Ewan McGregor talked about the controversy surrounding the “gay moment” in the live-action remake of “Beauty and the Beast” during an appearance on “Late Show” with Stephen Colbert.
When Colbert brought up the controversy that started when director Bill Condon told Attitude Magazine that Le Fou was depicted as gay in the adaptation, McGregor joked, “There’s a lot of gay sex in this cartoon.”
He goes on, “If you live anywhere near Alabama, you should not go and see this film. What would Jesus think?” The comment alluded to an Alabama drive-in theater owner who chose not to show the movie there for religious reasons.
Colbert said that he heard the “gay moment” was very subtle, and McGregor responded, “He’s a gay character. It’s 2017 for f*** sake.”
Although pushback against the movie’s gay content has been isolated in the U.S., Russia has given the movie a restrictive rating that prevents children under 16 from seeing it, and Malaysia tried to censor the gay moment, which led Disney to postpone the opening, according to The Washington Post.
Josh Gad, who plays Le Fou, praised Condon for his crafting of Le Fou’s character, according to the Daily Mail, saying that Condon “makes him more human and makes him a wonderfully complex character.”
Le Fou is depicted in the movie as admiring of Gaston, as enjoying a moment when he was thrust into ladies’ clothes, at the movie’s end, being thrown into a dance with another man, with both of them appearing to enjoy it.
"Beauty and the Beast" is set to open in theaters on March 17.
Below is a clip of McGregor's "Late Show" interview, with the discussion about the gay character beginning at about 5:50.
Twitter users reacted to McGregor's comments.
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