Memo to Jay: Read between the lines

Leno gay slam incites a middle-finger campaign

By Toni Fitzgerald
MediaLife.com
Apr 3, 2008
                                                

Jay Leno may have some of the best gag writers on television, but the longtime "Tonight Show" host's spontaneous chatter sometimes has a way of getting him in trouble, and he's in trouble again.

Once again it's with the gay community, and they've taken up a campaign to salute him with a single middle finger. Their handiwork is on display at MyGayestLook.com.

This latest rhubarb erupted two weeks ago when actor Ryan Phillippe appeared on the top-rated NBC late-night program. Leno began ribbing him about playing the role of a gay teenager on “One Life To Live” early in his career.

"Say that camera was your gay lover,” Leno said. “Can you give me your gayest look? Say that camera is Billy Bob, Billy Bob has just ridden in shirtless from Wyoming.”

Clearly annoyed, Phillippe refused, and he even joked about walking off the show, but then the two moved on to other topics.

The gay community was not amused. They got real vocal real quick.

Jeff Whitty, who wrote the Broadway musical “Avenue Q,” derided Leno over the bit on his blog, whitless.com. The gay playwright had criticized Leno two years ago for his gay jokes, and he was incensed that the comic was back at it.

Whitty signed off with a picture of himself delivering what he described as his gayest look especially for Leno, in which he stuck out his middle finger (photo).

Soon blogger Melissa McEwan of Shakesville.com picked up on the gag and began asking readers to send in their gayest look for Leno, all pictures of them giving the finger.

Last Thursday, McEwan and Whitty launched MyGayestLook.com, and soon photos were pouring in.

“The idea behind it was to communicate that gay jokes aren't funny, not to gay people and not to their straight allies,” McEwan tells Media Life. “They contribute to a culture of intolerance and inequality; the site was a cheeky way to convey that serious message.”

As word of the site spread through the blogosphere, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation called on Leno to apologize, saying “Under the guise of comedy, the talk show host is demonstrating a lack of respect for the gay community and insensitivity to both his co-workers and the audience, to whom he owes an apology.”

And so he did as asked.

This Tuesday, Leno issued his mea culpa, saying in a statement: “In talking about Ryan's first role, I realize that what I said came out wrong. I certainly didn't mean any malice. I agree it was a dumb thing to say, and I apologize.”

McEwan says she and Whitty were pleased with the apology, but MyGayestLook is still going strong. People continue to send pictures, and McEwan says they’ll be posted for as long as they continue to arrive. At last count yesterday, more than 400 had been submitted.