Billy Eichner Clarifies Comments Many Perceived to Be a ‘Slap in the Face’ of Hulu’s ‘Fire Island’
thewrap.comcomments he made in a Variety cover story that many perceived to be a dig at Hulu’s queer rom-com “Fire Island.” “This is not an indie movie,” the actor originally said. “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.’”“Bros,” which hails from Universal Studios, is the first gay romantic comedy from a major studio set for theatrical distribution, whereas “Fire Island” was a Searchlight Pictures production that premiered exclusively on Hulu on June 3.
With “Fire Island” — which stars Joel Kim Booster, Conrad Ricamora and Bowen Yang (also in “Bros”) in a “Pride and Prejudice”-inspired enemies-to-lovers tale — being one of the biggest films of the summer, it didn’t take long for social media users to call out Eichner’s sentiment as shady.
Some branded it as “erasure,” emblematic of “pretentious white gay” behavior and a “slap in the face” of the film. Others put it simply: “Yikes,” said a senior entertainment editor at The Daily Beast.Others added that Eichner’s words went deeper, “disrespecting, sidelining and alienating” queer people of color who have historically charted pathways for equal rights through movements like Stonewall.
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