--- description: Malaysia will not allow the release of 'Fifty Shades of Grey' after the censorship board expressed concerns over its sexual content title: Malaysia Bans 'Fifty Shades of Grey' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf89b5a5821971a5a/69877d5fcd1bba591d6f5066/50-shades-of-grey.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Malaysia Bans _Fifty Shades of Grey_ ## Video: Video: Fans Welcome E.L. James to New York [Watch (HLS stream): Video: Fans Welcome E.L. James to New York](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fooCMHAM.m3u8) (7:09)  _Published 2012-03-30. Enthusiastic fans welcome E.L. James, the author of the “Fifty Shades” trilogy, to New York_  by [Noah Rayman](/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 5, 2015 2:45 PM CUT  Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan star in Fifty Shades of Grey Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan star in Fifty Shades of GreyChuck Zlotnick—Universal Pictures  by [Noah Rayman](/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 5, 2015 2:45 PM CUT Malaysia will [not allow the release of _Fifty Shades of Grey_](http://variety.com/2015/film/news/50-shades-banned-in-malaysia-1201424390/ "undefined") after the country’s censorship board expressed concerns over its explicit sexual content. The Malaysian Film Censorship Board denied a certificate to the much anticipated adaptation of the steamy novel, which is set for wide release in the U.S. on Feb. 13, _Variety_ reports. “The board made a decision in view of the film containing scenes that are not of natural sexual content,” said Abdul Halim Abdul Hamid, head of the Malaysian Film Censorship Board, according to _Variety_. The film “is more pornography than a movie,” he said. The film, based on the erotic romantic best-seller by E.L. James, has already [spawned boycott campaigns](http://time.com/3696254/50-shades-of-grey-boycott/ "undefined") in the U.S. over its lengthy sex scenes. \[[_Variety_](http://variety.com/2015/film/news/50-shades-banned-in-malaysia-1201424390/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3697038/fifty-shades-of-grey-malaysia-ban/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3697038/fifty-shades-of-grey-malaysia-ban/"},"headline":"Malaysia Bans Fifty Shades of Grey","datePublished":"2015-02-05T14:45:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:10:43.281Z","description":"The head of the censorship board called the film “more pornography than a movie”","url":"https://time.com/3697038/fifty-shades-of-grey-malaysia-ban/","keywords":["movies","Sex","Malaysia","Fifty Shades of Grey"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf89b5a5821971a5a/69877d5fcd1bba591d6f5066/50-shades-of-grey.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Noah Rayman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf89b5a5821971a5a/69877d5fcd1bba591d6f5066/50-shades-of-grey.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Fifty Shades of Gray","caption":"Fifty Shades of Gray","creditText":"Chuck Zlotnick—Universal Pictures","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3697038/fifty-shades-of-grey-malaysia-ban/","name":"Malaysia Bans Fifty Shades of Grey"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Video: Fans Welcome E.L. James to New York","description":"Enthusiastic fans welcome E.L. James, the author of the “Fifty Shades” trilogy, to New York","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fooCMHAM/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2012-03-30T14:36:13.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fooCMHAM.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3697038/fifty-shades-of-grey-malaysia-ban/","duration":"PT7M9S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3697038/fifty-shades-of-grey-malaysia-ban/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```