Something was missing in the Chinese version of the highly anticipated special episode of Friends that aired last night all over the world and seen by millions of fans of the series.
From the reunion of about an hour and a half, the cameos of Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and the K-Pop super star band Bts were cut, all 'guilty' of having somehow offended Beijing in the past.
Chinese fans have noticed the censorship that his social network have expressed their anger.
"Help! Will we never change? This makes me want to see the deleted scenes even more," commented one user on the Weibo microblogging platform.
Other fans have acquired and shared the deleted clips or full episode link.
Friends has a huge following in China with many young guys who credit the show for introducing them to the English language and American culture.
The 'faults' of the censored characters date back several years ago. Lady Gaga was prevented from touring China for meeting the Dalai Lama in 2016. Justin Bieber is also no longer able to perform in the country since he visited the controversial Yasukuni temple in Tokyo in 2014, considered by China and Korea to the South, a symbol of Japan's imperialism. As for the BTS, they ended up in the crosshairs of the Chinese authorities last year after one of the members, also the protagonist of the clip aired during the Friends special, spoke of the "story of suffering" shared by South Korea and the US in the conflict of 1950-53, in which the two countries fought together against China-backed North Korea.