‘Psycho’ author’s homophobic tirade
Acclaimed author Bret Easton Ellis has been inundated with criticism after posting a series of homophobic tweets on social media platform Twitter during the last week.
No stranger to controversy, Ellis tweeted comments regarding his thoughts on television show Glee and actor Chris Colfer, who plays gay teen, Kurt.
“I like the idea of ‘Glee’ but why is it that every time I watch an episode I feel like I’ve stepped into a puddle of HIV?” Ellis said.
He followed up the comments five hours later with:
“No, I wasn’t drunk last night. I was watching Chris Colfer singing, um, ‘Le Jazz Hot’ and felt like I had suddenly come down with the hivs.”
Showing no sign of backing down from his homophobic barrage, Ellis then criticised the ‘It Gets Better’ anti-LGBT bullying initiative started by US writer/activist Dan Savage.
“I hate that shit about ‘It Gets Better.’ It doesn’t. Retool it. Say ‘You Get Stronger.’ The narcissism of gays is out of fucking control…”
Ellis, who refuses to be identify as either gay or straight because of the impact he believes it would have on the reading of his novels, is best known for his works Less than Zero, The Rules of Attraction and American Psycho. His longtime lover Michael Wade Kaplan – to whom his book Lunar Park was dedicated – died of a heart attack in 2004.
This is not the first time the author has come under fire for his remarks on Twitter. Last year there was a backlash against his comments regarding the death of Catcher in the Rye author J.D. Salinger, when he wrote: “Yeah!! Thank God he’s finally dead. I’ve been waiting for this day for-fucking-ever. Party tonight!!!”
Glee’s Matthew Morrison was asked about Ellis’ tweets by US entertainment network E! News this week. His response: “Who’s that?”
Um, yes you CAN be gay and homophobic, and this tool seems riddled with it!His comments about hiv are pathetic, despite some peoples attempts to window dress them as inoffensive.
Easton is an overrated schlock writer who is as inhumane as his poorly written shock and disgust books.
His remarks are offensive to gays and people with HIV. He proves by these remarks that he is not only a one-trick-pony in his writing, but also in life……shock and disgust.
If you’re gay you CAN’T be homophobic [fear of yourself?]. The puddle of hivs? He’s allowed to go there, it’s a bit intolerant but well, people have been known to say things like that, if it’s not their own story. We live in an age when people automatically say the pc thing; which is insincere.
How is any of that “homophobic?” It might be a tad abrasive but so what? And I think that, “you get stronger” is a great line.