Entertainment News
2006-01-24
GLAAD responds to
Idol slurs
American Idol judges made disparaging remarks
to two effeminate male contestants.
The Gay and
The Gay and
Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is “reaching
out” to the producers of American Idol
after the show’s judges made disparaging
remarks to two effeminate male contestants during the
first week of the popular Fox sing-off’s latest
season.
During a round of
auditions in Chicago, judge Simon Cowell, notorious for
his caustic and catty comments, told Idol
wannabe Charles Berry to “shave off your beard and
wear a dress.” And during auditions in Denver,
fellow judge Randy Jackson took a jab at another
effeminate male contestant, asking Zachary Travis,
“Are you a girl?”
GLAAD is calling
for a meeting with the show’s producers “to
discuss our concerns and the concerns of community
members and allies who have contacted us about this
matter,” stated entertainment media director
Damon Romine. “The real offense here was in the
producer's decision to add insult to injury by turning
a contestant's gender expression into the butt of a
joke."
This isn’t
the first time American Idol has been accused
of homophobic outbursts. The on-air insults tossed between
host Ryan Seacrest and Cowell often involve jokes implying
that the other is gay. And in a final-episode skit
where Cowell imagines making out with judge Paula
Abdul, he wakes up, much to his horror, in bed with Randy
Jackson. (Advocate.com)
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