OlderSYTYCD’s Nigel Lythgoe: I’m No Homophobe!
Nigel Lythgoe took to his Twitter page to defend controversial comments he made on Thursday night’s premiere of So You Think You Can Dance.
The 59-year-old judge criticized male partners Misha Belfer and Mitchel Kibel, saying, “I think you will probably alienate a lot of our audience. I mean, we’ve always had the guys dance together on the show, but they’ve never really done it in each other’s arms before. Do you know what? I’d like to see you both dancing with a girl.”
After the show, Nigel blogged, “The same-sex ballroom guys did remind me of Blades of Glory. However, I’m not a fan of Brokeback ballroom… I am very sad the word ‘homophobe’ is being used. That is someone who hates homosexuals. I dislike effeminate dancing! Wake up and listen!”
Share This Post:
32 Comments
Stop using logic ali, it hurts their heads.
If so many people here feel the need to nitpick the homophobia category, as it supposedly isn’t ultimately proven that Nigel has problem with homosexuality off-stage (although I agree that his derisive “Brokeback” tweet strongly suggests that he does), we should maybe resort to another, more concise term. What his comments unarguably displayed was a very deep-seated sexism. His nonchalant comment that he’s “certainly one of those people that really like to see guys be guys and girls be girls on stage” and his constant derogatory use of the term “effeminate” are entirely unambiguous in this regard, as only make sense if you assume that there is such a thing as natural gender roles and unnatural deviations from them. Especially in such a liberal arts context as modern dance, this is an absolutely archaic, reactionary attitude to take. All the while, the irony is, of course, that a mulitude of those really ‘manly’ men out there would probably disagree strongly with him on the masculinity of dance he believes to have established in the previous seasons of the show. Joe Schmo most likely still considers all male dancers sissies - including Nigel Lythgoe.
I really hate having this “gay agenda” forced down our throats. I really hate the “freak show” that the gays have become and besides they weren’t very good.
As a straight man and a fan of SYTYCD, I’ve lost a lot of respect for Nigel, not because of what he “prefers” to see on the ballroom floor, but because of his “Brokeback ballroom” comment. I’ve always thought he was a fairly astute, well-spoken guy, but regardless of what he said or didn’t say (or meant or didn’t mean) on the show, surely if he wanted to seriously clarify his position, he wouldn’t have resorted to making fun of the very issue he is trying to clarify his position on. Brokeback ballroom…really, Nigel? You actually thought that school-yard statement would demonstrate how un-homophobic you are?
He is DEF a homophobe. Obviously he is suffering from insecurity from being a male dancer. People should dance, act, whatever, in the way that is natural to them. NOT based on social constructs. A-hole.
Who is this icky old man?
An old british ******.. if he has problem being a judge on a dance show, then he should quit.. He must remember that there are dancers who are gay too.. An the post by Missy , listen ***** or *******…whoever you are, you dont have to accept gay people but we gays are not freaks nor someone who would be be in a freak show..
Pages: « 1 [2] Show All
Comment and Share!
E-mail to a Friend or share on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and more!