censored

‘Little America’ episode about gay Syrian man banned in 11 countries

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An episode from AppleTV+’s critically acclaimed new series Little America has reportedly been banned in almost a dozen countries for being too gay.

Little America, which is getting rave reviews from critics and audiences alike, is an anthology series that highlights stories of eight different immigrant experiences.

Haaz Sleiman appears in “The Son,” the final episode of the season. He plays Rafiq, a Syrian man who is forced to flee his village after his father catches him kissing another man.

But according to one of the episode’s co-writers, Amrou Al-Kadhi, the subject matter in “The Son” was too triggering for censors in 10 Middle Eastern countries and Russia. So they banned it.

Yesterday, Al-Kadhi tweeted: “We’ve just found out that our episode in #LittleAmerica has been banned from several Middle-Eastern countries. We’re so sorry and we’re working to make it valuable. If you have experienced this or are noticing changes, please let us know.”

This isn’t the first time Little America has run into issues either.

Producers also had difficulty getting some of the cast and crew into the U.S. for filming because of Trump’s Islamophobic travel ban. To work around it, production was moved to Canada.

In a tweet, Al-Kadhi explains: “This is the harsh reality of making queer Arab work. The Trump travel ban meant we had to move this shoot out of America. And now our #LittleAmerica episode has been banned in 11 countries. We’re so sorry about this – please know we’re working hard to find a way to get it to you.”

Related: Haaz Sleiman on his new show and how coming out as a “total bottom” impacted his career

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