LaToya Jackson was supposed to be just one of a cast of hundreds of unsuspecting "stars" of Bruno, but her time onscreen was cut from the film just hours after the death of her brother and before the Los Angeles premiere of the movie on June 25. Universal decided to remove the scene "out of respect" for the Jackson family, says NME.
Bruno, of course, features Sasha Baron Cohen as the titular character -- an over-the-top gay fashion reporter whose interviews and interactions produce the same cringe-worthy results as those of every other Cohen character (Borat, Ali G.). Huffington Post describes the scene, and it sounds like it was really...something:
Jackson arrives at a contemporary L.A. home under the guise of being interviewed by Bruno. Because there's no furniture in the house, Bruno asks Jackson to sit on the back of a Mexican laborer, who's on his hands and knees functioning as a chair. Another man serves as a table with pieces of sushi spread across his naked body.
There's more: Bruno taking LaToya's cell phone and pretending to read Michael Jackson's number in German to his assistant; Bruno pestering LaToya to introduce him to her brother -- you get the idea. Don't expect to see the scene when the film actually hits theaters, either -- although we imagine this will find its way onto the "Special Features" menu of the DVD. Bruno hits theaters on July 10. [Huffington Post, NME]
Michael Jackson »
Could it have been any worse than the real MJ dangling his own child from a window?
I think not. Sadly, America forgives its freakish pedophiles as long as they have massive celebrity status.
Scary!