The new documentary I Am Richard Pryor—which recently premiered at the 2019 SXSW Conference & Festivals—mentions a same-sex affair that the legendary stand up comedian had with Marlon Brando. It also mentions the time that the comic insulted a mostly gay audience during his 1977 set at a Hollywood Bowl gay rights benefit.
News of Brando and Pryor’s affair circulated in February 2018 thanks to a Quincy Jones interview in which Jones said, “[Marlon] Brando used to go cha-cha dancing with us. He could dance his ass off. He was the most charming motherf*cker you ever met. He’d f*ck anything. Anything! He’d f*ck a mailbox. James Baldwin. Richard Pryor. Marvin Gaye.”
At the time, Jennifer Lee Pryor, Pryor’s fourth wife of five, said that Pryor “was always very open about his bisexuality with friends, and documented it extensively in diaries,” even though Pryor’s daughter, Rain, tried to deny the rumors.
Jennifer added:
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“He wasn’t ashamed of it! And when people say, ‘Well let him rest in peace, Jennifer, what are you doing?’ then you’re not a fan, because Richard discussed this. He would be talking about it today if he were here. He’d be pissed off that Q was getting a hard time. He’d probably fill you in on the details!”
As for his 1977 Hollywood Bowl set, it happened at a gay rights benefit organized by lesbian comedian Lily Tomlin. During his set, Pryor told the audience:
“I have sucked a d*ck… It’s the first time in my life I ever realized that f*ggots are prejudiced, because I don’t see no n*ggers out here [in the audience]! And when the n*ggers were burning down Watts, you m*therf*ckers were doing what you wanted to do on Hollywood Boulevard and didn’t give a sh*t about it.”
As the audience booed him offstage, he concluded, “And kiss my happy, rich, black *ss!”
Jennifer says of the incident, “He was admitting that, hey, I’m kind of one of you—not necessarily one of you—but I know the party, I know what happens, I’m down.”
Related: Merv Griffin’s Sexual Relations with Rock Hudson, Marlon Brando, and All of Tinseltown
During his lifetime, Brando was somewhat open about his gay sexual experiences. In a 1976 interview with his biographer, Brando said:
Homosexuality is so much in fashion it no longer makes news. Like a large number of men, I, too, have had homosexual experiences and I am not ashamed. I have never paid much attention to what people think about me. But if there is someone who is convinced that Jack Nicholson and I are lovers, may they continue to do so. I find it amusing.
Here’s a trailer to I Am Richard Pryor.
youcant_handlethetruth
One of those times when the headline leaves out a very important word. He didn’t insult a gay audience. He insulted a WHITE gay audience.
Observant
Bingo.
Wicked Dickie
Should he have been lynched by the “WHITE” gays? And by the way, per his words (because he was there after all) ‘…because I don’t see no n*ggers out here [in the audience]!…’ Were black gays not allowed in the club? Let’s not pretend the gay community is or was, ever inclusive.
timqz1
I was at the benefit, all those years ago. Along with Pryor, both Lily Tomlin and Bette Midler were there as well. Pryor admitted afterwards that he was coked out when he launched his attack on gays (no mention of the LBT part of LGBT). As was reported in the article above, Pryor’s parting words were indeed “And kiss my happy, rich, black ass!” as he was booed off the stage. Shortly afterwards, Bette came on stage, looked at the audience, and says “Who out there wants to kiss my happy, rich white ass?” The audience roared with laughter. Bette has always held a special place in my heart after that.
OzJosh
Pryor might have been bi (or he might have been so coked up at times that he’d do anything), but he also frequently spouted homophobic crap on stage. He deserved to be booed.
Donston
Prior was molested as a kid, had drug issues throughout his life and continuously battled with depression. It seems like he really loved sucking dick sometimes but wasn’t really all that into dudes and didn’t really have any same-sex relationships or same-sex romantic passions. He also liked to constantly use the word “fag” to distance himself from gay-identifying men and effeminate males. I would hope in today’s world that he would be different and people would be more accepting of him. But that type of convolution and trauma that leads to internalized homophobia and resentment of gay people is still rather common. And it’s still the biggest factor that separates gay and bi identifying people. Also, I don’t think Prior was ever bi-identifying. Even his wife and friends don’t seem think he saw himself as “bi”. So, it’d be nice if Queerty please stopped giving people identities that they never embraced in public or their private lives. It’s starting to irk the hell out of me.
Jaroslaw
Donston – did you read the article? His wife said he was quite open about his bisexuality with friends and in his diaries. I’m pretty sure even without her statement there was other info out there about him. Point being words mean things and the subject doesn’t get 100% control. Would you allow me to say I am not a thief – I just borrow things sometimes and don’t return them? To me sucking dick. Getting fu*k’d in the rear and having several children means you’re some level of bi. Sorry.
Donston
That doesn’t really mean that he ever embraced a bi identity or ever saw himself as bi. It just doesn’t. In fact, based off his comments and other people’s interviews it appears that he did not. It’s fairly irresponsible to determine someone else’s sense of self. We should know better nowadays considering all these identities we now have, all the people who are not completely hetero or homo but still see themselves as “gay” or “straight”, all the dudes who marry women and have kids but still come out as “gay” and all the people who refuse to embrace a label. Pryor talked about sucking dick and going to gay clubs sometimes. That doesn’t really reflect actually seeing yourself as gay or bi.
People really need to stop equating behaviors to people’s actual sense of self. Talk about his struggles, his lifestyle and his sense of self. There’s no reason to attach an identity to that. An identity would be something he’d have to give himself.