Iranian TV boss given chop over Jackie Chan sex scene

A REGIONAL boss of Iran’s state broadcaster has been fired after inadvertently letting a Jackie Chan sex scene slip through its tight censorship rules, local media has reported.

Viewers on Kish, an island in the Persian Gulf, were shocked when the local television station of the IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) showed the martial arts star having sex with a prostitute in one of his films.

That is far beyond the usual limits in Iran, where men and women are not even allowed to shake hands on screen.

Censors are also said to be required to remove “tender words” between a couple, shots of women’s faces and necklines, unveiled women and negative portrayals of bearded men.

There was a sharp response after a viewer posted the clip online.

“These scenes, which are in total contradiction with the principles of IRIB, has ultimately led to the dismissal and reprimand of some of the employees of IRIB in Kish,” the semi-official ISNA news agency reported, adding that this included the IRIB directorgeneral for Kish.

Some Iranians pointed out that no one had been fired over a fatal bus crash that killed 10 students at Tehran’s Azad University last week. “Buses turn over, planes crash, ships sink... no one is dismissed... A few seconds of Jackie Chan making love on IRIB and immediately all staff in that section are sacked,” wrote one Twitter user.

Reza Rashidpoor, an IRIB presenter, joked that the row could have been avoided if the station had included a caption saying Chan was married to the actress. Last week, IRIB added a caption to say a couple holding hands on screen were married in real life.