Playboy Magazine International is to terminate its relationship with its Portuguese contractors after they ran a photo shoot that included Jesus Christ among topless models.
The photo shoot was a tribute to Nobel Prize-winning author Jose Saramago’s ‘The Gospel According to Jesus Christ’ but it has not been favourably received by Playboy HQ.
The pictures depict Christ watching two models in a lesbian embrace while standing next to a prostitute and looking over the shoulder of a woman reading a book. Another heavily tattooed woman appears to have died in his arms.
Theresa Hennessy, Playboy Enterprises vice president of public relations told the Mail Online:
"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 have not allowed it to be published if we had seen it in advance. We are in the process of terminating our agreement with the Portuguese publisher."
Saramago's novel was a fictional re-telling of Christ's life that showed him as very human and flawed character. It created heated controversy among the Roman Catholic Church, who accused Saramago of depicting a “substantially anti-religious vision.”