Why Did "Out" Pick Now to Air Dispute With Adam Lambert?

I'm happy to read another journalist's take on the EIC's letter. I found it very unprofessional. It isn't that they raised the issue about management being homophobic. This is an issue that should be raised. I have an issue with the way they did it. They got Adam to do a very candid interview and yet the printed magazine was insubstantial as compared to the online version and had that EIC letter as well.

I find this last question and reply from Adam pretty depressing as a fan of his in light of this whole issue: 

Out: What else do you want to talk about?
Adam: I don’t know. [Long pause.] My job is to make this look easy and fun. That’s the illusion, the vibe I’m trying to create for people to feel. That’s what I want to do as an entertainer, create a mood that rubs off on people. This is scary, and it is a lot of work. And I’m OK, I’ll be fine. But, wow, this is a lot. And I hope that people are compassionate about that. I took a chance, stepped my life up a little, have some opportunities, have a little money, and I’m doing the best I can. I’m doing the best I fucking can, you know?

Thank you so much Michael!

this proves my point.

no...satisfaction...ever

i think the handlers were idiots and the editor/magazine is an idiot.

so adam is asked to do a photoshoot

"dont make him too gay"

OUT could've said "ok, forget the photoshoot..."..OR   his handlers could've refused if they were so uncomfortable with it

I don't think adam really had any say in this and that, to me, is wrong. his handlers should've voiced their concern to Adam himself (maybe they did..) and then leave adam to decide if he wanted to be a part of it

so insane, i swear. 

 

 

It sounds to me like OUT magazine is trying desperately to sell a few more magazines.

What better way to get people talking about your magazine than throwing your cover artist under the bus in the same issue. 

I am not a regular reader of OUT but I usually pick up the OUT 100 issue every year.

This year I'm keeping my money in my wallet. 

of bitchy comments about Adam on gay sites. The guy is a singer, and of course not everybody must like his music, but i don't understand why some people can't give him a break.

There's no mainstream gay singer in the USA. There's a lot of good gay singers, but no one of them have massive sales. I don't know if Adam will become a star or he'll be a faliure, but if he became a star is not with the help of the gay comunity.

Some people ask constantly why singers and actors stay closeted, and i think the gay media (of course not all gay madia) reaction to Adam is quite the explanation. If you came out of the closet, you'll be critizise by conservative media and probably backstabbing by gay media too.

I really like this article because it says exactly what i think

More and more I'm feeling that AfterElton.com is the only gay entertainment news source with any sort of journalistic integrity. First The Advocate went down the toilet (I stopped subscribing or even reading it years ago), it seems like almost every other gay site exists solely to out celebrities and criticize the ones that are already out, and now OUT pulls this disgusting stunt. As someone said above, it's one more example of how the gay community never seems to be satisfied unless we're cannibalizing our own.

It just makes me all the more proud that I write for a site like AE that actually has true integrity. That integrity stems from our fantastic editor, Michael. I believe every writer who works for AE believes in these values or we wouldn't be writing for the site, but it was Michael who shaped and made the site what it is today...and that's largely because of his morals and integrity. Celebrities and other news sites respect and trust us because of what we stand for. And yet, more often than not, Michael gets attacked for that very integrity.  Thanks for writing about this, Michael, and thank you for always calling out those who pull this sort of crap, and for holding us all to a higher standard.

If the editor of Out Magazine is so offended by what 19E said to them about Adam Lambert and he is actually holding Adam responsible for his management's comments,  why not simply cancel the interview and refuse to put Adam Lambert in that issue on principal?

Wouldn't that have been the ethical and honorable thing to do.

Then he could use his letter as an explanation as to why he chose not to include Adam Lambert in the Out 100 and not seem like he was talking out of both sides of his mouth.

I'm not sure what his point is. Whether he likes it or not, blasting Adam's management in the same issue where he has a feature interview with Adam Lambert is bound to conflate the two things in the eyes of the viewers. 

Michael Musto has already piled on with his 2 cents.

So either he's holding Adam responsible for 19E's homophobia (in which case all the complements he gave Adam in the feature are a lie) or he's NOT holding Adam responsible for 19E's homophobia in which case he should have posted the letter at a separate time  and at the very least have given Adam an opportunity to formally respond to his claims about 19E.

I don't get why so many in the gay media seem to want to find reasons to shove Adam Lambert in the closet when they should be celebrating the fact that he came out in Rolling Stone and has stayed true to himself before and since.

This is the same man who stated repeatedly that he wanted to know why men weren't throwing jock straps on stage to accompany the bras and panties women were throwing.

The Out 100 article with Adam itself is so explicit and honest and Gay, Gay, Gay, the idea that Adam Lambert is anything other than out and pride seems ridiculous.

Folks are working overtime to try to prove that Adam Lambert is not really gay or not gay enough or is closeted or wants folks to think he's straight.   None of it makes any sense to me.

Adam has a contract with 19E connected to his participation on American Idol and he is STILL under that contract.   I don't even know if he has the power to fire his handlers or even if he hired them to begin with.

But unless Out magazine gives Adam an opportunity to respond to the claims, just leaving it out there as if he condones what the 19E handlers said seems irresponsible and mean-spirited to me.

I applaud them shining a light on 19E's homophobia, but I'm certain there were like 87 other ways to do so what wouldn't have made the editor of Out seem like a hypocrite or make Adam Lambert seem like some scaredy-cat closet case.

Does anyone here who's been following Adam's career  since Idol REALLY believe he's worried about appearing TOO gay?

imo.

I have lost a lot of respect for OUT over this. Talk about being sideswiped by this editor's letter. It is a personal attack on Adam. Why not try to contact Adam before this letter is published, to get his side? Oh, that's right, because that wouldn't be all over the press (like this is now--mission accomplished OUT). It never ceases to amaze me how great the PR machine is about making something out of nothing. I give Adam the benefit of the doubt. He has never once given any indication of backing off from being "too gay." Come on, we've seen his album cover and the photos from his video shoot of "For Your Entertainment." I hope Adam never does anymore press for OUT. At least while Aaron Hicklin is there. I look forward to Adam setting the record "straight"--so to speak.

when Adam let his guard down and gave some really honest answers in the actual interview, and on certain other gay websites most of the people who left comments wouldn`t even bother to get the the actual facts right and were just plain nasty.

The two-part interview. Please at least read the whole thing first before criticize him.

http://www.out.com/detail.asp?id=26191

http://www.out.com/detail.asp?id=26192

I'm fascinated by the publicist's request that the interview not be too gay. What exactly is "too gay?" I'm glad the publicist was called out. I don't care if it's unethical or opportunistic. This kind of b.s. needs to stop. There have been numerous times on this site when a publicist has been quoted as saying a performer was straight when that was not the truth. MY cousin sent me a link to an article where a soap star came out in an interview, but a publicist for a film he was in claimed (in an askthemonkey column) that he was straight. She's more outraged than I am because I expect such deception.

Reading the comments from the editor and the writer, I never got the impression they were attacking Lambert personally. They were going after the publicist, and, by implication, Lambert for allowing such behaviour. 

There's a saying in Chinese, Even the Tiger does not eat it's young. Unfortunately, when it comes down to bottom line, many will cannibalized it's own to make a few bucks regardless of sexual orientation. It's the downside of the human species. Greed is the word.

Will their offices be closing overnight too?

Thank you so much for this commentary. This letter was such a backstabbing peice of trash. Yes, it sounds like the 19 publicist was crass, rude and homophobic in their phrasing. But if you read the blog entry the author of the interview posted trying to defend the letter, she shares more information that makes it clear that by "too gay" they meant "don't make him into a political figure". This is something Adam himself said he didn't want to be in the interview. I am firmly of the opinion that that is why Hicklin addressed this letter to Adam. He is calling out Adam, trying to force him to be a political figure. Well, if I were Adam, my response would be: "Dear Aaron, You can suck my big gay cock. Love you not, Adam"

The only thing that makes me feel better about this is that the huge sales surge that they would have gotten from Adam appearing in their issue will likely not happen as his fans, which will usually buy anything that has a new picture of him, are boycotting the issue.

How nice to see the outrage over the way Adam's management is treating Adam behind his back, but I can't help remembering that Clay Aiken was a victim of the same managers nearly a decade ago when Idol was much more openly homophobic.

 

Adam benefitted from the mistakes 19 made by keeping Clay in the closet.  The fact that Clay came out the minute his contract expired is proof enough for me to know what he was up against.

... typical clueless publicist behavior. This is the team you sign a contract to end up with when you enter AI.

Adam's out. He's been out from the beginning. How much more radical do you need to be? And in fact he has been radical. And that shoot with that woman was very rock and roll for a very out gay star to do. It's also in part a comment on the fact that gay stars can play to straight women just as well as straight or closeted stars.

 And Michael and Brent have made all these points much better and very consistently here on the site.

 Adam is out. And that's exponentially more than the vast majority of them other big-time gay celebrities. If you want the 'out' thing done differently: Get famous and do it yourself.

 

Usually, I'm better at articulating my point of view, but for some reason this was all that entered my mind.

I proudly went to 3 different stores before I finally found one that wasn't sold out of the Rolling Stone issue with Adam's coming out interview. I am proud to say, it was the FIRST copy of RS that I have ever bought in my life. I will NOT be buying this issue of OUT. Adam deserves better than this. 

Kitty

This is not what we planned, and I know its hard to understand....but if this isn't what you need then pry my fingers from your hand. ~Darren Hayes

Mr. Jensen, thank you for perfectly articulating everything I have been thinking. I find Mr. Hicklin's journalistic integrity very questionable. As you stated, why not just pass on the article, if the editor had issues with Adam and/or his management. I smell Sour Grapes. I suspect Out would have liked for Adam to come out in Out Magazine. Instead, he chose Rolling Stone. What musician wouldn't? I wonder if Mr. Hicklin realizes how many sales he has lost over this and how many straight people would have been buying his magazine for the first time. Opportunity lost!

Im bothered by a couple of things here.

I think the editor was right to critizise Adams handlers on this, I was really annoyed of their requests to "adress" his sexuality. A ridiculous notion considering this is gay media , he is out and showing it and he is probably putting his album with one of the gayest covers ever, among other things. I mean, what is a "too gay" interview anyway?

What really bothers me about this is the timing and the delivery, even if the letter denounces his handlers this affects Adam directly and at a critical time. It does seem like OUT is trying to call attention to themselves when print media in general, and gay media in particular, is folding fast. This is a very underhanded move.

Everyone would have been better served by voicing his opinion in another time and matter.