Rappers said “no way” to gay role in Fox's "Lie to Me". "No homo" indeed.

Last fall, Fox aired an episode of their hit show Lie to Me called “Better Half” which featured a storyline about a dead rapper who turns out to have been gay and in love with another rapper.

Thinking it would add veracity to the part, and might draw more viewers, the shows’ writers, Steven Baum and David Nevins (pictured above) decided they wanted to cast an actual rapper in the role. And since Lie to Me aired right after the hugely popular American Idol, they thought there would be definite interest from the hip-hop community.

They were right. Or they were until the rappers found out the whole storyline.

At this summer’s Television Critics Association tour, Baum and Nevins, explained to AfterElton.com how the situation unfolded.

STEVEN BAUM: I knew from the moment we [mapped out] that story, it was going to be a very difficult role to cast and … because it was going to be tricky to get a real rapper which is what we wanted, a famous rapper to play gay on network television. And here we are on after American Idol, one of the best showcases for any rapper and when we initially put out the word that we were looking for rappers for a guest spot on the show, there was tremendous interest in the part and a lot of jockeying.

Then when it became clear that the character was gay, suddenly there was radio silence because in the hip-hop community, it’s still such a barrier. I knew it would be an issue, but I never that would actually…

AFTERELTON: Who did you end up getting for the part?
DAVID NEVINS: It was an actor, not a rapper.

AE: You couldn’t get any rapper to do it at all?
SB: In fact, [some] agents were concerned about even bringing the proposal to their clients for fear of a, you know, “Are you crazy?” backlash. It was very, very disappointing.
DN: It made for an interesting … given that it was the subject of the episode, sort of [being gay] taboo in the hip-hop community made it an interesting situation.
SB: Life imitating art. … There in no way should be a trade-off between your public image and your performance, and your sexual orientation, and yet clearly that is a serious, serious taboo. … You can win an Oscar for playing a part that is gay, but to be openly gay as a leading man is ridiculously is still challenging.

Baum and Nevins declined to name those rappers who had initially been interested but then declined after learning the nature of the role, however they assured me they were very well-known names.