*SMH*

http://perezhilton.com/2009-05-22-homophobe-recast#respond

One of the things that is very interesting, at both this link and at Sara Bibel's site today, is that there are HUNDREDS of comments praising Engen for walking away and honoring his principles.

For Bibel, who seldom gets more than 4-5 comments to her blog posts, this is an unusual number. Several commenters in the Bibel thread (those who agree with her) suggest that some organized group is now targeting Bibel (i.e., groups similar to those who stood in support of Miss California recently).

It is amazing how much interest this little story has generated, and that it has bubbled up outside of the "soap world". This really must be a hot button issue these days.

Michael Muhney talks about his first day on the Y&R set:

http://www.michaelmuhney.com/

I'm liking him already.

Why do you guys care so much about PerezHiltons opinions and how many people commented it? He just a loser.

And Chris Engen is homophobic and a total douchebag.

I dont wan't to see Michael Muhney on this shitty show. What the hell is he doing on soapopera?lol

Why do you guys care so much about PerezHiltons opinions and how many people commented it? He just a loser.

And Chris Engen is homophobic and a total douchebag.

I dont wan't to see Michael Muhney on this shitty show. What the hell is he doing on soapopera?lol

...... ......

MarkH, this is the divide I was talking about before, which I believe was truly made evident in the American Idol vote. There are lot of people in "middle America" (and small California towns like the one Engen's from) that either see homosexuality as a sin or less than ideal. Gay rights have come a long way but as Prop 8 shows, there's still an uphill battle. The problem is when Perez Hilton and his ilk cast Miss California and Chris Engen with the same label. There are people out there who support gay marriage (and maybe CE does, who knows) but just feel homosexuality is against their personal beliefs. Sort of like being pro-choice but personally pro-life. When Hilton calls CE a homophobe because of his own personal demons, which may include an inability to play a gay part, he is going to offend a lot of otherwise gay-friendly people. The danger of what Hilton is doing is that he could turn Engen into a right-wing martyr and that isn't good for anyone.

One of my friends is Jewish from the Conservative tradition and very devout. She is very kind and friendly to all the gay people in our circle. She votes Democrat 100% of the time. At the same time, she objects to something I consider minor -- her brother dating a woman who is half-Jewish (and not on her mother's side). She has two sons and fully expects them to marry Jewish women. End of discussion. She is not forcing her religion on me or lecturing our gay friends or any of that. But within her family, she expects everyone to follow traditional Judaism. She doesn't watch soaps but I know that she would fully support CE's decision. Does that make her a homophobe? Does alienating otherwise liberal people like her help gay rights? The point of the gay movement is not to make folks like my friend change their religious beliefs or to do what something they consider against their God. It's to get people like her to separate her beliefs from her politics so that we can get marriage equality, etc.

Edited May 23, 200916 yr by cara mia

Why do you guys care so much about PerezHiltons opinions and how many people commented it? He just a loser.

And Chris Engen is homophobic and a total douchebag.

I dont wan't to see Michael Muhney on this shitty show. What the hell is he doing on soapopera?lol

On second thought, never mind. It's not even worth it...

MarkH, this is the divide I was talking about before, which I believe was truly made evident in the American Idol vote. There are lot of people in "middle America" (and small California towns like the one Engen's from) that either see homosexuality as a sin or less than ideal. Gay rights have come a long way but as Prop 8 shows, there's still an uphill battle. The problem is when Perez Hilton and his ilk cast Miss California and Chris Engen with the same label. There are people out there who support gay marriage (and maybe CE does, who knows) but just feel homosexuality is against their personal beliefs. Sort of like being pro-choice but personally pro-life. When Hilton calls CE a homophobe because of his own personal demons, which may include an inability to play a gay part, he is going to offend a lot of otherwise gay-friendly people. The danger of what Hilton is doing is that he could turn Engen into a right-wing martyr and that isn't good for anyone.

One of my friends is Jewish from the Conservative tradition and very devout. She is very kind and friendly to all the gay people in our circle. She votes Democrat 100% of the time. At the same time, she objects to something I consider minor -- her brother dating a woman who is half-Jewish (and not on her mother's side). She has two sons and fully expects them to marry Jewish women. End of discussion. She is not forcing her religion on me or lecturing our gay friends or any of that. But within her family, she expects everyone to follow traditional Judaism. She doesn't watch soaps but I know that she would fully support CE's decision. Does that make her a homophobe? Does alienating otherwise liberal people like her help gay rights? The point of the gay movement is not to make folks like my friend change their religious beliefs or to do what something they consider against their God. It's to get people like her to separate her beliefs from her politics so that we can get marriage equality, etc.

Proof again why I love you as a poster. Yes...absolutely...I see that. I think Engen's martyrdom is already established.

I guess it goes without saying that this is all unsubstantiated right now. They're ruining a career AND creating a martyr on unproven allegations.

Of course, in large measure, fault for this lies with Engen and his unprofessional (apparently) breaking of his contract.

On second thought, never mind. It's not even worth it...

Why is everyone so quick to label Chris a homophobe for not wanting to do a gay kiss? Me personally, I have nothing against gay people but I don't want to kiss another woman. Does that make me homophobic? Hell no! That's just my personal preference. What Chris did wrong was WALK OFF THE SET of his JOB while he's under contract. That's what is gonna come back to bite him in the ass big time.

But please people lets not label the man something like homophobic without knowing the full story. Now a fool? For damn sure! Homophobic? Lets wait and see on that one.

So much freaking WORD to this, THANK YOU! Beautifully said! Some are so quick to judge and go around calling someone names without ALL of the facts

I've been following this story off-and-on all day and I'm very disappointed with the allegations. We don't know the truth. Frankly, I don't blame CE for being frustrated with his story. So after framing Victor, he's haunting Ashley (who's carrying his half-sibling)? Since everyone (i.e. Gloria) eventually gets exposed. What's Adam's future on the show? He will be beyond redeemable at that point. If the plan was to have him kiss Rafe in an attempt to manipulate him, that's BS. Rafe has gone above and beyond to help Adam, I doubt he needs to be kissed to fall under Adam's spell. This plot point is for sheer shock value. Everyone criticized Latham for being plot and not character-focused. So what part of Adam's character has been shown to have latent bi feeling? None. Never. It's crap. It sounds like he was in talking to the powers about his displeasure -- if he wants to quit, then so be it. (Yeah, he's breaking a contract. So what?) Shows do it all the time. How do you think MTS feels about her recent demotion to recurring after the years (decades) she's given to the show! If he didn't want to do a M2M kiss because he's not comfortable with it, that's his personal issue. I'd hate for people to judge me for decisions I've made. It unfortunate that some people (bloggers -- I'm calling you out) who want unconditional acceptance of their beliefs and lifestyles are so quick to judge and condemn. I'm more concerned with the recent direction Y&R has gone in the past few weeks.

Beautifully said! Especially the bolded part

But please people lets not label the man something like homophobic without knowing the full story. Now a fool? For damn sure! Homophobic? Lets wait and see on that one.

Exactly, and we may never find out the whole story which is usual in these controversial instances. Plus, the only one that has reported on this is Nelson and we know he has an agenda. For all we know, his sources may have even been told what to leak to him therefore making Nelson the fallout guy and CE left to look like an ass. Instead, Nelson is looking like the hero for reporting this story and it has definitely brought some attention to the show and this particular storyline. They could have already planned for this recast; I do find the timing strangely odd that Nelson broke the story the same day the recasted actor announced on his Twitter page of his new gig, very reminiscent of what an actress that shall remain nameless did weeks before her predecessor was fired.

I agree that it's acting and he was dead wrong to walk off set and quit because he didn't like what was written for him to play. My thing is that so many have branded a man that we don't know outside of him as Adam Wilson a homophobe! Now if in fact he told people "I'm not kissing a man because I don't like that [!@#$%^&*] and I hate all gays" or something along those lines, I'd agree 100% that he is homophobic. But right now it's premature to just say "Chris walked because he didn't want to kiss a man...he MUST be a homophobe!".

Another excellent post!!

Edited May 23, 200916 yr by Heyou

Why do you guys care so much about PerezHiltons opinions and how many people commented it? He just a loser.

And Chris Engen is homophobic and a total douchebag.

I dont wan't to see Michael Muhney on this shitty show. What the hell is he doing on soapopera?lol

If Y&R is so sh!tty then what other soaps do you think are better?

Could this be the real reason why Chris Engen quit??

^^^^That wasn't at all necessary.

I'm just stunned at Engen's stupidity. He must be completely bereft of any common sense to leave himself open to litigation, ridicule, and blacklisting. Having "personal beliefs" deosn't preclude you from doing your JOB. It's common knowledge that Jaime Lyn Bauer is a VERY devoutly religious person. But throughout her career, she has done her job in a professional way (Granted she whined about things sometimes) and when she chose to leave the show, she did so when her CONTRACT HAD EXPIRED. But her religion didn't keep her from being one of the meanest, most selfish bitches daytime has ever seen. An actor needs to take pride in their work.... Engen obviously doesn't.

Edited May 23, 200916 yr by alphanguy74

Darn I liked CE's version of Adam but IF slobbing down another man is the reason CE bolted then that sucks. And IF CE was soo unhappy/opposed to his character's story then its best he did leave. But damn that's effing stupid career wise to bolt now, hell suck it up until your contract is up. However, NP's version of what happened could be way off. Whose to say CE did walk out really? They got the recast in there real damn fast. Smells fishy to me for several reasons. Good juicy backstage drama though.

They got the recast in there real damn fast. Smells fishy to me for several reasons. Good juicy backstage drama though.

Maybe they were expecting this and planned in advance...