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Charlie Carver says gay colleague slapped him for being “too effeminate”

 

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Charlie Carver has said that a gay colleague in the entertainment industry once gave him a hard time, claiming he was “too effeminate”. The criticism culminated in the unnamed co-worker slapping Carver across the face at a post-Emmys party in 2015.

Carver recounted the incident to Variety yesterday. He was being interviewed to promote the new Netflix drama, The Boys In The Band, in which he features alongside several other gay performers.

Related: Out ‘Ratched’ hunk Charlie Carver on why he doesn’t only want gay roles

Recalling the night, he says the other person, who Carver had worked with (albeit not on screen), told him three times that his acting was effeminate. At the time, Carver was not publicly out.

“I was told that I needed to ‘get it under control’ around people in the business,” says Carver.

Put out by the comments, later that evening, while Carver was waiting at the valet, he ran into the co-worker again and asked him what exactly he meant.

Instead of offering clarification, the man slapped him across the face.

“It wasn’t playful but intentional, pointed and meant to be instructive. A slap,” says Carver. “I told him that if he ever touched me again, I would name him.”

Carver decided then and there that he was not going to take the co-workers words to heart.

“That was the moment when I said to myself, ‘I can’t do this. I cannot police myself in that way.’”

In January 2016, he came out via Instagram.

Related: Zachary Quinto leaves Charlie Carver wearing absolutely nothing on stage

Carver, now 32, first came to widespread attention with a recurring role in Desperate Housewives, but it was his appearance in Teen Wolf that really catapulted him to fame.

This year, he’s appeared in two high-profile Ryan Murphy productions on Netflix: Ratched and The Boys In The Band. For the latter, he reprised the role that he played in the Broadway revival of the classic 1968 play. The award-winning, groundbreaking-at-the-time drama is centered on a group of gay men at a house gathering over the course of one evening.

Next year, Carver appears on the big screen in The Batman, opposite Robert Pattinson in the titular role.

 

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Goodness. Don’t know what to say, really. I’ve spent the better part of three years with these men (better as in best, though many months too) and am a better person for it. When we endeavored ourselves to The Boys in the Band in 2017, I anticipated the hard work, good times, and a shared sense of purpose. I could not have imagined the meaningfulness of the bonds that would be forged between us; they provide me with a sense of strength in solidarity I will be able to draw upon for the rest of my days. Dramatic much? Yes queen, we love a flourish. Thank you @mrrpmurphy for your belief and vision, Joe Mantello for your masterful leadership, Ned Martel for your wisdom and words, my BOYS for your BEAUTIFUL work, and the late Mart Crowley for your courage and fire. Rest In Peace, Martino. I’m so proud to have been involved in a project filled with so much love: for each other, our community, our history, and for a better world. Wow. #theboysintheband now streaming GLOBALLY on @netflixfilm ❤️🌈🌍 #LGBTQ fam, we are worldwide and we are beautiful!

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Update: 10/1/20: Charlie Carver reached out to us to clarify that the person involved was not an actor or co-star, but was someone he’d worked with prior. 

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