In an interview with Out magazine The Voice judge Adam Levine has hit out at the producers of American Idol for not finding more gay contestants.
The Maroon 5 lead vocalists told Out, “What’s always pissed me off about Idol is wanting to mask that, for that to go unspoken. C’mon. You can’t be publicly gay? At this point? On a singing competition? Give me a break. You can’t hide basic components of these people’s lives. The fact that The Voice didn’t have any qualms about being completely open about it is a great thing.”
Nigel Lythgoe, American Idol’s executive producer, responding in an interview with Entertainment Weekly said, “To be frank, I didn’t understand why we’re talking about contestants being gay or not gay. I don’t go into my dentist and say, ‘Are you gay’ I don’t say to contestants on So You Think You Can Dance?, ‘Are you gay?’
“What does it got to do with me? What does it got to do with anybody? When does privacy stop in this country? If somebody wants to say they’re gay, it’s up to them. You don’t expect us to turn around and say, ‘Are you gay?’ Why would we do that? – ‘By the way, he’s a Catholic and he supports Obama and here’s his sexuality’ – what does that have anything to do with singing talent? Maybe it does for Adam Levine, but not for me.”
When asked about Adam Lambert, a past runner-up of American Idol, who came out after the final he said, “He must have come out before being on Idol; he just didn’t talk about it on Idol. And why should he? Is every actor going on television going to say, ‘I’m only playing the part of a straight man, I’m really gay’? There’s no reason that I would see why anybody that goes on television should start coming out with who they are, what they are, what they’re sexuality is, who they’re going to vote for or what their religion is.”
Lythgoe’s comments have attracted criticism in the gay media with calls for American Idol to ‘catch-up’ with other reality singing shows.
No, “American Idol” does not question contestants about their sexualities. But you know those little cut scenes? The ones where they go to a contestant’s hometown, and you meet their wife and kids and stuff? We have yet to see a same-sex husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend featured. That, and a handful of other biased choices by the producers make it very clear: you can not be an uncloseted “American Idol” contestant. And no amount of Elton John special guest spots will change that.