Why did Focus ask that Dustin Lance Black's "Vogue" photos be removed?

The other day we ran a pic and a link to a revealing but perfectly gorgeous photo spread that Milk director Gus Van Sant shot of Oscar-nominated screenwriter Dustin Lance Black for French Men's Vogue.

I thought the photo spread was a bit outside-the-box and certainly nothing that I'd feel comfortable executing with my professional colleagues (drop 'em, bloggers!), but nothing to be embarrassed or unduly concerned about, by any means.

Seems that the folks at Focus Features (the studio behind the film) were not happy that the photos of the wiry young scribe in various states of undress (and one adorable cowboy hat) had hit the Net, and have allegedly asked at least one site (probably more, as the pics have also vanished from Towleroad, although they're still on Defamer) to pull the images.

The Hot Blog smells old-boy Hollywood homophobia (or at least the fear of that homophobia, which is a kissing cousin) behind the move. I would think that the bouquet of copyright infringement would overpower any scent of snapped jockstraps, but after reading the details of Focus's apparent communication with the blog, I'd tend to agree. (Update: After reviewing the situation further, it does appear that the materials may have been fed to the blog in an attempt to play to Academy voters' homophobia, and that Focus's response was an attempt to curb that attempt.)

Even if the studio weren't specifically concerned that Academy voters will be skeeved out at the idea of one grown man photographing another in tasteful repose, this raises a few questions. First, why did Focus okay the shoot in the first place? These things don't happen without vetting from the bosses, for the most part.

And perhaps more importantly, aren't they overlooking the upside? I for one thought that Black's script was pretty damn good, but as an individual I dismissed him as a wispy ex-Mormon with a closet full of red-carpet-ready dark suits. Now I'm actually interested!

Maybe the hot screenwriter is really the last remaining taboo in Hollywood. After all, it's much harder to keep your scribes chained to their typewriters if they're busy working out and moisturizing. We want you to stay pale and ugly, monkeys!

Thoughts? Did Gus and Lance cross some sort of line of PR propriety? Or is Focus overreacting?