Arts & Entertainment
Kevin Smith apologizes for Ben Affleck ‘gay kiss’ story
the director also sent an apology to Evan Rachel Wood
Kevin Smith has apologized for sharing an old remark Ben Affleck made about filming a same-sex kiss during the 1997Ā film, “Chasing Amy.”
While speaking at Outfest in Los Angeles over the weekend, Smith recalled Affleck saying kissing another man is an actor’s “greatest” challenge and made him a “serious actor.”
Many were offended by the alleged comments including Evan Rachel Wood who sent a series of tweets slamming Affleck.
“Try getting raped in a scene, Also, grow up Ben,” Wood tweeted.
In an 11-minute Facebook Live video, Smith apologized for rehashing the story and said the comment was said in private.Ā He also attributed the natureĀ of the conversation to age. At the time, Affleck was 23 and Smith, who directed the film, was 26.
“Of course, Affleck doesn’t feel that way today and who knows if he even felt that way then? But he could’ve, he was in his 20s. We all say goofy s— in our f—ing 20s,” Smith says. “But it wasn’t something he went out into the world and talked about. It was something he said to me.”
“My intention in telling that story was good,ā Smith added. “It was not even a ‘Look how far weāve come,’ although thatās in there. It was just like kids in their 20s, right.Ā It was something that was said literally 21 years ago and not in the context of like homophobic or anything like that. It was just a different world and [the story] was adorable.”
Smith went on to apologize to Wood saying, Ā “Please, someone tell Evan Rachel Wood for me, my apologies. Sheās mad at something that I said and I didnāt even say that, I mean, it was out of context and stuff like that.”
The director also apologized to Affleck and says the two don’t speak anymore but he feels “terrible” that the story was taken out of context.
“Whenever people ask me, ‘Hey, howās Ben.’ I put it out in the press, Iām like, ‘I havenāt spoken to him in years,'” Smith says. “So I donāt pretend to a relationship we donāt have any more or anything, but fu*k do I feel terrible.”
Celebrity News
More than 1 million people attend Madonna concert in Rio
Free event took place on Copacabana Beach on Saturday
An estimated 1.6 million people on Saturday attended Madonna’s free concert on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach.
The concert, which was the last one as part of Madonna’s Celebration Tour, included a tribute to people lost to AIDS.
Bob the Drag Queen introduced Madonna before the concert began. Pabllo Vittar, a Brazilian drag queen and singer, and Anitta, a bisexual pop star who was born in Rio’s HonĆ³rio Gurgel neighborhood, also joined Madonna on stage.
Congresswoman Erika Hilton, a Black travesti and former sex worker, and Rio Municipal Councilwoman MĆ“nica BenĆcio, the widow of Marielle Franco, a bisexual Rio Municipal Councilwoman who was assassinated in 2018, are among those who attended the concert.
“Madonna showed that we fight important fights for the human rights of Black (people), young (people), women and LGBTQIA+ people, and against all injustice, discrimination, and violence,” saidĀ AssociaƧao Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais (National Association ofĀ TravestisĀ and Transsexuals), a Brazilian trans rights group known by the acronym ANTRA, on itsĀ X account.Ā “What they call identitarianism’ is our subversion to the retrograde and conservative tackiness that plagues the country.”
The Associated Press reported the concert was Madonna’s biggest ever.
The DC Center for the LGBTQ Community, SMYAL and Rainbow Families sponsored Gay Day at the Zoo on Sunday at the Smithsonian National Zoo. The Smithsonian observed International Family Equality Day with special exhibits and an event space.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Covering Gay Day at the Zoo for @WashBlade . Here at @NationalZooDC pic.twitter.com/LqgGNOOAiM
— Michael Patrick Key (@MichaelKeyWB) May 5, 2024
Photos
PHOTOS: Taste of Point
Annual fundraiser held for LGBTQ youth scholarship, mentorship organization
The Point Foundation held its annual Taste of Point fundraiser at Room & Board on May 2.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)