Netflix’s Bridgerton has been taking the Internet by storm, often due to a slew of sex scenes shown in detail in the freshman drama. Those sex scenes are available whenever you want to see ‘em provided you have a Netflix subscription, but now the streamer is dealing with a problem it likely hasn’t encountered all that often before: sex scenes with Rege-Jean Page, Phoebe Dynevor and more keep getting pirated by porn sites.
After the news about the scenes popping up on porn sites broke, an insider alleged to The Sun that the show’s young stars are particularly devastated to have learned their acting in bedroom scenes is now peppered all over the Internet. While Phoebe Dynevor and Rege-Jean Page have both talked candidly about filming the show and even watching their sex scenes with family, seeing them on porn sites is likely a very differentl feeling. Or, as the insider put it:
Bridgerton’s sex scenes appearing alongside some of the most obscene material the web has to offer has sparked horror and anger. Raunchy set-pieces have contributed to the buzz but it is a prestige drama based on best-selling novels.To peddle scenes as pure smut is beyond the pale. It’s been particularly distressing for Phoebe Dynevor and Regé-Jean, two young actors who signed on for the role of a lifetime and did not consent to being exploited in this way.
It should be noted that the scenes between the newlyweds are part of the story and not simply shoehorned in to be smutty entertainment bites. Since the news broke, Netflix has said it is looking into the matter and, indeed, some of the sex scenes are reported to have already been pulled off of various porn sites. Pirating is a problem that is not unique to Netflix or TV in general -- remember all the times Game of Thrones made headlines for topping pirated lists? -- as any and all types of content are pirated on various factions around the world. Yet, most of these pirating occurrences don’t necessarily result in content showing up without consent on porn sites.
Granted, I’m sure other Netflix projects, such as 365 DNI (aka 365 Days) has dealt with its fair share of pirating, particularly given what happens in the now-infamous boat scene in that movie. Other scenes where actors and actresses get naked are either catalogued or occasionally show up on porn sites and sometimes search volume for porn around an actor or actress’ name can spike given their popularity in a given moment, as happened when people got interested in Carmen Electra after The Last Dance came out.
But you wouldn’t necessarily expect the same thing from Bridgerton, a delightful and comic series that would play way differently tonally without the bedroom romps. It’s often a delightfully chaste and amusing series, particularly in regards to its younger leads, but its rakes and married couples are a different case indeed.
Bridgerton made Netflix’s Top 10 list upon release and is still currently ranking third in the lineup at the time of this writing. It’s looking very likely Netflix will renew Bridgerton for Season 2, so if sex scenes, fun fashion and clever quips are all up your alley, give the show a shot -- just do it in the legal way on Netflix.
