Qantas Issues Apology After R-Rated Movie Shown on Sydney to Tokyo Flight
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Qantas has issued an apology to passengers on a flight from Sydney to Tokyo after a sexually explicit movie was shown to everyone on board. The incident happened during a flight to Haneda Airport when the 2023 film Daddio, featuring Dakota Johnson, was played. This film is rated R in the U.S. for “language, sexual material, and brief graphic nudity,” and it holds an MA15+ rating in Australia for “strong coarse language and nudity.”
Technical Glitch Leads to Inappropriate Movie Selection
The problem arose because of technical issues that prevented individual movie selection. Some passengers requested a movie, and the crew chose Daddio for the entire flight. Once the passengers realized the film’s content, the crew stopped it and switched to a children’s movie.
A Qantas spokesperson said, “The movie was clearly not suitable to play for the whole flight and we sincerely apologise to customers for this experience.” The spokesperson also explained that the screens were then switched to a family-friendly movie for the remainder of the flight. “This is our standard practice for the rare cases where individual movie selection isn’t possible,” they added. “We are reviewing how the movie was selected.”
Following the flight, some passengers shared their experiences on social media. One person described the movie as “40 minutes of penis and boobs.” Another passenger expressed sympathy for the children and their parents, saying, “These poor kids and their parents because you should’ve heard the audible gasps across the plane.” This passenger initially thought the movie was another Dakota Johnson film, saying, “I really thought they were playing Madame Web or something – I honestly don’t know if that would’ve been worse.”
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Managing In-Flight Entertainment Challenges
Yet another passenger noted that the screens seemed locked and the movie couldn’t be turned off until staff manually changed it. This added to the frustration and confusion among the passengers.
The decision to show Daddio highlights the complexities and challenges faced by airlines in managing in-flight entertainment. While most flights offer individual movie choices, issues like these can lead to unexpected and inappropriate content being displayed. This incident underlines the need for careful screening of content, especially when technical problems arise.
Qantas’s quick action to switch the movie and their formal apology show their commitment to passenger satisfaction, even in unforeseen circumstances. This situation will likely lead to new procedures and checks to prevent such incidents from happening in the future.
In the meantime, passengers can take some comfort in knowing that the airline is actively investigating how the movie was chosen and will implement better safeguards moving forward. While this experience was certainly unsettling for those onboard, it also serves as a reminder of the importance of vigilance in managing in-flight services.
