Barbie Movie Banned in Algeria for ‘Promoting Homosexuality’

The Barbie movie has been banned in yet another country, this time in Algeria for what the country deems as the movie promoting homosexuality.

After being banned in Lebanon earlier this month, Barbie has been banned in Algeria for its third straight week of release according to Reuters. In a statement to the news outlet, an official source for Algeria says that the film “promotes homosexuality and other Western deviances” and “does not comply with Algeria’s religious and cultural beliefs.”

Algeria’s local television channel 24H Algerie reported the news on Monday, noting that the country’s Ministry of Culture and Arts had asked theaters showing the film to remove it due to its “damaging morals.”

Outside of Algeria and Lebanon, Barbie has also been banned in Kuwait for what the country’s all refer to as promoting homosexuality, despite there being no explicit LGBTQ+ relationships in the films.

Barbie continues to perform well at the box office

Despite the bans, Barbie has continued to become a box office sensation. Earlier this month, the film officially passed the $1 billion mark, making Greta Gerwig the first-ever solo female director to have a film do so. As of today, the film has grossed a total of $1.1 billion worldwide, with $660 million of that coming from various overseas box offices.