Brazilian comedy group Porta dos Fundos recently found itself in hot water with the country’s religious conservatives following its release of a short film that heavily suggests Jesus was gay.
The Rio de Janeiro headquarters of Porta dos Fundos, a Brazilian comedy group producing humorous sketches and video content, was attacked with Molotov cocktails early in the morning of 24 December, the group said on its Twitter account.
“In the early morning of 24 December, on Christmas Eve, the headquarters of Porta dos Fundos was the victim of an attack. Molotov cocktails were thrown at our building”, the comedy group said in Portuguese on its official Twitter account.
Na madrugada do dia 24 de dezembro, véspera de Natal, a sede do Porta dos Fundos foi vítima de um atentado. Foram atirados coquetéis molotov contra nosso edifício. pic.twitter.com/QsTadQt3do
— Porta dos Fundos (@portadosfundos) December 24, 2019
The incident occurred just weeks after Porta dos Fundos launched its Christmas special on Netflix, titled “The First Temptation of Christ”, which depicts Jesus Christ as a homosexual. The story features Jesus, who is played by Gregório Duvivier, bringing home his apparent boyfriend Orlando, who repeatedly tries to reveal their relationship during the show in a bid to introduce him to the Holy family – Mary, Joseph, and God.
The 46-minute comedy provoked a strong backlash from the country’s religious community, and prompted more than two million people to sign a petition urging the platform to remove the movie, arguing that its content is offensive to Christians, Metropoles reported.
While the group stated that no one was injured during the incident, as the headquarters’ security guards managed to contain the fire, they alleged that several people on the street and inside the building could have been hurt as a result of the perpetrators’ actions. According to Porta dos Fundos, footage from security cameras has been handed over to the authorities.
“We will move on, more united, stronger, more inspired and confident that the country will survive this storm of hatred and love will prevail alongside freedom of speech”, the group stated.
Porta dos Fundos rose to fame after launching its YouTube comedy channel in 2012, offering satirical sketches and humorous video content. It became the first Brazilian YouTube channel to reach 10 million subscribers. In the meantime, Brazil remains home to the world’s largest Catholic community.
