China censors Gaga, Bieber, LGBTQ references from ‘Friends’ reunion

“Friends” character Phoebe Buffay’s “Smelly Cat” is known around the world, but actress Lisa Kudrow needed some help remembering how to play it.

Friends: The Reunion – scroll down to see them below.The actress took to Instagram to give fans several new images of the cast and special guests following the airing of the one-off HBO Max special last week.“Still basking in all the love from the #FriendsReunion. Thank you each and every one of you,” Aniston wrote in her post.

Lady Gaga was one of the best celeb guests during the Friends: The Reunion special when she performed “Smelly Cat” with Lisa Kudrow.

Jennifer Aniston is sharing some sweet behind-the-scenes snapshots from the set.The actress took to Instagram on Tuesday and posted a slideshow of snapshots from the recent special, which premiered last Thursday on HBO Max.The first photo in the slideshow was a snapshot of Aniston taking a selfie with all her co-stars — David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and Matthew Perry.

Central Perk loves everything about the Friends reunion. The Chinese Central Committee apparently does not.

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s leading video streamers iQiyi, Tencent and Alibaba’s Youku are all fierce competitors, but they rallied together Friday to present an unusual united front against rival Bilibili for hosting unauthorized videos of “Friends: The Reunion” illegally on its platform.The three streamers held the rights to officially broadcast HBO Max’s “Friends” special, which they released in China at 3 p.m. local time on Thursday, May 27.

BTS, Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber were cut from the version of Friends: The Reunion broadcast in China.The popular musicians are thought to have been removed from the one-off special on account of insulting the country in the past, as the BBC reports.Bieber was banned from the country in 2017 by the Chinese government.

After the iconic reunion which had been requested by fans ever since the show ended in the 90s, was finally revealed to their fans worldwide and featured cameos from many other global celebrities. However, things were different when the reunion episode aired in China, with a conspicuously less star-loaded episode.

reunion episode of popular US sitcom Friends finally hit our screens on Thursday - but in China, it looked a little different after streaming websites censored a number of celebrity cameos for political reasons. Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and K-pop band BTS were all cut out, apparently because they had been seen to insult Beijing in the past.

Friends cast has finally reunited and we couldn’t be happier. The HBO Max special, FRIENDS: THE REUNION, sees the six Friends stars all return to one room for only the second time since the series ended in 2004.A post shared by HBO Max (@hbomax)The nostalgia-filled FRIENDS: THE REUNION begins with the last scene of the Friends finale before panning over to David Scwhimmer, the first to arrive on set.

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s top streaming platforms censored around six minutes of material from HBO Max’s “Friends: The Reunion” special on the day of its debut Thursday, deleting footage of artists like BTS previously deemed to have “insulted” China, gay fans, references to pee and a shot of Matt LeBlanc in his underwear, among other moments.“Friends” has amassed a huge, devoted following in China over the years, and thousands of fans had expressed their excitement for the special across all

Matthew Perry is calling out his castmates. During HBO Max's long-awaited reunion special, which featured Perry along with Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer, the 51-year-old actor that brought Chandler Bing to life jokingly lamented about the lack of communication between the cast.The moment happened just as Kudrow, who played Phoebe Buffay, was gushing over the cast's continued closeness.«We stay in touch for sure,» she said.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor“Smelly Cat” is undoubtedly one of the most iconic musical moments of modern classic sitcom “Friends” and now, thanks to the HBO Max reunion special, the ditty has been updated for a whole new generation of fans.It wasn’t quite a remix, but Lady Gaga added her signature belt to the closest thing to a hit Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow) ever had.Kudrow first sang “Smelly Cat” on the second season of “Friends,” in an episode entitled “The One With the Baby on the Bus.” The

the long-awaited special debuted on HBO Max, fans took to Twitter to express their joy at seeing the Central Perk crew together again.The nostalgia started early, when the reunion debuted a new version of the show's iconic opening credits, which is set to «I'll Be There for You» by The Rembrandts.The updated version featured both moments from the series, which ran from 1994 to 2004, and the reunion special, showing the cast --  Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Matt

Gallery: Do you know these celebrities' real names? (Espresso)It was reported on Wednesday that the Born This Way star was the top choice as the musical guest, according to director Ben Winston, speaking to Variety. 'I said to Lisa, "Would you be prepared to sing it?" And she was like, "Yeah, that would be fun,"' Winston explained, about the idea for a collaboration of the classic song.

Friends show reunites Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer, along with other familiar faces from the series, including Tom Selleck (Richard Burke), Larry Hankin (Mr Heckles) and of course, James Michael Tyler (Gunther). There will also be celebrity guest stars of course, including David Beckham, Justin Bieber, James Corden and Lady GaGa.

We now know why Lady Gaga is making an appearance on Friends: The Reunion!

 has finally reunited for a highly anticipated special that sees Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer laughing and crying as they take fans on an emotional walk down memory lane. During the two-hour event, the gang sits down with James Corden to answer questions about making the show, revisits the set, where they recreate the famous trivia game from the season 4 episode, “The One With the Embryos,” and perform table reads of iconic scenes

online speculation about its details, “Friends: The Reunion” finally hits HBO Max on Thursday at midnight PST/3 a.m.