Jimmy Kimmel quizzes Sanjaya Malakar about gay comment

It's ironic that in today's BGWE column I mentioned Jimmy Kimmel's clumsy at best (transphobic at worst) interview earlier this year with Ugly Betty's Rebecca Romijn for which Kimmel's "people" later had to apologize. Via Rickey.org I found this YouTube clip of Kimmel interviewing American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar.

While Kimmel didn't approach the heights of offensiveness he reached with Romijn, he none the less managed to come off like quite an ass as he interviewed the soft-spoken 17 year old. Kimmel referred to Malakar's soft, luxurious hair, compared him to My Little Pony, showed less than flattering drawings of him and then asked Sanjaya about his recent interview with People Magazine. Here is how that went.

Jimmy Kimmel: You did an interview with People Magazine and you almost went out of your way to tell them you’re not gay. Why did you do that?

Sanjaya Malakar: I didn’t go out of my way to do that.

K: You didn’t? Because it seemed like you specifically…I told them a similar thing but they didn’t believe me. Do you feel like you had to say that?

SM: (shakes head)

JK: No, you didn’t? It was just something you threw out there?

SM: Yeah.

JK: Okay, because it a little bit odd to throw out there like you feel you have to clear the air. And, of course, as you hear, not that there is anything wrong with that if that was your thing. And you’re a kid. You don’t even know what you are. At this point in your life. I was humping furniture at this point when I was your age.

I realize Sanjaya put himself out there and his bad singing and wild hair certainly seem like fair game for comment. But was it really necessary for Kimmel to put this kid on the spot over his sexuality in front of a nation-wide audience? I suspect it comes from the same place that much of the Sanjaya ridicule comes from. The kid isn't stereotypically masculine so therefore everyone feels more free to go after him.

Here is the whole clip: