[Matt Bomer] had not come out of the closet but people in the know knew he was gay. His audition tape went in and he called up the agent. Someone didn’t like him and told them he was gay. They said, “No, no, we can’t cast you.’ ‘I think it should change but there are women out there who want to worship somebody. If Justin Bieber said he was gay, he’d lose all his little girl fans.
It’s a sad fact of life. So a lot of them get married, have a couple of kids and pretend to be straight.”
Writer Jackie Collins, dishing on the Hollywood closet while promoting The Power Trip, on Gaydar Radio
Dumdum
W.T.F. !!! Jackie you are so out of touch? What are you now? Like 100? I guess you did too much antacid in the 60s. Is THAT your real face or did you take it from some hooker along with her blood? If Justin was Gay all those girls would want him even more. I could change him,they would think. If he is not Gay. And I think the jury is still out on that one. Then maybe he should be. HOLY CRAP! I didn’t even know that you were still alive!!!
Dumdum
And about the getting married thing? 50s, 60s,70s,80s, OK. But now? You are dating yourself. And that is the only sex you are going to get.
QJ201
dumdum, you are one if you thing for one second guys don’t get married to avoid being publicly labeled as gay…even outside of hollywood.
FireFromHeaven
Hold up! I’m no fan of Collins, but spare me the agism. Even if it was her intent to gossip over what she alleges to be privileged information that is in her possession, her comments do touch on the homophobia of the industry. Bomer may have had a role in Magic Mike, but casting a gay guy as a character who quite literally objectifies himself for the amusement or sexual gratification of women customers does not surprise me. Casting an openly gay actor in the iconic role of Superman, a symbol of the machismo of the American male, would be an extremely far fetched idea. I wouldn’t even think twice if he was cast- he’s a beautiful physical specimen with comedic talents suitable to play the role. But for a bigoted Hollywood executive with hundreds of millions riding on the production, they would undoubtedly not even consider what they perceive to be a liability to the production. They would feel he wouldn’t appeal to the key demographic- teenage boys.
Luci
It’s sad, but true.
niles
Hollywood has always been behind the times in many areas (except for a brief time in the 20s and 30s). In a just world, Bomer should have been a bigger star than he is today.
LaTeesha
You can play gay but if you are gay, audiences won’t like you. A sad reality about how truly pathetic people are.
KirkR
What is her angle on this? We finally have an out leading man type and people constantly labeling him ‘gay’ actor Matt. It’s such an injustice to label anyone. We don’t say ‘African American’ actor Denzel or other label variations. That said, Superman roles are to be avoided, few pay off for the actor, glad he is not involved. Matt will have 4 new movie roles in 2013 plus his hit series, he’s got an enviable career headed skyward and will make us proud. I do find it ironic that the actor chosen for Superman has a rumored past, should be interesting as the premier approaches.
kayakriver
why are some of you in denial?
what she’s says seems totally true.
balehead
It was true then…and it’s true now…..
Congrats on the Wedding Justin Timberlake!!!
Wilberforce
His gayness disqualifies him sure.
But he also doesn’t have the body for the role. He has real nice proportions, but he’s very slight. A leading man needs to have a big guy body, like 6’2″, and 200lbs. That goes double for Supeman. One of the primary traits of the character is that he’s a mountain of muscle.
Folk are so obsessed with the fight for equality, they sometimes miss the obvious.
Dumdum
@QJ201: Hey. I was just trying to be funny, OK. Look I met Anthony Perkins in S.F. At the premier of his last Psycho movie. A friend took me to Rock Hudson’s House for a pool party. I get it, everyone is GAY. Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, every hot guy in Hollywood is a secret queer. I have been on the casting couch. Everyone has to suck a LITTLE something. Being male and queer, not good. Lesbians? Two chicks? That’s HOT!!! Jackie Collins? She is a little older than me. I POKE FUN. So sue my ass. I have stories that would burn your ears, and leave you speechless. But you would not believe me.So whatever dude!
Mr. Enemabag Jones
@LaTeesha:
And if you’re gay, but play straight, and audiences find out, they won’t like you. Just ask Chad Allen. We just can’t win.
FireFromHeaven
@Wilberforce: Matt Bomer is 6 feet tall and could easily weight 200 pounds with diet and exercise. He’s not slight at all. He could definitely play Superman. These are the movies. If being very tall was a prerequisite for a leading man in Hollywood, or an action star, then Tom Cruise would have never had a career in show business.
James from chicago
I think she’s right it’s sad to say, is it just me or since he came out does he seem more fem on white collar?
Badger88
I simply can’t understand this logic. Do gay guys only have crushes on gay actors? No, we worship plenty of hot straight guys too. Just because they don’t share our sexual orientation doesn’t mean we can’t fantasize about what it would be like if they did. I don’t see why straight women wouldn’t do the same thing for a gay actor they have a crush on.
niles
@James from chicago: that was a particularly cruel thing to say, but it points out the results of thousands of years of self-hate conditioning inflicted on gay men. We’ve still got a long way to go, obviously.
Rockery
@Badger88:
Hmmm, I think it’s homophobia in society (maybe?) but I dont see women changing their opinion… I have straight female friends I KNOW aren’t homophobic, but they would never date or (truly) be sexually attracted to a gay/bi guy. There is just a barrier there for some reason.
KirkR
@James from chicago: only to idiots or trolls or both.
@ wilberforce met Matt and chatted once, I’m 6.1 and he is just shy my height so 5.11 or 6ish
FireFromHeaven
@KirkR: That would confirm the height his representation claims he is- around 6 feet. Incidentally, if Bomer’s height disqualifies him from playing Superman, than the actor who is currently playing him, Henry Cavill, a daunting 6’1 should be disqualified as well. I mean, are we really going to quibble over one inch? As for the body type, these Hollywood types can pack on the pounds like nobodies business.
Dumdum
@niles: Oh look? Another person playing the self hate card. That is so original!!! Give me a break! How many women say. Oh. Gay sex, two men makes me so hot? I love that stuff! Straight men? Girl on Girl action, makes me so hot.@niles: Thousands of years? I want to read that book. Where can I find it? I do not know everything, But I AM an Anthropologist. So bring it on girls. I am trying to find something original for my thesis. You all have given me so much!!! When I do this thing. HOLY CRAP! I will turn those bitches on their ears. I have struggled with this for ten years, trying to find something original, something different from all these Darwinian Douche-bags. And now I found it! Listening to you. Hating you and loving you and so over it all that I wanted to KILL myself. I am not being mean. Or putting you down. OH MY GOSH!!! I have worked so hard on this for so long, thinking that there was nothing left, nothing original. I wanted to kill myself so many times. Thank you Cam, and BJ and all you smart and stupid and crazy people. I will get my Masters and Maybe a PHD.The MA really means a lot. Back story. I told my parents that I am Gay,1975 I was 15. They kicked me out, I went to S.F.Lived on the streets. Stuff happened. It made me angry, but it made me strong.I took the GED I went to school worked and payed for it myself. No one ever GAVE me anything until now. So all I can say is THANK YOU! I love you. And Piss off you bloody wankers you know who you are. Not Cam. Not Eric. Not Aidan8. It will take me almost a year to do this. But it is so much better than the alternative.Sorry, you will have to put up with my inane diatribe. I hope to not be too stupid but hey, I am a bit thick.
Fidelio
I don’t get the uproar. This scenario has played out in Hollywood since forever. Collins is, at best, refocusing the issue (at best!). Plus, she is not accusing Bieber of being gay; it’s a simple hypothetical statement, a “what if”. I for one, am not surprised.
kayman
@KirkR:
They do use demographic labels on most actors that aren’t white heterosexual males…
Wilberforce
@FireFromHeaven: I don’t know. In that stripper movie he looked shorter and scrawnier than the other guys. But who knows.
hamoboy
@FireFromHeaven: No,an actor to play Superman should ideally be 6’4″ MINIMUM, since that’s his height in the comics. Matt just doesn’t have the physical presence to play Superman, which is fine, Superman roles aren’t always rewarding, and there are lots of comic book heroes with way more compelling material he could play.
hamoboy
@Rockery: Yes that barrier is homophobia. “Sure I’ll have a gay BFF as my latest fashionable life accessory, but HELL no am I gonna date a guy who might have (or still does) play for the other team on occasion”. That’s homophobia, plain and simple. A lot more subtle than the usual Westboro crap, but still homophobic.
Think about it, with women who have attitudes like that, how are straight men supposed to act to attract them and prevent them from thinking they (the straight men) are gay? By acting hyper-masculine and homophobic, y’know the kind of behaviours that lead to hate crimes.
hamoboy
@Badger88: Adam Lambert has a dedicated straight female following. It just isn’t big enough to give him #1 songs or go Diamond (although he DOES chart and he DOES go platinum last I checked). There are straight women who’ll go all out for a gay entertainer, but they’ve thinner on the ground than secretly homophobic straight women who won’t want anything to do with a male idol who doesn’t like vagina.
balehead
Brandon Routh was a great Superman!!
Cam
I find it fascinating that people still think gay actors would have no female fans.
Formerly Clay Aiken and currently Adam Sandler probably have mostly female fans.
The same argument is used for black actors. And yet they seem unable to defend it when Will Smith movies make a huge sum.
Women can’t play action leads, nobody will go see it. Oh wait, except for Aliens, Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, etc….
These burned out old bigots need to be arrested/fired etc… and I’m glad Collins is helping call them out. Now if only people would start naming names.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
@hamoboy: exactly. well said.
although, there are tentative signs things are changing.
the whole frank ocean phenomenon is so interesting to me for the way he’s not only retained his existing female fan base but has grown it, substantially, since his coming out letter. any one thinking theres no way women can hero-worship or sexually idolise a same-sex-loving man, and without seeing his masculine appeal as compromised, just has to witness the increasingly enormous screaming libidinous vag monster at his concerts and lady love on the youtube comments.
yes, a minority of them are in denial, others want to convert, but it’s indisputably sexual; it’s not the traditional projecting onto a safe neutered sex-substitute — Liberace, barry manilow etc — by sexually diffident females which has got us into the airhead accessory market.
maybe it takes ocean’s curios mix of familiar hyper-masculinity but with emotional vulnerability. maybe it will take actively bisexual famous guys that women can have a “realistic” expectation of — that they can invest in — coming out first and bridging the gap before gay guys can be also be imagined as fully sexual beings and therefore serious complete entities rather than frivolous eunuchs; or obversely as mere waking libidos without a hinterland.
i think many heterosexual women feel about gay men the way as a child i looked at ladybirds – ladybugs – they were the only insects i wasn’t shit scared of cuz they were cute n’all with colourful spots and looked somehow happy — till the godamn moment they opened them beautiful wing-cases revealing fucking leathery black wings; those lying motherfuckers were just disgusting beetles after all only worse cuz they hid it.. i need to lie down, i’ve unearthed trauma!
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
@PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID: *WALKING libidos
hamoboy
@PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID: Yes Frank Ocean sticks to the heterosexual RnB singer game plan rather well. Except of course, when he’s singing about a guy, but he does it in such a “straight” way that I suppose straight girls are intrigued and invested, rather than repelled or merely fetishizing him. It helps that he promises to be one of the decades great discoveries lyrics-wise (vocally not so much).
FunMe
Ricki Martin concerts are still sold out with many straight young girls. So what is her point?
Lefty
Is she talking about the Superman film that was made by an openly gay director, had a star who was rumoured to be gay and which was surrounded by stupid articles about how it had been turned into a gay affair when it was released?
Yeah, the studios really dodged that bullet by not casting Bomer. :/
Daniel Philippe
It is true. Alot of pêople hide their sexuality, just because of the fact that they would be too ashamed to be gay, or they just would not want to be teased or made fun of, or beat because of who they are. It is a sad world we live in, where people have to hide themselves, just to fit in.
Mark
Puhlease Jackie, Bieber could suck a dick on stage during one of his concerts and his girl fans would only get wetter for him. The only difference might be that their mothers would not approve.
DarkZephyr
@Dumdum: She was speaking out in support of gay people and you have to be a snarky troll about her looks? Why?!?
DarkZephyr
@Wilberforce: I disagree, I think Christopher Reeves did a great job with the role and was sexy as hell back in the late 70s and early 90s and he was very slight.