Last week, at a Toronto film festival press conference, a reporter from LGBT news outlet Daily Xtra asked Tom Hardy if it’s "hard for celebrities to talk to the media about their sexuality." Tom responded: "Are you asking me about my sexuality? What on earth are you talking about?"
So far, so very awkward.
The incident caused quite the media furore, so much so that Tom felt he needed to explain his outburst.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, he said, "That really, really annoyed me. It was just the inelegance of being asked in a room full of people. […] Now I’m happy to have a conversation, a discussion, at a reasonable time about anything. I’m confident in my own sexuality, and I’m also confident in my own being and talking about any issue you want to talk about it. But there is a time and a place for that. I found it very humiliating for somebody to decide that on his dime and his time, to openly and inelegantly pursue a line of questioning which I could only sense at the moment - which was quite awkward - that it was zeroing in on a reaction from me that would become a topic of discussion that had nothing to do really, really to do with what was there."
Seemingly, the line of questioning stems from an interview Hardy did with Attitude back in 2010. Since then, he has repeatedly been asked about his sexuality, to which his response has always been along the lines of "I'm straight."
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He then came across with this very valid point: "It’s so important to the LGBT [community] that people actually feel safe about their sexuality and are able to speak freely and not be stigmatized or feel like they are being pointed out. Why point me out, assuming that I'm gay because I'm ambiguous about it, which I'm very clear if you look into what I’ve said in the past."
Of the reporter in question, he added: "I'm quite sensitive and I feel like I’ve let people down for something that I actually didn't ask for, for something that's important to a lot of people. Should I come out of the closet when I'm not in one? I ought to maybe come out of the closet, even though that's a lie, to do the right thing. Or, if I say no, then I'm homophobic? Bless him, he’s young. But at the same time, it left me feeling like I have to do something about that. And it's like why? Whose business is it anyway and isn't that the point?"
He makes a very good point. Should anyone be asking anyone else about their sexuality, celeb or otherwise?
