Fri. May 14, 2004
Los Angeles, CA -
In today's Washington Post, TV columnist Lisa de Moraes reports on the furor over Fox's announcement of its new two-hour "reality" special, "Seriously, Dude, I'm Gay." The show, which is expected to air in June, focuses on two straight men who try to convince various people that they are gay.
Fox's initial press release announcing the show's launch was criticized by GLAAD as inflammatory and exploiting "backward stereotypes." The original release -- which opened with the sentence, "It's a heterosexual male's worst nightmare: turning gay overnight" -- also said that the contestants' success would be judged by "a jury of their queers."
In response to immediate and widespread criticism of the original release, Fox quickly apologized and issued a revised version of the release, stating "We apologize for the content of this morning's release. Our failed attempt at humor was ill-chosen and inappropriate. We sincerely regret its distribution and have attached an edited version."
After being contact by de Moraes, GLAAD Entertainment Media Director Stephen Macias contacted Fox to express concerns over the media release and the show’s premise. Fox publicly promised to deliver a tape to GLAAD for review.
Today, after repeated requests to review the program, GLAAD was informed the show is being reedited over the weekend and a copy of the re-edited version will be made available to GLAAD on Monday, May 17, 2004.
"The fact the show had to be re-edited after heavy criticism of its announcement is a confirmation we have every reason to be concerned,” said Macias. “The sensationalistic and derogatory tone of the initial release gives any fair-minded person reason to question Fox’s judgment. While ‘Seriously, Dude, I’m Gay’ deserves to be judged on its own merit, Fox can be certain we will scrutinize this re-edited version carefully for defamation."
For the complete article (non-reader view with multimedia and original links),
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