Corden’s gay turn in ‘Prom’ condemned as ‘homophobic’
“Aggressively flamboyant,” “homophobic,” “stereotypical” and “grossly inappropriate” are a few words people have used to describe James Corden’s performance in Netflix’s “The Prom.”
The “Late Late Show” host, who is straight, stars in the Ryan Murphy vehicle as Barry Glickman, a gay Broadway actor who teams up with others in the theater industry to help a teenager take her girlfriend to their high school prom.
Corden’s controversial casting in the movie musical, which premiered Dec. 4 on Netflix, has reignited a long-running debate as to whether straight and cisgender performers should be hired to play LGBTQ+ characters — especially because the comedian’s portrayal has been widely panned as offensive to the community it represents.
“So ... we couldn’t get a gay man to play James Corden’s role in #TheProm ?” tweeted James Fishon. “They were all too busy? Do we still think it’s kosher to have non-LGBTQIA people playing aggressively flamboyant, stereotypical gay characters? Does anyone ever learn?”
“The unrepentant violence that is James Corden doing a homophobic portrayal of a gay man in a musical about gay rights,” wrote comedian Phillip Henry.
Representatives for Corden, Murphy, who is gay, and Netflix did not respond Monday to requests for comment.
Several on Twitter offered alternative casting choices for the lead role of Glickman, including Nathan Lane and Tituss Burgess, both of whom are gay and have starred in several Broadway productions. Many also lauded Andrew Rannells, a gay actor and Tony nominee, for his “Prom” turn opposite Corden as Juilliard graduate Trent Oliver.
Advocates for authentic casting argue that tapping LGBTQ actors for such roles not only leads to more respectful and accurate representation onscreen but also opens doors for performers from marginalized groups in the entertainment industry.
— Los Angeles Times
Shawn Mendes hits No. 1 for fourth time
Five years ago, Shawn Mendes was a fresh-faced 11th-grader from Pickering, Ontario, who had ridden a wave of 6-second videos on the defunct app Vine — the proto-TikTok — into a surprise No. 1 debut album.
Now, at 22, he is a veteran hitmaker whose four studio LPs have all gone to the top of Billboard’s album chart. His latest, “Wonder,” opened with the equivalent of 89,000 sales in the United States, according to Nielsen Music, including 47 million streams and 54,000 copies sold as a complete package.
Mendes reached No. 1 just in time before Taylor Swift’s “Evermore,” her second quarantine album, which came out Friday with less than a day’s notice and was expected to have a huge opening on next week’s chart.
The rest of the week’s Top 10 was dominated by recurring hits and holiday albums. Bad Bunny’s “El Último Tour del Mundo,” last week’s No. 1, fell to second place in its second week out, while Ariana Grande’s “Positions,” another recent chart-topper, was No. 3. Michael Bublé’s “Christmas,” a steady seasonal hit since 2011, was No. 4, and Carrie Underwood’s Christmas album “My Gift,” which had peaked at No. 8 when released in September, rose to No. 5. Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song” was No. 7, Pentatonix’s “The Best of Pentatonix Christmas” was No. 8 and Mariah Carey’s “Merry Christmas” was No. 10.
According to Billboard, it was the first time in seven years that five holidaythemed albums were in the Top 10.