R-rated Bully doc being released April 6

Lesbian teen gets GLAAD award for petition against rating

Bully, the documentary that has been championed and defended by Hollywood elites — including Ellen DeGeneres, Justin Timberlake, Ricky Martin, Katy Perry and Ryan Seacrest — is coming to a theatre near you.

The film, which follows several American kids who are bullied, received an R rating from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), causing outrage among many, who worried the rating would stop the film’s target audience from seeing it.

Bully includes the story of a lesbian who is bullied after she comes out.

The film’s producer appealed the R rating to no avail and has subsequently released it without a rating, which will allow anyone to see it but may restrict the number of theatres willing to screen it.

Here in Canada the film is rated PG and will be released on Friday, April 6. The film opened in select theatres last weekend in the US.

Below is a video of Bully’s producer, Harvey Weinstein, giving a special GLAAD award to Katy Butler, a lesbian teenager who started an online protest against the MPAA’s R rating. Below that is a video interview with the film’s director, Lee Hirsch, at the 2011 Hot Docs Festival in 2011.


On occasion, the number of editors and other staff who contribute to a story gets a little unwieldy to give a byline to everyone. That’s when we use “Xtra Staff” in place of the usual contributor info. If you would like more information on who contributed to a particular story, please contact us here.

Read More About:
TV & Film, Video, Culture, News, Media, Arts, Canada

Keep Reading

2025 Pride collections lean heavily into jorts

ANALYSIS: From American Eagle to Target, many of this year’s Pride offerings are bland on bland

Activist groups reportedly gave Alberta list of LGBTQ2S+ books to investigate

ANALYSIS: Action4Canada is calling Alberta’s move to investigate “inappropriate” school library books a “massive win”

Alberta to create standards for ‘age-appropriate’ school library books

Maia Kobabe’s “Gender Queer” and Alison Bechdel’s “Fun Home” are among the books flagged as “extremely graphic”

Rechie Valdez named Women and Gender Equality and Youth minister

Valdez will handle gender in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new cabinet