Keller @ Large: Matt Damon Unfairly Smeared For Gay Comments
BOSTON (CBS) - Matt Damon, the Cambridge native who has become one of the world's most successful movie actors, has really stepped in it now.
Or has he?
Damon gave an interview to a British newspaper in which he criticized what he sees as a homophobic Hollywood culture that makes it "really hard for actors to be out publicly." Damon, who has succeeded while keeping his family life private to an unusual degree for such a high-profile star, then suggested that "you're a better actor the less people know about you period. And sexuality is a huge part of that. Whether you're straight or gay, people shouldn't know anything about your sexuality because that's one of the mysteries that you should be able to play."
These quotes were quickly picked up by the website Salon under the headline: "Matt Damon says gay actors should stay in the closet," a gross distortion quickly parroted by the likes of the Boston Globe gossip page, which also reprinted a tweet from a gossip writer for BuzzFeedNews making the outrageous claim that Damon wants gay people to "go back to classic Hollywood closeting."
Thus, Matt Damon is casually tarred as a homophobe in the absence of the slightest shred of evidence.
Few people will bother to double-check the claims of his slanderers.
Most coverage you see of this will eagerly parrot them, with zero regard for truth or fairness.
Damon will survive, I'm sure. Frankly, I'm not even that big a fan of his.
But if we don't bother to call out irresponsible smears, that's just as bad as condoning them.
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