Gladiator II director Ridley Scott is shutting down claims that a same-sex kiss was cut from the new movie. Denzel Washington, who plays power-hungry former slave Macrinus in the film, recently said he kissed a man on the lips,

Gladiator II director Ridley Scott has hit out at claims made by Denzel Washington that a gay kiss was removed from the film. The Oscar-winning actor made the claims in an interview promoting the long-awaited sequel last week. “I actually kissed a man in the film but they took it out, they cut it, I think they got chicken,” he told Gayety.

Denzel Washington may have said that his same-sex kiss in “Gladiator II” was cut from the movie because the powers that be got “chicken,” but, according to director Ridley Scott, the kiss may not have happened at all.