The headquarters of the Brazilian comedy troupe Porta dos Fundos was attacked on Christmas Eve following backlash from their Netflix comedy special featuring a gay Jesus, reported Entertainment Weekly.
The First Temptation of Christ premiered on Netflix on December 3 and was immediately met with backlash because of the plot: Jesus, who’s celebrating his 30th birthday, is forced to introduce his male “friend” to Mary and Joseph. The comedic Christmas special as met with a petition asking Netflix to remove it as “they have seriously offended Christians.” The petition currently has more than 2.3 million signatures.
However, the backlash worsened on December 24 after the troupe’s headquarters was hit by Molotov cocktails. Porta dos Fundos released a statement on social media following the attack.
“One of the security guards managed to control the fire… and was not injured even though the [attack] endangered several innocent lives in the company and on the street,” the statement reads. “Porta dos Fundos condemns any act of violence… for now, we anticipate that we will move on, more united, stronger, more inspired, and confident that the country will survive this storm of hatred, and love will prevail along with freedom of speech.”
This is not the first time Porta dos Fundos has made a comedy special that received flak from Christians. In 2018, they won an International Emmy for their special The Last Hangover, which followed Jesus’ disciples after a drug and alcohol bender, unable to find Jesus.