You know that guy you run into at bars that turns every question to sex? You’re just trying to have a drink and momentarily forget that your sub prime mortgage is about to turn you into a hobo and this guy just keeps asking about your penis size. Well, The Advocate‘s Brandon Voss is that guy and he lets loose on actor Adrien Brody in the magazine’s latest installment of “Big Gay Following” or as we like to call it, “The Last Gay Media Interview This Person Will Ever Do.”
Here’s the business:
“Do guys still hit on you?
I guess I’d be disappointed if they didn’t.What if a man had presented you with your Oscar instead of Halle Berry? Were you so wrapped up in the moment that you might’ve have kissed him too?
That’s a pretty silly question. No, obviously not. Part of the excitement was that it was a beautiful woman presenting me with such a beautiful moment in my life.
Is there any actor for whom you would’ve made an exception?
No.
Let’s try another approach: For your next gay role, who’d you choose for your on-screen love interest?
You want me to name an actor? No, I can’t answer that question, Brandon. See, you ask me how I deal with rumors, and I also have to deal with not adding fuel to them. Something that would be a completely innocuous comment on my part will be completely taken out of context by the next journalist, so I’d appreciate it if you were understanding about that.
Have I put you in a bad mood?
I’m still in a good mood, but I’m also a relatively serious person, so these questions are difficult for me.
So I guess I shouldn’t ask if it’s true what they say about a man with a prominent nose?
Why would you do that to somebody? You and I don’t know each other, right? We’re complete strangers, actually. I’m being respectful to you, so you have to extend the same courtesy.
Oh, Adrien, it’s all in good fun. I’m trying to show your sense of humor here.
I didn’t sign up for that.”
Please, homosexuals- remember that just because you were born with the same-sex attraction as Oscar Wilde, doesn’t mean you also inherited his wit. It’s enough to make you want to put on some mascara, stand in front of a bedsheet and scream, “Leave Adrien Brody alone!”
Tin Tin
Asking about penis size is ridiculous
that writer should be fired.
thatguyfromboston
how is this guy still working in print media when so many others are being laid off?
Jack E. Jett
Thank you for this powerful journalistic instruction.
So I guess this would be a bad time to ask you about the size of the meat you are packing?????
thatguyfromboston
It’s not when you ask, it’s who you ask. in the case of mr. brody, there was no need to ask, the man’s obviously packing.
shaun
This journalist is a fucking tool.
RS
Oh dear. Some of Brandon’s interviews are really good, but that excerpt is so cringingly awkward. I flipped through the magazine to find the original, and fortunately the first half is much better. But … oh dear.
walt zipprian
A really good example of the Advocate being almost completely unreadable anymore.
That writer IS a tool.
fredo777
In all fairness, I think all of the writer’s questions were perfectly fine + well-thought-out up until the Simon Rex one. From that point on, it seemed like he was needling Brody for some kind of slip-up or “confession”.
Also in fairness, it seemed like Brody’s response to the very first question was foreshadowing a bit of “difficulty” on his part. I mean, “…let’s see if I’m still in a good mood at the end”?
What the hell is that?
In my opinion, both parties had some cons weighing against them after this interview.
burton21
Yeah, the line of questioning was definitely weird and unprofessional, but Brody would come off looking much better if he had laughed and brushed them off rather than being a hostile cold bitch. Ice queen much?
Joe Moag
Jesus. This is what passes for an interview in Advocate Magazine? No wonder I have never, ever, ever, read the shitrag.
Why didn’t the “reporter” just start begging to see Brody’s cock, and then offer him money to let him suck it? It at least would have been interesting…
Pathetic.
michael
The writer sounds inappropriate, invasive and like a fucking creep.
While I agree that you could ask these things of some people the writer actually does not give a shit. Being sexually positive, open and free does not mean you get to be a lecherous, classless douche bag. I have quite a few straight guy friends, always have and I would never say things that would make them feel uncomfortable like that, and because I don’t, they are comfortable with me and real. As a gay person I want others to respect me and see me as a healthy, well rounded individual. But if thats what I want, then thats what I have to be. Obviously this writer does not really give a damn. It just sickens me to think Mr. Brody might formulate an opinion of gay people based on this idiot that interviewed him.
Paul Raposo
Adrien Brody is still working?
Anywho, this is why I can’t stand seeing hets played up in gay mags. Any queer would have played along, but a “man” like Brody is too wrapped up in his insecurities to go along with the gag.
walt zipprian
I’m queer and I don’t know that I would have played along.
The questions just sounded unprofessional. And creepy.
Brandon Voss
Lighten up. It’s the same type of questions always asked in these Big Gay Followings. If he had followed the tone and answered more typically with, “George Clooney is a handsome man I’d love to work with.” and “Well, you’ll have to ask my girlfriend! [Laughs],” no one would be saying anything about the journalist.
fredo777
@Paul Raposo:
Shockingly enough, I kind of agree with you in that he could have played along a bit better than that.
While I think some of the latter questions were pointed + inappropriate, I still feel that Brody came off as somewhat pissy.
Suzy Sky
I don’t see what the big deal is. Adrien Brody needs to get a sense of humour.
Joe Moag
I’m gay and I would have gotten up and left. Am I to understand that in order to give an interview with Advocate, one must – whether one is straight or gay or bi or whatever the fuck – sit there and play cutesy with some ridiculous reporter who has no idea what they fuck he is there to ask about?
Or am I to understand that the Advocate is only interested in ascertaining what everyone on this planet thinks about being hit on by gay men and what size their penises are?
Again, what a fucking joke of a magazine. Tiger Beat has better celebrity interviews.
fredo777
Oh! I’m a little slow on the uptake today.
I misread that question about the “man with a prominent nose” to mean that the interviewer was responding to a rumor about Adrien and another man with a prominent nose.
My bad. Yeah, that was wildly inappropriate.
Still, I think most interviewees would have just laughed it off or said “no comment”.
Brandon Voss
OK. And this is the last I’m commenting on this here, but it’s frustrating that no one seems to be getting it here (or reading the full interview online, but that’s another story) The thing you have to realize here is that I did NOT ask Adrien Brody how big his penis was, nor did I ASK him if it was true what they say…
By saying, “So I guess I SHOULDN’T ask you…”
That was a joke thrown out as if to say, “You’re having problems with this innocuous line of questioning regarding a possible male costar, but it could be a lot worse here! Lighten up!”
It’s not as if a dick question was in my list of original questions. It could’ve been “So I guess I shouldn’t ask you about how you met your girlfriend or if you where boxers or briefs.” It was just a little jab to say, “This actor question isn’t that personal. This isn’t that silly. Personal and silly would be…example given.”
Joe Moag
@Brandon Voss: “It could be a lot worse here, so lighten up?” THAT’S your interview technique? Threaten the interviewee Wow. They must be dusting off the Pulitizer now…
Distingué Traces
The Big Gay Following format is so pointless and stifling a format that I have some sympathy for interviewers doing whatever to try to liven the damn things up.
However, a better move would be to just not do the articles at all, and instead print actual stories about actual things!
walt zipprian
meh
Paul Raposo
@Brandon Voss:
Either way, Mr. Voss, Brody came off like a bit of a douchebag. I can understand a celeb not wanting to say something that could be cruel, or hurtful to gays–and I very much appreciate that–but he seemed far too pretentious in his replies.
He seems like the type who goes around telling people that he’s an artist!
kevin
do they really say that about a prominent nose? Oh dear, I need nose implants!
Hunky Trog
Context, context, context.
People, read the whole interview and look at the column’s other installments. They’re all a mix of serious entertainment questions and self-aware G-A-Y cheekiness. I suspect the publicist should have prepped Brody beforehand.
Such Q&A’s are an art form for both the journalist and interview subject. At least Voss is not afraid to ask something provocative, which gives us an interesting window into Brody.
BobP
It’s pitiful that people who consider themselves “journalists” can’t take the time to think of more interesting/insightful questions than these.
If I were AB and I gave up my time for this type of interview, I’d be pissed.
Joe Moag
Maybe he should have asked him if he enjoys fisting, or if he is into watersports, then told him to lighten up and pissed on him.
Very provactive, very enlightening.
And, definitely, as a gay man, that’s all on earth I ever care about when it comes to intervewing people…
P.S. Provactive questions of SUBSTANCE are great, lead to great and interesting subjects, discussions, insights, etc…
“How big is your dick” I don’t think quite fits that mold…
afrolito
I actually cringed reading that “interview”. Adrien Brody had every right to be annoyed and pissy.
Sadly, that’s what passes as journalism at most gay rags.
Joe Moag
I can just see Voss’ interview with Barack Obama:
“Thank you for sitting down with me. Tell me, as a bi-racial man, if you were to rim another man, would you prefer he be black or white?”
“Tell me, which of our world leaders would you most like to snuggle with after wild monkey sex?”
“Are you hung? How hung? Will you show me?”
Bob
What’s with your vendetta against The Advocate and Out, Japhy? Kinda sad how you seem so obsessed with tearing them down at every turn.
Jack E. Jett
I asked Jason Priestley if it was true he had a huge package. His answer was…….either that or all the girls I have been with have small hands.
If Voss was interviewing him for a flick promotion it would have been out of line…….
It was a fun/light interview. Fluff.
I would also ask a chick with big tits ..what it is like to have big tits.
If there was a NSFW click to a nude photo of
Brody, everyone one of us would click it without a second thought. Why? Because we like DICK. Men who read the Advocate like DICK. We are sexual beings as well as political.
Bottom line, I wished someone cared enough, or thought I was hot enough to ask me about the size of my dick.
Todd
Yet another “interview” of his in what was once a respected magazine that makes me cringe. Now we all get to work that much harder to offset his sophomoric shenanigans so others won’t think we’re all a bunch of pervs. Blech.
Joe Moag
@Jack E. Jett: OK. Fair enough. That’s what the Advocate is all about. Dick.
I get it. And, by extension, that’s what the Advocate thinks gay men are all about as well. Dick. Gotcha.
Good to know what the core editorial perspective of the magazine is.
Thanks!
George
Moag, did the writer do something to your personally? Are you a bitter ex or something? Jeez Louise. Give the guy a break. That’s the same tone that column has always had, even before he started doing it. And he didn’t even ask the guy about his dick. Move on.
charles
“What’s with your vendetta against The Advocate and Out, Japhy? Kinda sad how you seem so obsessed with tearing them down at every turn.”
He should tear them down-they are *awful* magazines with no discernable worth. I think less of gay guys that buy them.
Joe Moag
@George: You don’t like my comments? Don’t read ’em. And, yes, he most certainly DID ask about his dick. That’s what the question about the size of his nose was about. DUH!
George
yeah, I get that, but he didn’t ask the guy about his dick size, though. i guess i just get the joke of what the writer was doing there… He said it in one of his comments. he was saying, “I guess I shouldn’t ask you if it’s true what they say about a dude with a big nose…” because he was just razzing Adrien that he couldn’t handle a question about what actor he’d like to star opposite. He was joking that he shouldn’t ask any questions that are really invasive and personal. And I actually like your comments – they are very entertaining! – it just seems like you’ve got something personal against the writer, that’s all. like you’re taking it a bit closer to heart than everyone else here or something. but maybe you’re just Adrien’s mom. Whatever.
Joe Moag
@George: Yup, I am quite sarcastic. Quite. Trying to make some points, especially to Voss and Jett who seem to not get at all the very simple premise stated in the headline on this post “Treat like Meat.” Voss evades, dodges, then justifies, Jett falls back on broad statements of editorial philosophy.
They don’t get it or won’t get it. So, I talk harsh. They’re big boys, they can handle it. If not, they should look for a new line of work.
See, I actually think that the Gay press is important, and when I see 2 people in a position of influence so unable or unwilling to get the obvious flaw in their work – just one piece of work – it bugs me. I actually think that the Gay press – like all media – should think about its premises and its core philosophies, and should listen to critics when they have a problem with their thinking and/or their actions.
Silly me.
Charles Merrill
Brody is a very serious actor and an intellectual amd heterosexual. You wouln’t ask that of Al Pacino. He deserves respect. This is no Colin Farrell who would have pulled it out and shown Voss. Everyone has seen that mule dick anyway.
Suzy Sky
I happen to be a big fan of Big Gay Following, so my position is in support of Brandon Voss, because it’s his no holds barred questions that make the interviews so much fun. None of his questions bordered on the explicit kind as it is being suggested here. I’m surprised by the negativity. I was far more offended by the Denis Leary interview, as I don’t know on what basis is Mr. Leary seen as having a gay following.
john
It’s all about having class. Some people have it, some people don’t. Voss is obviously one of those men, gay or straight, who can’t get their minds out of everyones pants. He’ll become an old letch hitting on young men in bars wondering why people keep moving away from him.
Sad Face for Mr. Voss.
Jack E. Jett
Journalist have the right to ask anyone anything.
Every interviewee has the same right not to answer it.
Moag, I am cool with your critique. I get a lot of it. Probably, if I would adhere to some of it, I might be more successful.
I am a child of the free sex 70’s era, a caretaker from the 80’s AIDS drama, and lived long enough to be on a GLBTQ TV network.
The current economic worries, the war, loss of jobs, etc…tend to make me think that Voss asking Brody about his dick is so fucking minor on my worry scale.
I even wonder how big Obama’s dick is. That is just the way my perverted mind rolls.
Dicks are a wonderful, fantastic, body part. Don’t let anyone tell you different. Be happy to have one or own one.
Bob
Charles writes: He should tear them down-they are *awful* magazines with no discernable worth. I think less of gay guys that buy them.
Need a side of bitchiness or a dash of bitter to go with that chip on your shoulder, dear?
Agree - dicks are good
Adrian Brody is a drama queen. He takes every opportunity to make a stand/act offended/be a HUGE intellectual.
Those questions were harmless and could’ve been handled much better by a more intelligent person.
But, then again, drama sells…..
By the way, who is Adrian Brody?
Priest from Winona
Why have gay people become so friggin conservative? Prissy uptight school marms. It’s like the community is afraid to be different anymore. Do we all want to fit in now? Have babies and get married?
I just want to know what’s in stars pants and if they’re packing! Nothing wrong with genitalia. Certainly better than guns, war, murder, etc.
Bob
Please stop calling Voss a “journalist”. His line of questioning was inappropriate and a waste of Brody’s time. THE ADVOCATE used to be a credible magazine, but with interviews like the Voss/Brody one ADVOCATE’s credibility fades even more.
fredo777
@Bob:
If Brody’s time was so precious, maybe he shouldn’t have bothered to do the interview in the first place.
moron
How does such an idiot get this job in the first place?
WTF
LikaStarr
@Jack E. Jett:
Ok, I’ll bite (pun intended, lol) How big is your dick?
Everyone else: There was obviously a little tension in this interview – Hey, it happens!
Voss could’ve taken a different path but he chose to push some provocative buttons (which can result in a more interesting interview). Brody could’ve played along and laughed it off with a little humor. The bottom line is they each handled it the way they wanted to and there was no real harm done. Nuff said.
Coromandel
This is one reason, Voss, that I have largely stopped reading The Advocate.
brian
I guess I am not missing anything not buying an Advocate for the last 2 years.
Psychofag
Adrian is not hot
fredo777
@Psychofag:
He’s not the hottest, but I wouldn’t kick him out of bed.
Unless he was eating crackers. I don’t play that.
michael
I think as an interviewer you have to be able to read people pretty well. A question like that might be fine for one person and not fine for another. Everyone is different. We all have different boundaries, different moral codes etc. and its about what is right for an individual. I think the writer made the comment because he did not like Mr. Brody’s boundaries and was probably embarrassed and reacted like a dick by referring to his dick. Childish and adolescent. You could interview Dolly Pardon and refer to her boobs all day long and she would laugh because its well known she does it herself. But I don’t think you would interview Michelle Obama and try the same thing and come off with similar results. Maybe the interviewer just did not read him very well. But then maybe the interviewer is just tacky, disrespectful and invasive.
Joshua Huff
Wonderfully put, Michael. A lesson for Brandon.
Everyone who hates The Advocate anyway, chill out. It’s still an entertaining and often provocative magazine that many of us enjoy.
retrofit71
Adrian is super sexy. Hey Brandon! I worked with you at HX and we loved listening in on your end of the phone interviews! You never knew what what come out of that snarky little mouth of yours.. Remember when Janice Dickinson told you to ‘Fuck off’ when you asked her if she thought Ashley Simpson had a nosejob? haha, good times bro!
gaycurmudgeon
Adrien Brody has a big gay following?
ajax
@Brandon Voss:
Mr. Voss, cut the crap. Your employer pays you to get an interview. If your technique is creeping out the interviewee, you’re not going to get much of an interview. The man let you know you were crossing a line with him. Instead of backing off, you chose to “joke” in such a way that you tried to make him feel like an asshole. Context, context, context – indeed. Where was your sense of context during the interview?
I hope your pick up technique is better than your interview technique. Get laid much?
Jaroslaw
I think the folks who think this is “sooooo disrespectful” have their knickers in a twist. First, I agree with Hunkytrog, look at the entier interview and Second – a “serious” actor has to be treated like Queen Elizabeth or something? Just laugh it off and move on to the next question. There are so many more important things in the world to be worried about.
mark
That may be one of my biggest pet peeves, dumb ass queer reporters who either ask a straight actor the latest PC issue du jour, or think with their dick and ask questions obviously meant to STROKE their fantasy of that star.
STOP IT, it’s annoying your audience, and the star.
mark
Queer reporters if you were meant to think with your dick in the real world, GOD wouldn’t have invented Morning Goods.
George
Funny that if the writer hadn’t made those jokes or asked those questions, no one would be talking about it or Adrien on the blogs. It reminds me of when Queerty used to attack the column for always asking about mancrushes, yet that’s the answer they’d always post from the interview. Well played, Advocate. Well played.
Jack E. Jett
Why do they keep editing this link to the most famous penis in the world…..Prince William?
http://www.omgblog.com/2008/11/omg_his_penis_prince_william.php#more
Eminent Victorian
It was a poor interview and somewhat embarrassing.
nolamg09
@Priest from Winona: It’s not that the gay community is “conservative”. It’s a problem with a reporter being tactful and respectful. After he gave the flat-out “no” response, Voss should have taken a hint. It’s one thing to joke around like that with friends, but it’s another to do that in a professional setting with a pure stranger.
In the Fine Arts Library
I wish our culture would stop worrying so much about the sexuality of people like Brody.
fredo777
@Jack E. Jett:
Yeah, I saw that earlier.
Veddy nice. Now if we could only see his brother’s…
RG
I just find this issue to be somewhat irritating. In the way that Queerty has presented it, and in the way people are responding to it. I question how many of the commentators read the Advocate. If they do read it on a regular basis, they would know that these are the type of questions that people get asked in the “Big Gay Following” section. And, I think it is important to mention that when referencing the article, otherwise, it does look like Voss was being inappropriate. But, this isn’t a serious interview by any means. I think that Voss went into the interview, prepared to do what is necessary for the section. Brody, on the other hand, should do some research on the type of interview he is doing, prior to giving the interview. It would be the equivalent of going on Bill O’Reilly’s show, and trying to successfully defend a liberal agenda. I feel that Voss is being blasted unfairly, in this regard.
sfsilver
are WE that humorless and sex phobic? Interesting that a blog that posts beef cake pics would try to characterize this as making poor put upon Adrian Brody into a piece of meat. Is it only over the line because Brody is imagined to occupy some special plane of celebrity existence where he’s above having human foibles of emotions or being needled a bit? I don’t think it’s inappropriate to ask off-the-PR-Script questions about sex, penis size or any of it. Brody and Queerty need to lighten up.
Eminent Victorian
To clarify, for my part, I did read the entire piece, have two graduate degrees in literature and writing, and would at least like to think no degrees are required in recognizing poor writing and an embarrassing piece of work in a magazine.
It’s not that I “don’t get” the Big Gay Following bits; I do, and I find them generally benign but also occasionally irritating, most notably with this recent installment. What I find most dismaying and frustrating is the fueling of old stereotypes so many heterosexual people hold of The Gays–the weaker gay man slobbering all over a straight man and peppering him with sexual innuendo. I don’t care if it’s all wink-wink or not; it’s crass and embarrassing and yet one more thing for which the rest of us must make apologies and strain at explanations to our straight friends.
This isn’t to say I don’t have a grasp of whatever we’re calling the gay sensibility these days; I just expect different things from something that purports to be a news magazine.
Hunky Trog
In each issue, the Advocate contains tons of information, new stories and profiles in addition to the entertainment pieces.
But NO ONE on Queerty ever talks about the political articles or the front-of-book information items. Just the irreverent celeb Q&A.
That says more about Queerty’s readers than The Advocate’s level of journalism.
Distingué Traces
@Hunky Trog:
Tru dat.
Eminent Victorian
Queerty is upfront that is does not claim to be first a serious news outlet.
Troy
Opportunity lost. Brandon Voss is an idiot.
Michael J
I’ve never found the Advocate particularly interested and I never have subscribed to it. Yet for some reason, for the last couple of years, I’ve been sent a copy every month. I have written to request that my inexplicable “subscription” be cancelled, but to no avail. Does anyone else have this problem?
rob
i can’t wait to see adrien in Dario Argento’s Giallo!!!
Eminent Victorian
@Michael J:
This has happened to us as well–and we received copies of OUT for years after we stopped our subscription. I suspect it has more to do with these publications attempting to inflate their subscription numbers when they report them.
niles
This is so pathetic – the Advocate has hit a new low. It ceased being relevant a long time ago and apparently is trying to shock its way back to solvency through cringe-worthy displays of arrogance and vulgarity toward those agreeable enough to grace its once interesting pages.
mark
I get BOTH Out and Advocate and haven’t subscribed to either for a decade.
Bob
I still receive OUT after cancelling my susbscription 8 years ago. OUT & ADVOCATE combined have a small subscription base of about 120,000. I have a feeling many of those “subscribers” get free issues to inflate the subscriber base for advertisers.
scott
it sounds like it was a funny bit. sort of like when Kathy Griffin is going to interview you, BE PREPARED for her being a bitch to you.
anyway, i find it ironic how he gets a little perturbed by having the inappropriate nature of this interview and he’s the one who inappropriately kissed Halle Berry. He seemed high on himself then and I see his hasn’t really change much it seems.
froggyola
It was a disrespectful and childish interview. We want support from the straight community with behavior like this????
Carl
Brandon Voss is trying to make a name for himself by asking shitty interview questions that have nothing to do with the artist. He makes gay press look stupid. The Advocate was slipping before he started, and now there is a real reason to cancel my subscription. Journalists are not supposed to be such narcissists.