At a recent press conference for the upcoming gangster film Legend, one reporter discovered that beating around the bush isn’t always the best way to get an answer.
“In the film, your character Ronnie is very open about his sexuality,” Graeme Coleman from Canadian LGBT-outlet Daily Xtra asks star Tom Hardy. “But given interviews you’ve done in the past, your own sexuality seems a bit more ambiguous. Do you find it hard for celebrities to talk to media about their sexuality?”
Tom isn’t having it.
“What on earth are you on about?” he responds.
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Then Coleman gets to the real reason he asked — not to hear Hardy’s broad stance on how celebrities discuss their sexualities with the media (as if he could speak for all celebs), but to bring up those “past interviews” for the sake of attention.
We’ve covered those past interviews here — Hardy told Attitude in 2008 that he’d experimented with guys as a teenager. In part, he said, “I’m an actor for fuck’s sake. I’ve played with everything and everyone. I love the form and the physicality, but now that I’m in my thirties, it doesn’t do it for me.”
Related: Tom Hardy, Hot Straight Actor Who Had Some Young Fun With Other Dudes
Interesting and candid take on masculinity and sexuality? Absolutely.
Excuse to hound Hardy about his “ambiguous sexuality” seven years later? Hardly.
“I don’t find it difficult for celebrities to talk about their sexuality,” Hardy answers Coleman before asking, “Um, are you asking me about my sexuality?”
“Um…sure,” says Coleman.
Hardy responds, “Why?” to which Coleman comes back with an inspiring “Um.”
“Thank you,” Hardy says, moving on to the next question.
Watch the exchange below:
https://youtu.be/95tpHrDklwE
AtticusBennett
yeah. that was pretty boss. the question was badly, and timidly, asked. and he shot that nonsense right down.
Bisexual-Transwoman
He’s out as bisexual or has came out before, and it’s pointless if the media wants to keep obsessing over him being bisexual when he’s answered questions about his sexuality before and is out.
Glücklich
Poor mealy-mouthed Coleman had to go back to the office after that embarrassment and hopefully get torn apart by his colleagues for it. And it will live on the internet like this until Tom Hardy’s star fades or he dies. Good.
Cam
So it’s ok for every other celeb to be asked who they are dating but it is somehow a grave insult to ask Hardy?
Score one for the closet.
Sansacro
@Cam: To be fair, press people don’t usually ask “who are you dating”? at press conferences, or, more to the point, “who are you f*&king”? And, often, when they are, celebs often shoot them down or deflect? The whole focus on who is gay at this point if freaking tiring. It’s more of a gotcha, or opportunistic career move by a media person. There are plenty of people who are publicly out; not everyone needs to be telling us who they are screwing. Good for Hardy.
Matthew David Thompson
Matthew McMillion Andrea Lovejoy
jwtraveler
Great response: “Why?”
Another suggestion: “Are you asking me for a date?”
myloginname
I don’t actually know who he is and since I’m never going to bone him I don’t care. I like his non answer answer actually very much.
nmharleyrider
Tom Hardy who?
GayMafiaKingpin
You know how to not make sexuality such a taboo subject, worthy of gossip, and a reason for people to try and get you with that “gotcha” moment? Stop acting like the answer to the question is such a big deal. Stop acting like it’s a super private detail about your life.
Sexuality isn’t just about who you fuck. It’s about who you’re attracted to and love. And there’s no reason to be ashamed of it. When celebrities, or anyone, really, deflects and avoid answering the question, they just make getting that answer more scandalous and titillating. So, to fix that, they could just say, “Yeah, I’m bisexual,” or, “Yep, I’m gay.” And then move on to the next question. I don’t get pissed off if people ask if I’m gay. Why would I? I am gay, and I have no shame in that.
Being gay, lesbian, or bi, and disclosing that fact should be no more of a big deal than disclosing that someone is… *gasp* straight.
I realize some people are in the closet for various reason, but Tom Hardy was already out as bisexual, or at least says that he experimented when he was younger. So, what’s the harm in clarifying, at least in his case?
http://LTASB.com
Steverino2
@nmharleyrider: Very possibly the next James Bond- That is whom.
Glücklich
@GayMafiaKingpin:
Flip side of that is: what kind of person asks a stranger?
Here are some others:
• How much do you make?
• How much do you weigh?
• Are you the one who had the abortion?
• Are you regular?
• Are you uncut?
• Have you gotten any lately?
• Is that herpes?
• What’s your bra size?
• Ever been in a Turkish prison?
Will Moor
@nmharleyrider: “Tom Hardy who?” I’m pretty sure he has only one last name.
Terrycloth
I must be the only guy who doesn’t know who this guy is ? Somebody wanna fill me in?
Glücklich
@Terrycloth:
Flavor of the month though actually has some acting chops and so far has presented himself as quite down to earth. What everyone’s seizing on is some huge revelation that he’d experimented sexually with guys in his past and, rightly so, he’s not treating it like a big deal. Also, he has no problem being full-frontal nakers on camera. And he’s obviously easy on the eyes. Think Ewan MacGregor or Michael Fassbender if they mentioned some guy-on-guy experience from their past.
Chris
@Terrycloth: He was Bane in the Dark Knight Rises.
…..
As regards the question of his sexuality: He may have experimented when he was younger. But he’s been married twice and has a couple of kids, including one whose mother never married him. I guess the question, to me, is: What does it take to settle this once and for all? I see nothing ambiguous here: his actions speak way louder than any words he might use.
Xzamilio
He’s addressed this already… he experimented, found it wasn’t for him, and moved on with his life. Good lord, let it go already.
Captain Obvious
@Cam: This. Reading all this stupidity is absolutely dumbfounding. If any other celeb had done all this tap dancing and tip toeing around what was seriously an inoffensive question they would’ve been skewered by this site and the commenters. Since it’s Miss Thang suddenly it’s offensive to ask and terrible to answer… on a gay site.
Give me a freaking break.
And the “it doesn’t do it for me anymore”, yeah now that you’re a huge star, and clearly closeted in fear of public scrutiny.
I like the guy for the most part, but the more cowardly he acts about his sexuality it really is a huge turn off. He’d have been better off saying nothing rather than dipping a toe in the water and doing a 180.
It’s pretty common knowledge amongst anyone who’s been around these lil industry morons that there are contracts for celebrity marriages and even “girlfriends”/boyfriends. Somehow that slips everyone’s minds after these so called straight celebs come out that all their exes were of the opposite sex… so what was in it for them? Huge contracts came with huge paychecks just for being attached to them.
He’s gay, not bi, and he can stay closeted all he wants. I’m not gonna hero worship him for it.
I’m also extremely surprised Miss Out and Proud herself came in with the first comment in defense of the closet when she’s always lambasting commenters for being “afraid” of being the biggest stereotype this side of the Milky Way. Hardy gets a pass because he’s an attractive movie star… ok. Good way to negate anything you have to say in the future.
Captain Obvious
@GayMafiaKingpin: I agree with this as well except for the bi part. I bisexual man in a straight relationship would merely say “I love my wife and we’re in a committed relationship so I only have eyes for her now.”. There would be no need for tap dancing around the subject.
He’s gay, his freaking out about the question makes that clear. Only closeted gay men get that way. A bisexual in a straight relationship may get a frown but at the end of the day they’re in a straight ACCEPTED relationship. He could shrug that off easily.
He’s basically Ricky Martin right now(but once gay celebs come out everyone forgets how much they lied and danced around the topic before).
gababy2
@Captain Obvious: apart of the gay part (i believe he’s bi) i agree with you. if tom answered that question confirming his past and saying he’s gay/bi, probably no one would be outraged and saying the question is inappropriate.
Giancarlo85
I don’t really give two shits about this guy. Just another closet queen who won’t admit who he is.
Andrew Liguori
Now if only he’d stop making clothing!
Mercurical Memo
@Captain Obvious: This is exactly what I thought. Why is it that Aaron Shock and Lindsay Graham have to proclaim their sexualities meanwhile this guy, who is a scruffy version of Jean Franco milks his ‘sexuality’ and then expects not to be asked about it? Bitch needs to sit the fuck down.
I don’t understand how his response is admirable or why. It’s like the whole Steve Grand thing. Prancing around in his panties and then telling everyone to stop making him a piece of meat. Just the same, wasn’t this bitch going off about his MySpace pictures.
What a pathetic piece of shit.
Paul Stanley
Who the hell is this guy and why are all the gays talking about him?
Brian
Harvey Milk said, “Come out, come out, wherever you are.” And I will always stand by that. LGBT people face discrimination primarily because there’s an assumption that we are so small a minority that we’ll never matter. If more bisexual people — especially bisexual men — would come out, then it would be more difficult for fundies to label us as “freaks.” In this society, celebrities have enormous power. Like it or not, their comments do matter. Tom Hardy should be honest.
Arcamenel
Yeah I don’t think anyone should be praising his response. I mean kids are killing themselves because they think they are alone or would have to lie all their lives. He’s an attractive and rich. If we’re ever going to get to the point where it’s not a big deal we need to stop treating it like it is and just let people say what they are and then move on. No one is asking who he’s had sex with.
Mercurical Memo
Seriously Queerty, explain why my post was deleted and what was so offensive about it.
Brian
A Hollywood male cannot afford to say that he’s interested in men, even if it’s as a fraction. Women won’t accept it. Women want their male stars to be entirely heterosexual (so that she can control him with sexual consent) or entirely homosexual (so that she can control him in the way a pet poodle can be controlled).
It’s all about control. Women want to control men. If a man can be fractionally homosexual, it destroys her control and power over him.
Mercurical Memo
@Brian: Are you for real? What world are you living in?
Prinny
For f**** sake leave the guy alone.Its his life, and he’s got the same right to keep his life private just like all of us.
Cole Cross
Giancarlo85
@Brian: LOL… it looks like a certain misogynist troll made another account. You are off in the clouds. Time to get back to reality.
Is that you Jason Smeds?
Giancarlo85
@Prinny: Oh it’s you.
First off, he has made a career of making his life public… so yea, you’re wrong.
Prinny
@Brian: You sound awfully familiar…. Jason is that you?
Brian
In general, women won’t accept a man who swings both ways. He threatens her power. There are individual women who might accept such men but, on the whole, they won’t.
If you want to be a big male star in Hollywood, you have to market yourself as entirely heterosexual. That’s where the big bucks are.
Liberal women in particular are on a power kick which is based on controlling men and owning a man’s sexuality. No room for men who swing both ways.
Sinohuiz Gibreel
So passé to ask.
Prinny
@Giancarlo85: At a public press about his new movie questions about his personal life had no place.The guy has every right to keep his life private if he wishes so!
Sweetie Pie
Are you a top or a bottom?
ScottOnEarth
He has put himself in the public eye and these questions are part of the program. Big deal.
martinbakman
@Brian: Women might or might not agree with you depending on whether they’re getting a toy poodle or a giant poodle. But seriously, Jim Parson is worth $50,000,000 as an out gay actor. He’s not getting fired for being out. And Matt Bomer has played hunky straight dudes in a number of roles that women accept. So the times are a changin’
jwtraveler
@Mercurical Memo: What on earth are you on about?
jwtraveler
@Brian: Gone off your meds again, have you?
Louis
What on earth is wrong with asking that question?
He’s from a gay publication so he simply asked a question regarding stuff he said in the past maybe he was just asking if he was supportive of the LGBT community which I have never seen proof of to begin with.
Was the question out of left field? Maybe and though Hardy may not have been insulting in response the fact that guys like him continue to act so OFFENDED when someone asks them that question is a huge turn off I could care less what he does or does not look like period.
Its funny how Kim Davis gets railed as she deserves to for being so bigoted and intolerant yet if guys that look like Tom act OFFENDED if someone asks them a question such as this man did its an automatic OFFENSE or violation.
So tell me again how exactly that’s any different then any conservative on television acting automatically offended or irritated when someone brings up the subject of homosexuality anything?
Ridiculous.
There is a double standard at play here im afraid and its blatantly obvious with some of the responses here.
If a straight man responds that way then that’s their own insecurities regarding that specific subject nothing more and nothing less period.
He could have simply said its not an issue for me but instead he acted dumbfounded and as if he had just been insulted which is an insult to gay americans when guys do stuff like that.
I just don’t understand the mentality of this community at times I really don’t.
Its also interesting to note that I read what he said years ago and when he responded to what he had said previously his response was insulting and demeaning to the LGBT community but of course due to his looks he was immediately absolved of his statements and attitude.
Smh.
Wahaca
Why does it seem to be a ‘thing’ on here for people to comment “Who?” in relation to any celebrity-themed post?
Is that designed to portray you as somehow superior for not knowing who a particular celebrity is? All it does it make you look ignorant and lazy, when a simple Google search would tell you all you needed to know if you genuinely didn’t know. It’s incredibly pathetic and seems to pop up on the majority of these posts.
As for the question, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with asking it as it is linked to the film he’s there to discuss, it just wasn’t well-executed.
Giancarlo85
@Brian: Oh yes. It is Jason smeds with his unsupported misogynist bullshit.
@Prinny: He is being hypocritical then as he made a mediocre career from his personal life.
Cam
@Sansacro:
If that was Anne Hathaway or One if the guys from One direction you are saying they wouldn’t have been asked about their social life? False.
Brian
Jim Parsons might be an out gay actor but he’s playing heterosexual roles or slightly ditzy, asexual ones. Both types of roles are a sign of male submission to women.
Women fear the dangerous version of male homosexuality – ie the version where same-sex feelings exist alongside feelings for women. When men are like this, it scares the proverbial out of women because it means male power.
A lot of you gay-identifying guys don’t want to understand this because you’re afraid of losing the support of women. You don’t want to offend women because you’re such cowards. You can’t even stand up for males as a whole because you are so divided away from the concept of manhood.
Cam
@Brian:
Jason, if you are going to invent a new Screename you need to moderate your language so it isn’t so easy to spot.
jwtraveler
@Brian: Just as insane as the first time you said it.
Curty
I’ve heard about this guy but don’t care what his sexuality is unless he’s a big homophobe. I don’t know if he is or not. If he’s a homophobe well he’s an enemy if he’s closeted or bi well don’t care. Only thing I care to know is who are our allies and enemies.
Giancarlo85
@Brian: What is a “gay-identifying guy?” A gay guy. Can you stop it with the bullshit language? You’re starting to sound like a right wing religious conservative.
And you sound exactly like Jason Smeds. I’m sure Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren and other powerful women make you shit your bed every night.
Brian = Jason Smeds. Period.
Louis
@Brian: What are you talking about ?
I can’t decipher any part of that .
cabe
@AtticusBennett: Yes, the question was somewhat dumb but Hardy’s response came off as hostile and defensive. He could have handled it much more graciously and just laughed it off. Instead, Hardy came off sounding like a pompous arse.