“Bros” writer/star Billy Eichner has clarified the recent comments he made about LGBTQ+ romantic comedies in his August cover story with Variety. In his interview, the 43-year-old comedian spoke about his upcoming film — the first gay rom-com to premiere under a major studio (Universal Pictures) with an entirely LGBTQ+ cast — and treatment of projects like it in Hollywood, but received flack on social media for his remark that seemingly referred to other gay comedies on streaming platforms — such as Hulu’s “Fire Island” and Netflix’s “Uncoupled” series — as “disposable.”
“. . . from the bottom of my heart I truly am so sorry if I inadvertently offended or insulted anyone.”
“I want to clarify what I said about streaming content in Variety,” Eichner tweeted on Aug. 31. “I was not at ALL referring to the quality or monumental impact of streaming films, I was referring to the way that, historically, LGBTQ+ content has often been considered niche and disregarded by Hollywood.”
In another tweet, he wrote: “. . . I am very proud ‘Bros’ is one of many projects — theatrical, streaming, online, etc — where so many of us are finally getting to tell our own LGBTQ+ stories.” Eichner concluded his series of tweets writing, “. . . from the bottom of my heart I truly am so sorry if I inadvertently offended or insulted anyone. I really am. Thank you.”
Being an openly gay man and a loud and proud part of the LGBTQ+ community is one of the things I am most proud of in my whole damn life. And from the bottom of my heart I truly am so sorry if I inadvertently offended or insulted anyone. I really am. Thank you.
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) August 31, 2022
Eichner’s initial comment to Variety was made in response to the writer recalling an epiphany that hit him during production for “Bros.” “I told myself to look around and appreciate how rare and magical this moment is because you are making a movie that looks and feels like all the romantic comedies you grew up loving, but you’re doing it as a gay man,” he told the outlet. “And this is not an indie movie. This is not some streaming thing which feels disposable, or which is like one of a million Netflix shows. I needed to appreciate that ‘This is a historic moment, and somehow, you’re at the center of it. You helped create it.'”
Leading up to the release of “Bros,” which also stars Bowen Yang and Luke Macfarlane, Eichner has been vocal about how proud he is of his history-making film. “I feel a responsibility for it to do well,” he added in his interview. “I’ve worked so hard on it, I care so much about it, and I want it to do well for the sake of the LGBTQ stories getting greenlit.”
“Bros” hits theaters on Sept. 30.
