Cheyenne Jackson and Michael Urie Speak Out Against Newsweek Writer

An article by Newsweek writer Ramin Setoodeh with the point of view that openly gay actors cannot play straight convincingly, has prompted some big showbiz names to speak out publicly.

First Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth took the writer to task in a published rebuttal and now out stars Cheyenne Jackson and Michael Urie have also said their piece. AfterElton.com reports that the actors spoke out at a talkback event Monday night following a performance of Urie’s off-Broadway play The Tempermentals.

“It was very veiled self-loathing. Really upsetting,” Jackson said. “Everytime we go forward, some asshole like this takes us back a bit. I was really glad that Kristin Chenoweth wrote what she did [in defense of her Promises, Promises co-star Sean Hayes and other openly gay actors]. She sent it to me before it went out and about. I was very proud of her. For me to stand up and say, ‘F*ck you,’ that’s what you’d expect. But for someone like Kristin, she stands up for what she believes in and is very committed.”

Added Urie: “Cheyenne was f*cking Elvis in All Shook Up. He was sexy and hot. He’s always playing straight. And people buy tickets to see him. No straight critics accuse Sean Penn of not being able to play Harvey Milk or [criticize] Tom Hanks in Philadelphia.”

Update: Setoodeh is defending himself in a piece called Out of Focus in which he writes in part:

…What all this scrutiny seemed to miss was my essay’s point: if an actor of the stature of George Clooney came out of the closet today, would we still accept him as a heterosexual leading man? It’s hard to say, because no actor like that exists. I meant to open a debate—why is that? And what does it say about our notions about sexuality? For all the talk about progress in the gay community in Hollywood, has enough really changed? The answer seems obvious to me: no, it has not.

I realize this is a complicated subject matter, but the Internet sometimes has a way of oversimplfying things. My article became a straw man for homophobia and hurt in the world. If you were pro-gay, you were anti-NEWSWEEK. Chenoweth’s argument that gay youth need gay role models is true, but that’s not what I was talking about. I was sharing my honest impression about a play that I saw. If you don’t agree with me, I’m more than happy to hear opposing viewpoints. But I was hoping to start a dialogue that would be thoughtful—not to become a target for people who twisted my words. I’m not a conservative writer with an antigay agenda. I don’t hate gay people or myself.