Fire Island star Joel Kim Booster has reacted to comments Billy Eichner made last week about LGBTQ content on streaming platforms.
Eichner is currently promoting his movie, Bros. The studio-backed gay rom-com will hit theater screens later this month. Eichner thinks it is particularly significant the movie will play on the big screen. Talking to Variety, he called the theatrical release historic compared to, “some streaming thing which feels disposable, or which is like one of a million Netflix shows.”
Some commentators took this as Eichner dismissing some of the queer content on streaming platforms.
Fire Island, a gay retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, set during a summer trip to the New York hotspot, was released a few months ago on Hulu.
Joel Kim Booster responds
Joel Kim Booster, who stars in Fire Island, took to Twitter yesterday to give his thoughts. He says he considers Eichner a friend who was hugely supportive of Fire Island. He also says Eichner was his first “comedy boss.”
Booster said he’d been in the desert for ten days with no phone signal. That’s why he was only commenting now.
“It seems like [Billy] was pretty inarticulate in his excitement about his movie getting a theatrical release, which is really fucking cool and something I’m sure the studio and his publicist is making him constantly talk about,” Booster wrote.
“God knows I’ve said plenty of dumb shit without a publicist’s help.”
Booster continued, “I’m so proud of my movie and all the people who helped make it happen and am so grateful it was accessible to so many people on streaming, and don’t see it as any less valuable because of that.
“That being said, I’m also excited to see Bros on the big screen and wish Billy nothing but the best. I truly hope you can enjoy both or neither of our movies without pitting them against each other (even though that is obviously a very fun thing to do and basically what gay Twitter was created for).”
Booster concluded, “I’ve spoken to Billy and we’re cool, and I’m way too busy reading my 769 unread text messages and writing jokes about Burning Man to focus on this, so that’s a wrap for me. Thank you to everyone for being so supportive, that’s really cool.”
Welp pic.twitter.com/ndTQDiu8Xo
— Joel Kim Booster (@ihatejoelkim) September 4, 2022
Billy Eichner apologizes
After backlash on Twitter last week, Eichner apologized for any offense his words caused. In a Twitter thread, he said, “I want to clarify what I said about streaming content in Variety. I was not at ALL referring to the quality or monumental impact of streaming films, I was referring to the way that, historically, LGBTQ+ content has often been considered niche and disregarded by Hollywood.
“I have been openly gay since the beginning of my career over 20 years ago, at a time when that was very challenging. And I am very proud Bros is one of many projects – theatrical, streaming, online, etc – where so many of us are finally getting to tell our own LGBTQ+ stories.”
I want to clarify what I said about streaming content in Variety. I was not at ALL referring to the quality or monumental impact of streaming films, I was referring to the way that, historically, LGBTQ+ content has often been considered niche and disregarded by Hollywood.
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) August 31, 2022
Eichner also replied to Booster’s tweet. He said, “Thank you, Joel. I adore you as an artist and as a friend and I have insane amounts of respect for you. You inspire me to be better and wiser and bolder in my work. That’s the truth. We are all in this together.
“Thank you so much for this note. And I might add, I’m sorry that I was canceled and that our remake of I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY has been shelved. Hope you had fun at Burning Man. See you on the dancefloor.”
Thank you, Joel. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/JuVFd5SSFS
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) September 4, 2022
Bros will get its world premiere shortly at the Toronto Film Festival. It goes on general release in the US on September 30.
abfab
A very large percentage of all content and product made in the USA is disposable and ends up in land fills. My heart goes out to Fire Island for being trashed by these queers. Billy, stick to your guns.
BLAKENOW
You mean Guns with blanks , Mr Eichner can push his oh so funny rom com all he wants but Billy is just a very unlikable queer actor with zero charisma that just so happens to need everyone to see his movie film for his own ego, and not for the sake of the success of queer film.
monty clift
Fire Island was garbage though. An outdated embarrassing minstrel act of gay stereotypes. It deserved the criticism it received.
prime32
@monty clift Minstrel act is a black connotation.. coin another term
Ronbo
@Prime I think Monty hit it spot on… being that the term means socially inappropriate and demeaning. We can’t censure and erase words that have actual meaning – it disrespects victimes and binds us into the ignorance of repeating the same mistakes.
What’s next? Drag show cancellations and wig bonfires? Extremists always think they own the stage when their prime talent is complaining, loudly, constantly and in public.
Cam
@Ronbo
Sweetie, if you’re going to come on and defend posts you’ve written under another screename, try not to use a screename that was already exposed as a right wing troll account.
As always, your trolling is sad and weak.
Also, it’s cute you brought on multiple names on this one post just so you could attack both movies under different names. You’re really really bad at this.
ScottOnEarth
People are so narcissistic that they think every comment, every thought, every utterance is about them. I don’t know who Joel Kim Booster is but it’s pretty funny that he says he’s too busy to “focus on this,” yet, he sure focused on a tweet making it all about him and his Hulu movie.
Kangol2
The Eichner comment probably did imply a dismissal of Booster’s film, which had its charms, so he has every right to reply. Let’s see if Eichner’s film merits all the hype.
bachy
I haven’t seen Fire Island but I have to agree with Eichner: the vast majority of Netflix films and series are utter dreck. Most Netflix material, regardless of the category, is a strange, stylistic amalgam of YA, Family and Lifetime motifs.
I prefer Hulu, HBO and Prime.
Ronbo
I’m glad that we have bachy around to tell us what to watch. Otherwise, we might enjoy things. Thanks bachy.
Joshooeerr
You can kid yourself that Fire Island was some kind of literary adaptation of Pride and Prejudice all you like, but the truth is it was lame. And very much disposable.
Ronbo
If you can, please tell us your favorite episode out of all of Eichener’s work. I need perspective.
I watched one show where all he did was breathlessly race around asking silly questons. I wasn’t sure if his humor was falling flat or if falling flat was his humor. He is a cute man whom I hope has actual talent. I’d love to see it.
pickles
“Fire Island” was light, gay, queer, real, fake, and totally enjoyable. Now, lets get some real content! Hot Joel and hot Billy, plz release some NOODS!
Kangol2
Nudes of Joel Kim Booster are circulating online. Just visit Twitterland to find them.
TheMarc
Soooo not a fan of Joel Kim Booster but…he had a very classy, reasonable and “higher road” response that deserves some respect. That being said…I’m sure just as many tired gay stereotypes and unimaginative writing and plot resolutions will be seen in Bros as there were in Fire Island. Anything gay approaching mainstream tends to fall back on that. Nothing challenging, mind blowing or provocative. Just an old gay comedian’s standup routine brought to life.
IvanPH
Fire Island is fantastic and critically-accalimed.
I bet this Bros movie is trash.
smittoons
Bros is at least entirely original, which is a step up from something that’s an adaptation of one of the most celebrated romantic comedies of the literary world. Kudos to them for the new spin and not screwing it up, but when your foundation is Pride and Friggin’ Prejudice, you’re jumping the line a little.
Prax07
Fire Island was disposable for me, I watched it once and that was enough. I feel no draw to rewatch a second time. Loot though, his Apple TV show alongside Maya Rudolph, I’m currently rewatching just because it’s good. Hopefully Billy’s movie will be Worthy of a rewatch.
Seth
I’m never falling for the streaming grifts so, for me, disposable doesn’t even cover how not interested I am.
Cam
This was a nice response. He showed that he understood what happened, and applauded more LGBTQ representation.
You can tell that the right wing trolls HATE the idea of LGBTQ content because it always comes here under multiple screenames so it can attack each movie or actor and pretend it’s multiple people doing it.
smittoons
Eichner’s entire schtick is having a strong cynical yet very specific POV about Hollywood and people in general and that’s gotten him very far. It’s genuine and biting while also coming from a place of tough love, not unlike what people celebrated and vilified Joan Rivers for. He wears his opinions on his sleeve, and that’s a dying art these days. What, people were happy to laugh until he came for Fire Island on Hulu? Please. Some people aren’t happy unless they’re in a constant state of being offended, something Eichner gleefully skewers in his movie.
Any debate he sparked about Bros having a less “disposable” platform than a direct to streaming movie should be confined to the topic of streaming vs old media, not gay twitter (such a reductive label) in-fighting. I happen to think the act of going to see a movie in a theater immediately cements it as a special experience, rather than just one of a thousand nights on one’s same sofa plopped in front of the same TV. That doesn’t take away from the merit or quality of something made for streaming, but it does elevate whatever was given the resources to be distributed theatrically. I am very happy to celebrate Bros getting that kind of platform, it’s a big win for us.