Amazon blocks Nicole Kidman’s latest series Expats from streaming in Hong Kong despite being filmed in the city
Amazon has decided not to stream expats in Hong Kong due to the current political climate in the city.
Nicole Kidman, 56, bought the rights to the series, which is based on Janice YK Lee’s 2016 book The Expatiates, through her production company Blossom Films.
However, streaming service Amazon Prime has opted to self-censor the show, which is set in Hong Kong, to “avoid any future potential business risk,” reported The Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday.
Film censorship expert Kenny Ng of Hong Kong Baptist University said NBC News Monday that the move not to broadcast the show in its own city is “a very safe gesture.”
He speculates that the decision was made because of a scene in the fifth episode of the six-part series that references the city’s 2014 Umbrella Movement.
Amazon has decided not to stream expats in Hong Kong due to the current political climate in the city. Pictured: star of Expats Nicole Kidman
The Umbrella Movement was a political movement during the Hong Kong protests that used umbrellas as passive resistance to police use of pepper spray.
Kenny said Amazon probably wanted to be very careful and not spread references to pro-democracy movements in the city.
However, Hong Kong MP Dominic Lee Tsz-king said the decision was made independently by the streaming platform and had no government influence.
Ny Breaking Australia has contacted Kidman and Amazon for comment.
Kidman purchased the rights to the series, which is based on Janice YK Lee’s 2016 book The Expatiates, through her production company Blossom Films. Depicted in a scene from the series
Kidman came under fire in 2021 when Hong Kong’s local government gave her an exemption from mandatory Covid quarantine rules to film expats in the city.
She was also branded “insensitive” at the time by exiled Hong Kong lawmaker Ted Hui when he begged her to speak to his group on political issues in the troubled region.
Hui was part of a collective of parliamentarians who lobbied for strict action against the Hong Kong government by international interests.
Film censorship expert Kenny Ng of Hong Kong Baptist University speculates that the decision was made because of a scene in the fifth episode of the six-part series that references the city’s 2014 Umbrella Movement
Hui, who fled Hong Kong and now lives in Australia, told The Sydney Morning Herald: “How insensitive can she be? Many people have to flee Hong Kong and will probably not be able to return home, but she can travel freely from Australia to Hong Kong, continue her work and go shopping as if nothing had happened.”
The actress flew from Sydney to Hong Kong on a private jet in August 2021 ahead of filming her new Amazon Prime series Expats, and stayed in a rented mansion in the city’s Peak district.
However, two days later she sparked controversy after photos emerged of Kidman shopping with her bodyguard at a designer boutique in the city’s central district.
At the time, Hong Kong required international travelers to complete a minimum of seven days of quarantine upon arrival, followed by “self-monitoring.”