Several Chinese streaming platforms have pulled films and video content featuring actor Keanu Reeves after he showed support for Tibet earlier this month, according to a new report.
At least 19 of Reeves’s movies were removed from Tencent Video, the Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday, after the Canadian actor took part in a benefit concert for Tibet House, a New York-based nonprofit affiliated with the Dalai Lama.
Reeves’s participation in the event is controversial as Beijing disputes Tibetan claims of independence and views the Dalai Lama, who is Tibetan Buddhism’s spiritual leader, as a “separatist.”
News that Reeves planned to take part in the March 3 event broke in January just after his new movie, The Matrix: Resurrections, debuted in China. It was the first blockbuster film to appear on Chinese screens in over two months due to the country’s strict censorship process, according to the report.
The movie remained in theaters, though Chinese nationalists vowed to boycott the film.
However, several Chinese streaming sites pulled Reeves’s filmography from their sites last Monday, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Matrix trilogy, Speed, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Something’s Gotta Give, and The Lake House all fell victim to the censorship.
“Sorry, no results related to ‘Keanu Reeves’ were found,” the platform iQiyi says, according to the report, before adding: “Due to relevant laws, regulations and policies, some results are not shown.”
All but one of Reeves’s films, Toy Story 4, were removed from the Youku and Migu Video platforms. Bilibili and Xigua Video also pulled Reeves’s films.
While Toy Story 4 was allowed to remain on several streaming platforms, the report says the credits were altered to include only the local Chinese dubbing cast, without mentioning Reeves.
Meanwhile, though content related to the Matrix films and some of the actor’s other work were still searchable on the Chinese messaging service WeChat, searches for his English name and its Chinese translation did not return any results, Reuters reported.
Alex Yu, a researcher at the U.S.-based China Digital Times, told the paper it is unclear whether China’s regulatory agencies demanded the removals or if platforms were working on their own to proactively remove the content.
Reeves is far from the first celebrity to face consequences from China after expressing support for Tibet, including Richard Gere, Selena Gomez and Lady Gaga, according to the report. Meanwhile, NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom was blocked from Chinese social media and video platforms last year after speaking out against China’s actions in Tibet.
Reeves, however, has been a household name in China since the ’90s, making his ouster the most surprising. He has benefitted greatly from his stardom in China, including in 2013 when he made his directorial debut with Man of Tai Chi, an official U.S.-China co-production promoted by the state-owned production partner China Film Group.
The same year, Reeves’s firm, Company Films, signed a co-development deal with the Chinese firm Fundamental Films for more China-related projects, according to the Los Angeles Times.