Ryan Murphy Wants You To Boycott Newsweek

May 11, 2010 / Posted by:

You might have already thrown a side-eye at Newsweek’s piece by Ramin Setoodeh about how he thinks proud peen lover Sean Hayes isn’t convincing as a straight dude in Promises, Promises on Broadway, and how the openly gay Jonathan Groff from Glee seems more like a “theater queen” than a dude in love with Rachel. Basically, Ramin thinks that it’s hard for some people to take a straight character seriously when you know a gay actor is playing him. Here’s a little snip of the article (you can read the whole thing here):

The revival hands the lead over to Sean Hayes, best known as the queeny Jack on Will & Grace. Hayes is among Hollywood’s best verbal slapstickers, but his sexual orientation is part of who he is, and also part of his charm. (The fact that he only came out of the closet just before Promises was another one of those Ricky Martin-duh moments.) But frankly, it’s weird seeing Hayes play straight. He comes off as wooden and insincere, like he’s trying to hide something, which of course he is. Even the play’s most hilarious scene, when Chuck tries to pick up a drunk woman at a bar, devolves into unintentional camp. Is it funny because of all the ’60s-era one-liners, or because the woman is so drunk (and clueless) that she agrees to go home with a guy we all know is gay?

Sean’s Promises, Promises co-star Kristin Chenoweth has already thrown a fist at Ramin by calling his article “horrendously homophobic,” and now Glee’s creator Ryan Murphy is urging everyone to boycott Newsweek until they release a dozen I’m Sorry” balloons into the sky. Ryan, who released the full letter through EW, writes:

I would like to join my good friend Kristin Chenoweth on her condemnation of a recent Newsweek article written by Mr. Ramin Setoodeh, in which Setoodeh basically says that out gay actors should go back into the closet and never attempt to play straight characters. This article is as misguided as it is shocking and hurtful. It shocks me because Mr. Setoodeh is himself gay. But what is the most shocking of all is that Newsweek went ahead and published such a blatantly homophobic article in the first place…and has remained silent in the face of ongoing (and justified) criticism. Would the magazine have published an article where the author makes a thesis statement that minority actors should only be allowed and encouraged to play domestics? I think not.

Today, I have asked GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios to stand with me and others and ask for an immediate boycott of Newsweek magazine until an apology is issued to Sean Hayes and other brave out actors who were cruelly singled out in this damaging, needlessly cruel, and mind-blowingly bigoted piece. An apology should also be issued to all gay readers of the magazine…steelworkers, parents, accountants, doctors, etc…proud hardworking Americans who, if this article is to be believed, should only identify themselves as “queeny” people (a word used by Setoodeh in the article) who stand at the back of the bus and embrace an outdated decades old stereotype.

The only magazines I buy are tabloids, Dog Fancy, Real Simple (well, I need to know the 20 uses for a spaghetti jar), and CoCo Magazine, so the Newsweek boycott doesn’t really affect me. But I will say, what in the fuck is Ramin going on about?

Sean Penn is a noted vagina addict and he won an Oscar for playing a gay dude. Neil Patrick Harris prefers to cuddle up to a warm weenus at night, and he has been nominated for an Emmy for playing a cooch chaser on TV. And what about TOM CRUISE?! I mean, Tommy Girl isn’t even human and he’s made zillions of dollars from playing one in movies. SO THERE!

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