Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher is baffled by a decision to ban a religious commercial from major U.K. cinema showings of the upcoming sci-fi installment.
Advertising bosses at Digital Cinema Media (DCM) pulled the commercial, which features Christians reciting lines from the Lord's Prayer, due to fears it would cause offense to viewers waiting to see Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens.
The decision sparked outrage among some members of the religious community and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, and now Fisher, who plays Princess Leia in the franchise, has spoken out to insist the commercial is not offensive.
"I have no idea why they would do that," she tells Britain's Mail on Sunday newspaper. "Offended? No. People should get a life. I don't think it is offensive to have a 'power of prayer' advert before Star Wars."
Fisher likens the advert to hotel rooms having copies of the Bible, adding, "I have never seen an advertisement like this, but if the theater is like a hotel room, then they have every right to put up a power of prayer advert... It's advertising, so it has to be advertisers that are objecting."
Fisher also asked her followers on Twitter.com if they found it offensive, and retweeted a number of their replies.
DCM executives, who sell advertising for the U.K.'s major movie theater chains - Odeon, Cineworld and Vue - claimed the advert violates their policy which prohibits any religious and political messages.
