The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation (GLAAD) joined Glee creator Ryan Murphy Wednesday
in urging Newsweek to
apologize for slamming gay actors who take on straight roles in
Hollywood.
GLAAD
President Jarrett Barrios called an April
26 story titled Straight
Jacket “damaging”
to gay actors.
In the
feature, openly gay contributor Ramin Setoodeh is critical of openly
gay actors who take on straight roles.
Referring
to Jake Gyllenhaal's and Heath Ledger's 2005 gay cowboy romance flick
Brokeback Mountain,
Setoodeh says it's “OK for straight actors to play gay,” but added
that “it's rare for someone to pull off the trick in reverse.”
He
then cuts into Sean Hayes' portrayal of straight man Chuck in the
Broadway revival of Promises, Promises:
“He comes off as wooden and insincere, like he's trying to hide
something, which of course he is.” Hayes, who recently came
out gay on the cover of gay glossy The
Advocate, has been nominated
for a
Best Actor in a Musical Tony Award for his Broadway debut.
Setoodeh
also takes aim at Jonathan Groff's performance on Fox's musical
comedy hit Glee,
saying he's “so distracting, I'm starting to wonder if Groff's
character on the show is supposed to be secretly gay.”
Kristin
Chenoweth, who stars opposite Hayes, called the piece “horrendously
homophobic,” while Glee
creator Murphy, who is openly gay, asked fans to dump Newsweek
until an apology is at hand.
Murphy
demanded the weekly apologize to Hayes and other “brave out actors
who were cruelly singled out in his damaging, needlessly cruel, and
mind-blowingly bigoted piece.”
On
Wednesday, Barrios joined Murphy: “Whether he intended it to or
not, Ramin Setoodeh's article in Newsweek
sends a false and damaging message about gay actors by endorsing the
idea that there are limits to the roles they are able to play.”
In
backing Murphy's call for an apology, Barrios said that the
publication is “ultimately responsible for having published this
deeply problematic essay.”