GQ Australia apologises for ‘homophobic’ interview
GQ Australia has apologised for an interview with American actor Taylor Lautner, in which the Twilight star was asked whether gay Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and director Gus Van Sant had “made a pass” at him at a dinner meeting.
Editor Nick Smith posted a rebuttal on the magazine’s Facebook page saying it wasn’t meant to be offensive and the article was merely suggesting that Lautner is irresistible to virtually everyone, regardless of gender or sexuality.
“We’ve seen some of the comments floating around regarding our recent interview with Taylor Lautner and apologise if anyone was offended by anything in the article,” the statement read.
“It certainly wasn’t our intention to paint anyone in the story as a sexual predator.
“The point we were actually trying to push was that Taylor is irresistible to virtually everyone — regardless of sexuality or gender.”
Black accused the magazine of homophobia on his blog last week, writing that it was guilty of outdated “lies, myths and stereotypes” about gay people.
“I’m curious, will you be asking all of the handsome actors I’ve ever had the privilege of working with or meeting if I made passes at them as well?” Black wrote.
“I’d love to be there when you ask Sean Penn that same question.”
You can read the full statement here.
It seems more like an attempt at tabloid-style muck raking than journalism. They tried to generate gossip where none existed. Unfortunately all they did was offend. FAIL on all fronts.
Well with globalisation, Australian is going to be exposed for what it is. We are still at base level in relation to social and cultural maturity and top guns here are people like Eddie Macquire who represent the majority of aussie culture. HQ Australia may not have realised we are not looked on too well in regards to our ingrained cultural homophobia