Queerbaiting is the new black these days, and Taron Egerton is the latest of Hollywood’s young stars to be accused of this annoying new trend. He’s also being slammed for having an even more annoying take on #MeToo — but, we’ll get to that later.
The Rocketman star has drawn frustration and eye rolls from fans who applauded him last month for what many took to be a coming out post, only to have the shag rug pulled up from under them weeks later.
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Egerton drew speculation in October with an ambiguous Instagram post of an unidentified male at his London residence, complete with the caption:
“Cutie. My boy ❤️”
When a commenter asked for the bloke’s name, the Welsh actor responded, “nah, he’s mine and mine only.” Egerton also reportedly liked a comment that asked, “does that mean he’s got a boyfriend now?”
Naturally, those vaguely gay breadcrumbs were enough for social media to make a Thanksgiving meal out of. Instagram was soon rich with users celebrating the actor’s tiny step out of the closet.
But, as this story often goes, Egerton eventually set the record straight on his straightness, telling Metro:
“One of the lads was at my London flat and I Instagrammed a picture of him and said ‘Look at this cutie’, and a million outlets reported I was coming out as gay… I’m not gay but two of my mates came out when I was 15 and it was a joy to support them because, as a group, we are all secure in who we are.”
Eggsy’s so secure, in fact, he’d be completely unbothered if a gay man ever made a pass at him — even if it was, say, his Billionaire Boys Club costar and accused d**k-grabber Kevin Spacey.
Photo: Taron Looks Unrecognizable As Elton John In ‘Rocketman’!
When asked about Spacey’s sexual misconduct scandal in an interview with the Radio Times, the 29-year-old gave a response that many are criticizing him for. He revealed:
“If I had been the subject of [Spacey’s] advances, I don’t think that would have been the greatest challenge to deal with. I don’t think I would have felt rocked to the core by it.”
Egerton admitted that the two have “stayed in touch” since filming wrapped, and Spacey has even since asked him to “socialize”(?), continuing:
“It’s weird because he and I had stayed in touch; he had asked me to socialize… I get texts like that from lots of actors I have worked with.”
The Robin Hood star’s thinking has changed since the #MeToo movement took off, though, as he explained:
“Like a lot of people with a profile I was like, ‘Holy s**t, what have I done since I was 18?’ I have just become single again and I’m not in a place where I’m thinking about dating, but when I am, it will probably affect my thinking a bit… There are certainly situations where I avoid being alone with certain people.”
Egerton said he “didn’t avoid” Spacey, but he hasn’t socialized with him either.
He told The Sunday Telegraph that he once saw Spacey as an “audacious flirt,” but he now sees the embattled star as something from a Greek tragedy:
“When it all kicked off, I don’t think I was particularly surprised by it. It’s such a tricky, complicated and weird thing. It’s almost Greek [tragedy], isn’t it? He’s just gone now. Gone.”
Many were furious with Egerton’s perspective after his interview circulated online. Women’s rights activists claimed the actor had inadvertently minimized “the severity of the allegations” by not empathizing with its victims.
We guess it’s hard for Egerton to empathize with people who aren’t as secure as he is.
[Image via DJDM/WENN.]
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