Disney cuts lesbian kiss from 'Star Wars' in Singapore

KUALA LUMPUR – Disney has cut a lesbian kiss from the latest "Star Wars" movie, Singapore's media regulator said on Tuesday, so that more children can watch it. The two minor female characters embrace but do not kiss in the version of "The Rise of Skywalker" shown in Singapore, local media said, as the ninth film in the celebrated science-fiction series rakes in millions from loyal fans. "The applicant has omitted a brief scene which under the Film Classification Guidelines would require a higher rating," a spokeswoman from Singapore's Infocomm Media Development Authority said. Disney, which owns the "Star Wars" production company Lucasfilm, did not respond to a request for comment on its decision to cut the scene from the last installment of the second highest-grossing movie franchise of all time. It concludes a story that began in 1977, when filmmaker George Lucas introduced a young hero named Luke Skywalker and delighted audiences with a galaxy of robots, furry warriors known as Wookiees and a host of other eclectic characters.