Brazilian court asks Netflix to pull film depicting Jesus as gay

A Brazilian court has asked streamer Netflix to remove a controversial film that depicted Jesus as a homosexual.

"The First Temptation of Christ", a Portuguese language film released in Brazil by Netflix on December 3, had created an uproar for its depiction of a gay relationship between Jesus and his friend Orlando.

The film also reportedly shows Mary, mother of Jesus, smoking weed.

A lawsuit was filed by a Brazilian Catholic organisation urging that the film be removed from the streaming platform.

According to BBC, the judge of the court in Rio de Janeiro said the right to freedom of expression is "not absolute" and ordered the streamer to pull down the film.

However, the order is only temporary and a final decision is yet to be taken by the court.

In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix said it is yet to receive the court's order.

"We strongly support artistic expression and we'll be fighting to defend this important principle, which goes to the heart of great storytelling," the streamer said.

Last month, a petition was started against the film which amassed over 2.33 million signatures.

The group behind the controversial film, comedy troupe Porta dos Fundos, was hit by a Molotov cocktail attack on Christmas' Eve.

Two petrol bombs were thrown at the headquarters of the group, causing a fire, which was put out by one of the office's security guards.