The makers of a hit Hollywood film are at the centre of a race controversy after removing two black actors from a poster being used to promote it in Britain.

From the American version of the poster for the movie Couples Retreat, which includes black actors Faizon Love and Kali Hawk.

The American advert for Couples Retreat, a comedy starring Vince Vaughn and Kristin Davis, show all eight principal actors – six of whom are white and two black.

But the poster in Britain, where the film is on general release, omits actors Faizon Love and Kali Hawk.

From the Lily White British version of the poster, which excludes the black actors.

Couples Retreat, about four couples who go on holiday together and receive therapy to improve their relationships, has taken more than £70 million at the box office worldwide since it opened last month.

A spokesman for makers Universal Pictures confirmed the poster had been changed to ‘simplify’ it for the UK and international market outside America. The studio said it regretted causing offence and has abandoned plans to use the revised poster in other countries.

Mail on Sunday film critic Jason Solomons said: ‘We don’t cater much for the black cinema-going audience in this country, which is a great shame, so it seems strange that when there are black stars in a major feature film this fact isn’t promoted. And, in terms of business decisions, this seems a pretty counter-productive one.’

Caspar Salmon, a 29-year-old translator from London who has seen the film, has complained to Universal. He said in a letter to the film company: ‘My hackles are up. I would like to ask what the thinking was behind this move to gaz-ump [Love and Hawk] from the promotional material.’

Source: Race row as black stars are  left out of Couples Retreat film poster