, have drawn the wrath of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, have been deleted from all versions.

Lady Gaga banned from China tour

American singer Lady Gaga was banned from touring China in 2016 after meeting the Dalai Lama, a Tibetan spiritual leader in exile who Beijing described as a separatist.

Canadian singer Justin Bieber has been blocked by Beijing since 2014, when he posted a photo of himself at the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which honors the memory of Japan's war dead.

As for South Korean K-pop stars BTS, they angered the Chinese Communist Party last year by omitting any reference to Chinese fighters who died in the Korean War when they spoke of "the painful story." " of the region.

All LGBTQ references redacted

Chinese fans also noted that local versions of

Friends: The Reunion

redacted all LGBTQ references from this special episode, which was several minutes shorter than the 104-minute version uploaded Thursday by US platform HBO Max. .

Chinese streaming services iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Video have not explained the reasons for the censorship.

Angry fans have expressed frustration at the censorship on social media.

"I had been waiting for weeks to watch the Friends reunion and found that the version released in China was truncated," one wrote.

"Why can't the censors let us enjoy a sitcom?"

Another asked.

The sitcom is very popular with young Chinese and is even recommended in schools for learning English.

She even gave birth to Central Perk cafes in several Chinese cities.

To attract the wrath of the Chinese authorities has become costly for artists, like the American actor John Cena who had to apologize for having called Taiwan a "country" during the promotion of

Fast and Furious 9

.

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  • Friends

  • Series

  • China

  • Censorship