Update: Netflix Restores Previously Censored Nudity in ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’

I guess our media inquiry worked.

After users complained that Netflix was streaming a censored version of “The Wolf of Wall Street,” we contacted the streamer to ask why. We also wrote an article about it.

Although Netflix didn’t respond, they briefly pulled the movie from their library, only to return the unedited version overnight.

Mission accomplished, I guess.

For reasons still unexplained, Netflix chose to serve up a version of Martin Scorsese’s 2013 masterpiece with haphazard blur effects applied to any scene with visible genitals. That included the famous scene where Margot Robbie’s character appears fully nude to seduce Leonardo DiCaprio’s character.

If you check Netflix today, however, you’ll see the theatrical cut restored – lower-half nudity and all.

I’m not posting a screenshot of that. Feel free to do your own research.

Why Did Netflix Do This?

There are a couple of possibilities as to why an edited version of a film from one of our greatest living directors found its way to Netflix.

Theory 1: Their Supplier Sent the Wrong File

Netflix gets a lot of their movies from other media companies. It’s possible Paramount (the film’s rights holder) had a couple of versions of the film’s file and they sent the wrong one.

Movie studios frequently edit their films differently, depending on the market or outlet where the movie will appear. Some conservative countries want all nudity stricken. Some more relaxed countries may only want genitals obscured. Chill countries (hello, France) won’t mind if you show the human form in all its glory. Broadcast TV has a different standard from cable.

So it’s possible that the intern staffing the Paramount movie server simply grabbed the wrong file and sent it to Netflix. Because Netflix isn’t paying people to sit through every frame of a 3-hour movie, the wrong file simply sat on the server until we flagged them about it and Netflix requested the right one.

Theory 2: Netflix Thought They Could Get Away With It

The less charitable scenario is that Netflix intentionally chose a censored version of the film (or censored it themselves).

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos strikes me as a movie-friendly guy, so this seems unlikely, but it’s not totally implausible.

Netflix has been the subject of conservative boycotts over the years. A few months ago, Elon Musk called for a boycott over a transgender character in the show “Dead End: Paranormal Park.” (The show had been canceled in 2023.)

In 2020, some Netflix subscribers quit over the French film “Cuties.” Senator Ted Cruz and others accused the film of sexualizing young girls. Netflix actually issued a public apology at the time.

We're deeply sorry for the inappropriate artwork that we used for Mignonnes/Cuties. It was not OK, nor was it representative of this French film which won an award at Sundance. We’ve now updated the pictures and description.

— Netflix (@netflix) August 20, 2020

If you want to subscribe to a conspiracy theory, you could argue that Netflix intentionally blurred some body parts in “The Wolf of Wall Street” because they are one of the final bidders in the race to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. In theory, such a merger would require regulatory confirmation, and America’s current ruling party resembles the town that outlawed dancing in “Footloose.”

Would Netflix blur the work of a master director simply to grease the tracks for a possible merger? It’s not entirely impossible. But as we noted in our article, “The Wolf of Wall Street” is absolutely packed with objectionable behavior, from its opening scene of throwing a little person at a target to mid-flight orgies and even 506 F-bombs.

I really don’t want to believe Netflix would so willingly carve up the work of a master, but quid pro quo is very much alive in 2025.

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