Playboy Portugal Dropped Over Jesus Pictorial

The issue of Playboy Portugal featuring Jesus Christ watching over naked girls as an alleged tribute to literature (ha!) has gotten the magazine sacked by New York publishers. Playboy Enterprises VP of public relations Theresa Hennessey emailed Gawker yesterday:

We did not see or approve the cover and pictorial in the July issue of Playboy Portugal. It is a shocking breach of our standards, and we would not have allowed it to be published if we had seen it in advance. It is a shocking breach of Our standards, and we would Not Have Allowed it to be published if We Had seen it in advance. As a result of this and other issues with the Portuguese publisher, we are in the process of terminating our agreement. As a result of this and other issues with the Portuguese publisher, we are in the process of terminating Our agreement.

We personally have no problem with the Jesus watching naked girls idea because it's kind of serene and beautiful. We mean, don't naked prostitutes get a God that loves them, too? Of course, the pictorial was a tribute to a nobel prize-winning Portuguese author who was a staunch Atheist, so perhaps not.

This controversy mirrors that of Playboy Mexico who, in December of 2008, featured a pictorial of  Maria Florencia Onori dressed in a Virgin Mary veil, and nothing else, on their cover. Playboy Enterprises in the USA also said they had no prior knowlege of that shoot, but did not drop Playboy Mexico from their umbrella. Typical. Exploitation of women: A-OK. Exploitation of men: Oh hell, no. So, for their fatal error, Playboy Portugal is now going the way of religion in general: Irrelevancy.