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Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema and more

Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema & more

Mean Girls Star Daniel Franzese Calls Out Actress Bijou Phillips For Homophobia, Assault & Body-Shaming Him

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In the last few weeks, many actors have felt emboldened to step forward and talk about harassment and abuse they’ve faced in the industry. One of the latest is queer actor Daniel Franzese, best known to many as Damian in Mean Girls, and gained new fans as Eddie in HBO’s gay-themed series, Looking.

However, he made his movie debut in Larry Clark’s powerful 2001 movie, Bully, where he says he faced homophobic abuse, body shaming and even physical assault from his co-star, Bijou Phillips. In a deeply person post on Facebook he writes, ‘On my first film BULLY I was harassed by Bijou Phillips the entire shoot. She body shamed me and ridiculed me about my sexuality‬ and physically assaulted me. I was scared and closeted and feared for my job. It started with a lot of eye‪ ‬rolling whenever we spoke but‪ ‬escalated when we did a cast shoot for the poster‪.‬ ‪A‬s we were shooting she kept loudly saying “Are you gay?!” and laughing‪ while ‬the producers‪ ‬and photographer did nothing‪ ‬to stop her but some of my cast like Micheal Pitt and Brad Renfro kept telling her to shut up‪ ‬but she continued to say “Are You Gay?!” Like 10 times making sure to be loud enough for everyone to hear I reluctantly told her i was bi. Which at the time was how I was choosing to‪ ‬identify as “Q” wasn’t known to be an option yet and to be honest I don’t know that I had many gay experiences at the time my life. I was an extremely late bloomer. She cackled and‪ said “HA! He’s bi!” And then when I showed up to work the next day in front of the crew she was screaming “Oh look! The Bi guy is here!”’

He also writes about how she body shamed him, despite the fact he was already nervous and self-coinscious about his weight. He says, ‘So I take my shirt off in the scene and she breaks character and she pointed at my body and at the top of her lungs yelled “Ewwww gross!!!” She laughed and pointed at me and continued to berate me. they call cut and I had to walk off set to collect myself.’

Franzese also suggests she engineered it so he walked in on her having sex with one of their co-stars, before her behaviour culminated in a physical assault. ‘When we shot one of our last scenes in a court room,’ he says. ‘She was walking around barefoot and the bottom of her feet were black with dirt. She was sitting behind me and kept rubbing her dirty feet on my neck. I kept swiveling the chair to move away from her and she kicked me as hard as she could in the back of the head. To this day I’m not even sure if she gave me a concussion because I was light headed and dizzy for a while.’

He ends by saying that he feels Bijou’s behaviour on film sets at the time did affect her career, but he hopes she has changed in the years since. However, for him, ‘It was such a blessing to get a foot into Hollywood’s door but I was greeted at that door with homophobia, body shaming and abuse. The way I was treated in that hostile work environment gave me a PTSD that had me stay closeted for a long time… I love the movie and my other cast mates and crew but BULLY was one of the most stressful experiences of my life on or off a set and it was my first one.’

After Daniel wrote his emotional post, Bijou responded, telling TMZ, ‘I want to write to address what Daniel has said. I don’t remember that time well, those years are a blur. I was a teenager and reckless in my behavior. I know Daniel to be a trustworthy and honest person, and to find out through social media that I was not the friend I thought I was to him made me so sad… I am so mortified by this behavior and have contacted Daniel and apologized to him privately. I am not and never have been homophobic. I have nothing but love for the LGBTQ community and Daniel.”

Franzese has now responded on Twitter, saying, ‘I forgive @BijouPhillips because I don’t know her private story either. I shared this story only to bring light to a dark memory… It was 18years ago. She has sent me an apology I accept. It would be nice to see her make a donation to @TrevorProject or something.’ [Read more…]

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George Takei Says He’s ‘Shocked & Bewildered’ At Claims He Sexually Assaulted A Man In 1981

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The latest celebrity to become embroiled in accusations of inappropriate sexual behvaiour is George Takei, who has been hit with allegations from a former male model that the Star Trek legend groped (and possibly drugged) him when he blacked out, back in 1981.

The allegations come from Scott R. Brunton, who told THR that he got to know Takei in the late 70s and early 80s, developing a casual friendship. After Brunton broke up with his boyrfiend, he says Takei invited him out for dinner and to go to the theatre. While the actor was initially consoling, eventually they ended up at his house for a drink.

Brunton says, “We have the drink and he asks if I would like another. And I said sure. So, I have the second one, and then all of a sudden, I begin feeling very disoriented and dizzy, and I thought I was going to pass out. I said I need to sit down and he said sit over here and he had the giant yellow beanbag chair. So I sat down in that and leaned my head back and I must have passed out.

“The next thing I remember I was coming to and he had my pants down around my ankles and he was groping my crotch and trying to get my underwear off and feeling me up at the same time, trying to get his hands down my underwear. I came to and said, ‘What are you doing?!’ I said, ‘I don’t want to do this.’ He goes, ‘You need to relax. I am just trying to make you comfortable. Get comfortable.’ And I said, ‘No. I don’t want to do this.’ And I pushed him off and he said, ‘OK, fine.’ And I said I am going to go and he said, ‘If you feel you must. You’re in no condition to drive.’ I said, ‘I don’t care I want to go.’ So I managed to get my pants up and compose myself and I was just shocked. I walked out and went to my car until I felt well enough to drive home, and that was that.”

Brunton says he felt betrayed and angry, and for a long time wanted to confront Takei about it. He also says he considered going public before, but thought, “Who’s going to believe me? It’s my word against his.”

Takei has now responded to the allegations, saying on Facebook, “I’m writing to respond to the accusations made by Scott R. Brunton. I want to assure you all that I am as shocked and bewildered at these claims as you must feel reading them. The events he describes back in the 1980s simply did not occur, and I do not know why he has claimed them now. I have wracked my brain to ask if I remember Mr. Brunton, and I cannot say I do. But I do take these claims very seriously, and I wanted to provide my response thoughtfully and not out of the moment.

‘Right now it is a he said / he said situation, over alleged events nearly 40 years ago. But those that know me understand that non-consensual acts are so antithetical to my values and my practices, the very idea that someone would accuse me of this is quite personally painful. Brad, who is 100 percent beside me on this, as my life partner of more than 30 years and now my husband, stands fully by my side. I cannot tell you how vital it has been to have his unwavering support and love in these difficult times.

‘Thanks to many of you for all the kind words and trust. It means so much to us.’

Some have since pointed to some ambiguous, possibly comical comments he made on Howard Stern recently concerning his behaviour in the past (see the video below). However, he has also made several statements condeming the harassment that is finally being talked about in Hollywood, including telling THR a couple of weeks ago, “Men who improperly harass or assault do not do so because they are gay or straight — that is a deflection. They do so because they have the power, and they chose to abuse it.” [Read more…]

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Ellen Page Calls Out Director Brett Ratner For Homophobia & Harassment On The X-Men Set

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One of the major figures accused of sexual harassment and assualt in Hollywood in the last couple of weeks in Rush Hour and Red Dragon director Brett Ratner. He has been accused by numerous women, including Natasha Henstridge and Olivia Munn, of terrible behaviour. Now Ellen Page has joined them, saying he was ‘homophobic and abusive behavior’ on the X-Men: The Last Stand set.

She says in a powerful, lengthy post on Facebook, ‘“You should fuck her to make her realize she’s gay.” He said this about me during a cast and crew “meet and greet” before we began filming, X Men: The Last Stand. I was eighteen years old. He looked at a woman standing next to me, ten years my senior, pointed to me and said: “You should fuck her to make her realize she’s gay.” He was the film’s director, Brett Ratner.

‘I was a young adult who had not yet come out to myself. I knew I was gay, but did not know, so to speak. I felt violated when this happened. I looked down at my feet, didn’t say a word and watched as no one else did either. This man, who had cast me in the film, started our months of filming at a work event with this horrific, unchallenged plea. He “outed” me with no regard for my well-being, an act we all recognize as homophobic. I proceeded to watch him on set say degrading things to women. I remember a woman walking by the monitor as he made a comment about her “flappy pussy”.

‘We are all entitled to come into an awareness of our sexual orientation privately and on our own terms. I was young and although already a working actor for so long I had in many ways been insulated, growing up on film sets instead of surrounded by my peers. This public, aggressive outing left me with long standing feelings of shame, one of the most destructive results of homophobia. Making someone feel ashamed of who they are is a cruel manipulation, designed to oppress and repress. I was robbed of more than autonomy over my ability to define myself. Ratner’s comment replayed in my mind many times over the years as I encountered homophobia and coped with feelings of reluctance and uncertainty about the industry and my future in it. The difference is that I can now assert myself and use my voice to to fight back against the insidious queer and transphobic attitude in Hollywood and beyond. Hopefully having the position I have, I can help people who may be struggling to be accepted and allowed to be who they are –to thrive. Vulnerable young people without my advantages are so often diminished and made to feel they have no options for living the life they were meant to joyously lead.

‘I got into an altercation with Brett at a certain point. He was pressuring me, in front of many people, to don a t-shirt with “Team Ratner” on it. I said no and he insisted. I responded, “I am not on your team.” Later in the day, producers of the film came to my trailer to say that I “couldn’t talk like that to him.” I was being reprimanded, yet he was not being punished nor fired for the blatantly homophobic and abusive behavior we all witnessed. I was an actor that no one knew. I was eighteen and had no tools to know how to handle the situation.’

Page also recounts other situations where she has been put into compromising positions, including powerful men taking her to dinner when she was young and then propositioning her. She also adds, ‘I did a Woody Allen movie and it is the biggest regret of my career. I am ashamed I did this. I had yet to find my voice and was not who I am now and felt pressured, because “of course you have to say yes to this Woody Allen film.” Ultimately, however, it is my choice what films I decide to do and I made the wrong choice. I made an awful mistake.’

You can read Page’s full, powerful essay here.

Since she posted her message, many of her colleagues and co-stars have stepped up to support her, including fellow X-Men alumnus Anna Paquin, who tweeted, ‘I was there when that comment was made. I stand with you .@EllenPage’

Ratner has denied (via his lawyer) earlier accusations of innapropriate sexual behaviour, but has so far had no response to Page’s accusations. Since the allegations first came to life, he has lost numerous jobs and essentially been fired by Warner Bros, where he had development and financing deals, and where his offices were based. [Read more…]

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Kevin Spacey Being Replaced By Christopher Plummer In Already Completed Movie

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Few people’s career have plummeted so fast and so completely as Kevin Spacey’s in the last couple of weeks, following a barrage of accusations of sexual harassment and assault, kicked off by allegations from actor Anthony Rapp that Spacey attempted to sleep with him when he was oly 14.

The ultimate piece of evidence that this is not something Spacey is ever likely to come back from is the decision by Ridley Scott to remove the actor from a movie that’s already been completed and is due out in the US in only six weeks time. Spacey was due to play billionaire John Paul Getty in the film All the Money in the World, about the kidnapping of Getty’s grandson.

He will now be replaced by veteran actor Christopher Plummer, with Ridley planning 10 days of shooting, which will also involve the likes of the movie’s other stars, Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Williams. It’s believed that in many of Spacey’s scenes he was either the only one on screen or it was a relatively simple set-up, making it relatively easy to replce him. Some more complex location work is likely to see Spacey replaced using visual effects.

The replacement is being done at Scott and the film’s production company’s expense. However, the movie’s distributor, Sony Pictures Entertainment, is still keen to keep the movie’s December 22nd US release date, which will allow it to be eligible for next year’s Oscars, so the work will have to be done exceptionally quickly.

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Charlie Sheen ‘Categorically Denies’ Allegations That He Raped Corey Haim

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Admidst the tumult of the horrifying stories emerging of sexual assault, abuse and harassment in Hollywood, one concerns allegations that Charlie Sheen committed statutory rape against a 13-year-old Corey Haim on he set of the 1986 movie, Lucas. Sheen would have been 19 at the time.

The allegations come from Haim’s friend Dominick Brascia, who told the National Enquirer that, “Haim told me he had sex with Sheen when they filmed Lucas. He told me they smoked pot and had sex. He said they had anal sex. Haim said after it happened Sheen became very cold and rejected him. When Corey wanted to fool around again, Charlie was not interested.”

Corey Feldman has also said that Haim was raped on the Lucas set, although when he recounted it in his memoir, he didn’t say who the perpetrator was. The Enquirer says they have spoken to many other who corroborate the story – or at least that this is what Haim, who died in 2010, said had happened.

However, a representative of Sheen told THR that, “Charlie Sheen categorically denies these allegations.”

Uncertainty was also cast by Haim’s mother, who has recently been very critical of Corey Feldman and his desire to get $10 million to uncover a Hollywood pedophile ring – she views it as a money grab. She has  now said that while someone else did abuse her son, it was only one person and it was not Sheen (as far as she is aware).

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Ezra Miller Says Of Coming Out As Queer, ‘I Was Told By a Lot of People I’d Made a Mistake’

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Ezra Miller first came to many people’s attention as the teen title character in We Need to Talk About Kevin back in 2011. Then, going against the grain of most up and coming actors in Hollywood, he spoke to Out in 2012, saying “I’m Queer. I am very much in love with no one in particular.”

It hasn’t affected his career too much though, having starred in the likes of The Perks Of Being A Wallflower and Madame Bovary, before scoring a couple of massive roles that in 2016 saw him appearing as The Flash in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and as Credence Barebone in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

However, it appears some thought he’d ruined his chances of ever getting such high profile gigs when he came out. He told Shortlist recently, “I won’t specify, [but] I was told by a lot of people I’d made a mistake.

“Folks in the industry, folks outside of the industry. People I’ve never spoken to. They said there’s a reason so many gay, queer, gender-fluid people in Hollywood conceal their sexual identity, or their gender identity in their public image. I was told I had done a ‘silly’ thing in… thwarting my own potential to be a leading man.”

He adds, “I was given a lot of stern talking-tos.. ‘You’ve made a mistake’ is such a hard thing to hear. Maybe if I’d actually made a serious mistake? But not for this. I didn’t think I’d done anything wrong, though there have been moments of doubt as a result of those conversations. But… what they said was, in fact, ‘rubbish’, as you might say.”

Miller certainly doesn’t seem to be having any problems with his career. He’s about to appear in cinemas as The Flash once more in Justice League, and will play the character again in the standalone Flash movie, Flashpoint, in 2020. He’ll also return as Credence in the second Fantastic Beasts movie, which is due for release at the end of 2018.

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An LGBT Scene Got Cut From Thor: Ragnarok That Confimed Valkyrie Is Bisexual

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In the past few weeks there’s been a slight case of trying to appreciate the crumbs being thrown at us, with the baby steps the Marvel cinematic universe has made towards LGBT inclusion in Thor: Ragnarok. First it was noticed that Korg – a character who’s gay in the comics – would be in the movie, and then actress Tessa Thompson confirmed that her character, Valkyrie, is bisexual.

However, while all that’s been nice to know, there was little in the actual movie to suggest these characters were LGBT.

Things could have been different though, as Rolling Stone reports that Thompson, ‘convinced [director Taika] Waititi to shoot a glimpse of a woman walking out of Valkyrie’s bedroom. He kept it in the film as long as he could; eventually the bit had to be cut because it distracted from the scene’s vital exposition.’

“There were things that we talked about that we allowed to exist in the characterization, but maybe not be explicit in the film,” says Thompson.

However, she adds that there is one moment where Valkyrie’s same sex attractions are very subtly hinted towards, when she reacts to the death of one of her fellow female warriors. “There’s a great shot of me falling back from one of my sisters who’s just been slain,” says Thompson. “In my mind, that was my lover.”

All this is unlikely to stop the criticism of Marvel/Disney for making the MCU so straight. There have been no unequivocally LGBT characters in the films (at least in terms of what we’ve actually seen), and only relatively minor representation in the TV series. As Disney has been routinely criticised by the likes of GLAAD for the lack of LGBT in its film output, the calls for more presentation in Marvel movies has been growing.

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Disney Channel’s Andi Mack Banned In Kenya After Gay Coming Out Storyline

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Kenyan censor Ezekial Mutua has had quite a week, managing to cause international eye-rolling for two separate reasons. He was widely mocked a few days ago for saying that after two male lions were photographed having sex in a Kenyan national park, they must have been copying it after seeing two human men doing it (as no animals could possibly get up to such things without human influence). He also decided to ban the Disney Channel series Andi Mack, because it opened its second season with one of its main character starting on the journey of coming out as gay.

Mutua commented that, “any attempt to introduce gay programming in Kenya will be met with the full force of the law.” He continued that, “homosexuality goes against the collective and values of the people of Kenya”, according to Nairobi News. He also took to Twitter to say, “Children must be given correct information tht family is a union btwn people of opposite gender.”

Andi Mack follows 13-year-old Andi (Peyton Elizabeth Lee), who’s coming to terms with the fact the person she thought was her her older sister is actually her biological mother. The series also charts he friendship with Cyrus Goodman (Joshua Rush) and Buffy Driscoll (Sofia Wylie), as well as Andi’s feeling for her crush, Jonah Beck (Asher Angel). However in Season 2, Cyrus confides to Buffy that he laso has feeling for Jonah, which the makers have described as the beginning of a journey of self-discovery.

While it was already a successful show for the network, the coming out storyline has seen it reach new heights in the US, up 72% from the series’ launch earlier this year.

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Mean Girls’ Jonathan Bennett Is Out & In A Relationship With A Hottie

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For several year now actor and TV host Jonathan Bennett has been living in the ultimate glass closet, where his sexuality has been so well known that many of his friends and associates have publicly ‘outed’ him, without realising that he himself has never spoken about his sexuality. However, now he’s pretty much ‘come out’, by confirming on Instagram that he’s in a relationship with TV presenter and reality TV star Jaymes Vaughan.

Bennett, who’s best known for playing Aaron in Mean Girls, posted a picture of him and Vaughan in Top Gun outfits, along with the comment, ‘Because forgot to post on Halloween. i Love you babe. #mygoose’. He followed that with #Thanks @jaymesv for helping me grow and teaching me how to be a grown ass man. ❤️’.

Vaughan responded with a pic of a message from someone who reached out to him to thank him for being out and proud. He commented, ‘“THIS! THIS is why it is so important to live our truths loudly and proudly. You never know who is watching and you never know who you are inspiring and giving hope to just by simply being yourself.’

A quick perusal of Vaughan’s Insta confirms the previous glass closet status, with numerous pictures of the two of them looking very couply, although without actually saying that’s what they are.

After Mean Girls, Bennett has had roled in the likes of MTV’s Awkward, as well as appearing on Dancing With Stars and presenting Cake Wars and Halloween War. Vaughan is a former Amazing Race contestant who became the first openly gay Chippendale, and now co-present Celebrity Page.

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Kevin Spacey Seeking ‘Treatment’ As Netflix Cuts Ties & More Sexual Harassment Claims Emerge

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Last week Kevin Spacey was named by Anthony Rapp as the man he said had tried to sleep with him when he was just 14 (Rapp had told the story year before to The Advocate, but the name of the older man was redacted). Spacey may have hoped that his subsequent ‘apology’ and coming out would minimise the impact on his career, but instead he has been hit with a firestorm of accusations and anger.

Many were furious that as part of his ‘apology’ he also came out as gay, which to many looked like an attempt to deflect attention from the allegations. He also gave a gift to homophobes by both equating homosexuality and pedophilia, and saying that he ‘chooses’ to live as a gay man.

He has also been hit with a multitude of other allegation, both from those who, like Rapp, say he targeted them while they were underage, and those who says he sexually harassed them when they were young men. London’s Old Vic Theatre, where Spacey was artistic director for a decade, has even set up a confidential phoneline for anyone those who wany support, against a background of stories that he sexually harassed many of the young actors who worked there.

Spacey himself has kept a low profile, with his only post ‘apology’ communication coming via his agents, who released a statement saying, ‘Kevin Spacey is taking the time necessary to seek evaluation and treatment. No other information is available at this time.’

The allegations came just as Spacey was starting to shoot Season 6 of House Of Cards. While there was already talk that this would mark the end of the show, Netflix has now confirmed that and also severed ties with the actor, saying “Netflix will not be involved with any further production of House of Cards that includes Kevin Spacey.” Although they still hope to make a sixth season of the hit series, they will now look at ways of killing Spacey’s character off before filming restarts. They may cancel the series instead, and are said to be exploring the possibility of spin-offs. Netflix was also backing a Gore Vidal biopic staring Spacey, but that has also been cancelled.

Media Right Capital, the production company behind House Of Cards, is also looking at a series of allegation about inappropriate behaviour on the set of the award-winning show. They say, “While we continue the ongoing investigation into the serious allegations concerning Kevin Spacey’s behavior on the set of ‘House of Cards,’ he has been suspended, effective immediately. MRC, in partnership with Netflix, will continue to evaluate a creative path forward for the program during the hiatus.”

At the moment Spacey’s career is essentially dead, and it’s difficult to imagine there’s any way back for him. Indeed, with some of his accusers alleging serious crimes, he may be spending a lot of time in court.

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