British actor Rupert Everett's comments on gay parenting have sparked controversy.

"I couldn't think of anything worse than being brought up by two dads," Everett reportedly told UK's The Sunday Times Magazine.

Ben Summerskill, chief executive of LGBT rights advocate Stonewall, criticized Everett's comments.

"Rupert should get out a little bit more to see the facts for himself," Summerskill said. "There is absolutely no evidence that the kids of gay parents suffer in the way they are being brought up or in how they develop."

The 53-year-old Everett is best known to American audiences for playing Julia Roberts' gay confidant in the 1997 romantic comedy film My Best Friend's Wedding. He currently stars as Oscar Wilde in the play The Judas Kiss.

Everett has previously stated that work for him dried up after he came out gay.

In 2009, he advised aspiring gay actors to remain closeted.

"I would not advise any actor necessarily, if he was really thinking of his career, to come out. The fact is that you could not be, and still cannot be, a 25-year-old homosexual trying to make it in the British business or the American film business or even the Italian film business," he said.


Article provided in partnership with On Top Magazine