A comedy on Netflix that depicts Jesus as a gay man has sparked anger in Brazil and across the globe with over 2 million people signing on a petition that seeks the streaming service to remove the show.
The Netflix film titled 'The First Temptation of Christ' was created by Brazilian YouTube comedy group Porta dos Fundos (which means Back Door).
The controversial movie which was premiered on December 3, portrays Jesus who brings home his gay boyfriend named Orlando to meet his parents, Mary and Joseph at his 30th birthday party.
"Jesus, who's hitting the 3-0, brings a surprise guest to meet the family. A Christmas special, so wrong, it must be from comedians Porta dos Fundos," review aggregation website RottenTomatoes said.
Following the release of the movie, millions of people have condemned Netflix for streaming it saying that it offends Jesus and Christians.
While an online petition is already in place on Chang.org calling on the 46-minute movie to be removed from Netflix, Netizens have stormed Twitter to express their anger with the hashtag #BoycottNetflix.
Amid everything, Porta dos Fundos released a statement in Portuguese that said they were unwavering against the petition rolled against them as they believed in freedom of expression.
The statement translates to: "While the petition is rolling against us, we celebrate the success of yet another creation of God: our Christmas Special. 'The First Temptation of Christ' remains ever more powerful," the group said on twitter.
"Porta dos Fundos values artistic freedom and humor through satire on the most diverse cultural themes of our society and believes that freedom of expression is an essential construction for a democratic country," the group noted in a statement.
The First Temptation of Christ is the second religious satire film released by the group. Last year December, the group released a movie titled 'The Last hangover," a film that depicted Jesus missing after a wild night of drunkenness and dissipation, leaving his disciples to wonder where he was.
Though widely criticized, the Brazilian comedy group won an International Emmy award this year for their 2018 work.
Netlix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.