Iran’s Kish Island’s citizens were in for a shock when their local TV station showed a film in which Jackie Chan is seen having sex with a prostitute. The government that’s known for its tight censorship rules fired a regional boss of Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB, following the telecast, reported the local media.
In a country where men and women are not even allowed to shake hands on screen, these visuals of the martial arts star were offensive to the citizens and the government. In fact, a viewer posted the clip online which went viral.
"Clips of immoral scenes of a film featuring Jackie Chan have been circulating on social media which was apparently shown by Kish IRIB," the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.
"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," it said, adding this included IRIB's director-general for Kish.
A section of the Iranian population responded angrily against this decision saying nobody had been fired over a fatal bus crash that killed 10 students at the 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.
IRIB TV presenter Reza Rashidpoor joked on his morning talk show that the controversy could have been avoided if IRIB had included a caption saying Chan was married to the actress playing the prostitute.
He was referring to a programme last week in which IRIB added a caption to say a couple holding hands on screen were married in real life.