Sir Ian McKellen Puts Damian Lewis In His Place For Calling Him “Fruity” & Other Celeb Feuds

Sir Ian McKellen doesn’t take crap from anyone. Especially not from TV actor Damian Lewis.

During an interview with the UK Guardian in October, Lewis talked about his days as a young stage actor, saying he was afraid that if he couldn’t break out of working in theater, he would turn into “one of these slightly over-the-top, fruity actors who would have an illustrious career on stage, but wouldn’t start getting any kind of film work until I was 50 and then start playing wizards.”

This was an obvious jab at 74-year-old McKellen, who has made a career (not to mention earned millions of dollars and an Academy Award nod) out of playing the wizard Gandalf in the billion-dollar Lord of the Rings film franchise.

“So he feels sorry for me, does he?” McKellen recently told the Radio Times. “Well, I’m very happy. He needn’t worry about me.”

“As for a fruity voice?” he continued. “Well, it may be a voice that is trained like an opera singer’s voice: to fill a large space.”

Snap!

The moral of the story: Never mess with a gay knight.

Scroll down to see four more gay-straight celebrity feuds.

Sir Elton John vs. Madonna

Sir Elton John and Madonna have been going at it for over a decade. Their rivalry started back in 2002, when John slammed Madonna’s song Die Another Day. Since then, John has accused the Queen of Pop of lip-syncing, being a rip-off artist and not accepting his Christmas cards. (We can’t say we blame her.) He’s also called her a “miserable cow,” a “nightmare” and a “fairground stripper” whose “career is over.”

But things really came to head in 2012, when both John and Madonna were up for the Golden Globe for Best Original Song. Madonna was nominated for her tune “Masterpiece” from W.E. Meanwhile, John was nominated for his song “Hello Hello” from Gnomeo and Juliet. Madonna beat John, who had previously said she had “no fucking chance” of winning. She later dedicated the song to him during her 2012 MDNA tour.

Anderson Cooper vs. Alec Baldwin

Earlier this year, Anderson Cooper criticized Alec Baldwin for calling a British reporter a “toxic little queen.” Baldwin responded by saying Cooper was only getting involved to improve his standing with the gay community.

A few months later, Baldwin used another antigay slur, which sparked more criticism from Cooper, who said if Baldwin weren’t a liberal, people wouldn’t be so forgiving of his homophobia.

Turns out, people weren’t as forgiving the second time around. After his comments went viral, Baldwin suffered a wave of bad press before being fired by MSNBC. He’s since retreated into hiding with his tail between his legs. Here’s hoping he stays there for a while.

Frank Ocean vs. Chris Brown

The feud between R&B singers Frank Ocean and Chris Brown began in 2011 when the two engaged in a Twitter battle that ended with Brown threatening to send “cousins” over to chase after Ocean. Then a year later, in the summer of 2012, Brown called Ocean a “homo.” And in January 2013, the two got into a parking lot brawl in Los Angeles, which resulted in fists being thrown followed by Brown reportedly calling Ocean a “faggot.” We think it’s safe the say that these two really don’t like each other.

Rosie O’Donnell vs. Donald Trump

The bad blood between Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump dates all the way back to 2006, when O’Donnell made fun of the millionaire’s hair on an episode of The View. Trump responded by calling her “a woman out of control” and threatening to sue. “Rosie will rue the words she said,” he said. Then he called her “fat” and “a real loser.”

But that was just the beginning.

Over the years, the two have gone after one another a number of times. Usually it involves O’Donnell criticizing Trump for something, and him responding by calling her some sort of name — “failure, “pig,” “bully,” that sort of thing.

In 2012, Trump compared Cher to O’Donnell after the diva expressed her disdain for Mitt Romney on Twitter. Trump tweeted: “Like @Rosie O’Donnell, a total loser!”

O’Donnell tweeted back: “He returns – like a raging herpes rash. He wants me … He needs me – he is obsessed … like a grandpa stalker.”

Earlier this year, however, the dueling hotheads appeared to have reconciled after O’Donnell suffered a heart attack. “@Rosie, get better fast. I’m starting to miss you!” Trump tweeted.