03/25/2008
Avenue Q Scribe Jeff Whitty Offers Jay Leno His 'Gayest Look'
UPDATE: There's now a whole website!
You may remember the clip I posted last week of Ryan Phillippe's appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in which, after mocking Phillippe's first acting role as a gay teen on a soap, Leno pointed at the camera and asked Phillippe to give his gayest look.
You may also remember that in April 2006 Avenue Q scribe Jeff Whitty challenged Leno on his mockery of gay people. Whitty's challenge, in which he wrote Leno a letter which was followed up by a half-hour chat, was picked up by mainstream news outlets.
Well, Whitty got word that Leno was up to his old tricks again, so he's published another letter to the comic on his site, along with a photo of his gayest look, which you can see AFTER THE JUMP...
Here's Whitty's gayest look:
You can read his new letter to Leno here.
Sphere: Related ContentPosted 9:55 AM EST by Andy in Jeff Whitty, News, Ryan Philippe, Television | Permalink
Comments
Amen!
Posted by: Ryan | Mar 25, 2008 10:00:41 AM
Way to go !
And Whitty is cute!!!
Posted by: SJ | Mar 25, 2008 10:05:23 AM
1- i wondered if i was the only one to be out of sorts about the gayest look thing.
2- whitty, call me! :)
Posted by: kostar | Mar 25, 2008 10:08:04 AM
A-FUCKING-MEN! I wrote a very similar letter to Mr. Leno a few days ago...of course I'll never get a response, but I'm glad to know that Jeff Whitty is back on the case. GROW UP LENO...
Posted by: Barry Grubs | Mar 25, 2008 10:11:14 AM
A-FUCKING-MEN! I wrote a very similar letter to Mr. Leno a few days ago...of course I'll never get a response, but I'm glad to know that Jeff Whitty is back on the case. GROW UP LENO...
Posted by: Barry Grubs | Mar 25, 2008 10:11:53 AM
I've always noted a thread of mean-spiritedness in Jay Leno, particularly, oddly enough, in his interviews. I don't think he's homophobic, I think he's an equal-opportunity douchebag.
Posted by: rascal | Mar 25, 2008 10:13:45 AM
Jay reflects America in all of its ugliness.
He is patronizing, sophmoric and simplistic in his humor. He panders to the lowest common denominator -witness his ridiculously awful segments where he makes fun of ignorant people who don't mind appearing stupid for their 15 mins. Gay people will always be fodder for humor aimed at 15 year old male adolescents. Jay does that and is only reflecting what Hollywood offers up as cinematic entertainment on the big screen. When you
allow "reality" television to dictate what is entertainment -watching Jay make fun of gay folks-isn't a stretch---sadly. There isn't any hope for Jay.
Posted by: Nick | Mar 25, 2008 10:19:26 AM
That gay look is both effective and hot; please, do it again, and again. ;-)
Posted by: Ernie | Mar 25, 2008 10:21:29 AM
I think Jay thinks that anything other than being a straight white male is up for comedy fodder (and if you're too straight-laced, he can use that too) but unlike Don Rickles or the other comedians he's grown up loving, he has no respect for anyone but himself and the few people he loves.
He'll be off the air soon enough, so let's focus our attention on Conan, who isn't wonderfully gay-friendly either.
Posted by: junior | Mar 25, 2008 10:28:13 AM
to RASCAL: I worked in comedy for 15 years, and saying "I'm an equal opportunity offender" is the first and only cop-out of the bigot. Further, it is NEVER true. How often have you seen Jay Leno say "White people are stupid?" or "Italians are disgusting because" or or "Men are pigs" (in the case of an anti-MAN joke, not an anti-woman one?) Jay Leno is a fucking pig. Case Closed. And Jeff Whittey is suddenly smoking HOT. Team Jeff.
Posted by: Strepsi | Mar 25, 2008 10:32:48 AM
Could someone package Whitty in foil so I could keep him in my wallet and unroll him on...I digress. I can't say enough good about how proud I am to be represented by a man with such brilliance and economy. As for Leno, check out any of his head shots if you want to see a gay look, well Liberace gay, not gay-gay. I'll be glad when he's off air and touring the country. Playing to ever shrinking audiences.
Posted by: Rikard | Mar 25, 2008 11:07:01 AM
What do we expect from Jay? He is fat and ugly. His punishment comes from looking in the mirror every day.
Posted by: Chad | Mar 25, 2008 11:16:04 AM
Maybe I am in the minority, but its COMEDY people. Granted, Leno isnt funny... Have any of you been to a comedy club lately? They make fun of EVERYONE. I am sick of living in a world that is SO Politically Correct. Lets stop focusing on Leno and place all of this vitrol on that Kern devil.
Posted by: Brian | Mar 25, 2008 11:53:32 AM
Jay makes fun of "Everybody"!! some gays need to get lives already!!...
Posted by: alan brickman | Mar 25, 2008 12:28:19 PM
Jay makes fun of "Everybody"!! some gays need to get lives already!!...
Posted by: alan brickman | Mar 25, 2008 12:28:25 PM
There are plenty of instances when humor about gay people is inoffensive and even inclusive. In this case, Leno's joke—asking an actor who played gay ages ago to make his gayest face—was obviously insulting. And I would argue that that kind of anti-gay joking around (which yes, occurs in comedy clubs, but that's no excuse, those places have thrived on hate humor) actually helps make the Kern devils of the world more palatable to the public. It's not prissily PC to get offended when people insult you.
Posted by: Matthew Rettenmund | Mar 25, 2008 12:32:09 PM
I tell you what's ridiculously Politically Correct, it's that that witch Sally Kern can hide behind her imaginary friend in the sky and claim he told her to make her hatin' comments.
Church? Ha, now that's the biggest comedy club in town. And most y'all are too dumb to get the joke.
Posted by: Audrey | Mar 25, 2008 12:32:15 PM
Jay Leno isn't funny. He's so old school anymore, that he shouldn't even have people like Phillipe on the show.
A step back for NBC.
Posted by: *john thrasher | Mar 25, 2008 12:34:39 PM
Aside from being an overall douche, I think Leno was just trying to jump on the "gay is the new black" trend a few str8 comedians have been milking lately, some to good effect:
I'm Fucking Ben Affleck (Affleck + Kimmel)
Iran So Far (Andy Samberg + Fred Armisen SNL)
I'm Dating Your Dad (Andy Samberg + Jonah Hill, SNL)
....but he failed miserably. I know that some think that even the above parodies are offensive, but I thought they were funny enough.
Leno just wasn't clever enough to pull it off, and in the process insulted Ryan by attempting to drag him into the joke.
Lame.
Posted by: Banjiboi | Mar 25, 2008 12:48:42 PM
Before Leno got the Tonight Show and Rosie O'Donnell got her talk show, both based their humor on anti-PC, occasionally vulgar jokes. In the mid-80s I remember Leno had a routine about starving Africans that was so offensive it was funny---sort of like South Park humor (which I usually don't like, largely because the voices get on my nerves). Even Ellen Degeneres used to be much less sweet when she was still a standup.
I think that Leno probably feels like he's been emasculated comedically, since he's on a major network. So he goes after the only group that's still safe to mock: the gays. He's an idiot. Never trust anyone with a massive car collection. It's an obvious sign they have doubts in their masculinity. He has to put on a happy face on the show, but he's not a content person.
Posted by: Paul R | Mar 25, 2008 12:49:54 PM
Aside from being an overall douche, I think Leno was just trying to jump on the "gay is the new black" trend a few str8 comedians have been milking lately, some to good effect:
I'm Fucking Ben Affleck (Affleck + Kimmel)
Iran So Far (Andy Samberg + Fred Armisen SNL)
I'm Dating Your Dad (Andy Samberg + Jonah Hill, SNL)
....but he failed miserably. I know that some think that even the above parodies are offensive, but I thought they were funny enough.
Leno just wasn't clever enough to pull it off, and in the process insulted Ryan by attempting to drag him into the joke.
Lame.
Posted by: Banjiboi | Mar 25, 2008 12:50:01 PM
God bless Jeff! This is the kind of smart, watchdog activism we really need and thank you for posting it so we all see it. Awesome letter Jeff...just perfect!
Posted by: Pugzz | Mar 25, 2008 1:10:50 PM
i <3 Jeff. So talented, so creative, so funny, so RIGHT ON.
yes, and he's uber-cute.
Posted by: buzz | Mar 25, 2008 1:25:19 PM
Jay Leno has NEVER made me laugh. Maybe his "humor" is appreciated by people with lower IQs than Jay's, I don't know. I do know he seems homophobic and out of touch and can't wait until Conan takes over for him.
Anyone that laughs at Leno is probably swinging from trees anyway.
Way to Jeff Whitty. You rock and I'm thankful for people like you in our community.
Posted by: Bobby | Mar 25, 2008 1:32:05 PM
Banjiboi, I agree that the skits you listed were for the most part OK, probably didn't mean to be offensive (though all relied on stupide stereotypes), and I doubt Andy Samberg in particular is homophobic. But every episode of SNL contains at least three skits, fake commercials, or just gay-themed jokes that make me cringe.
Tina Fey is a lead writer on the show and has give many interviews where she says she loves the gays. But she still doesn't get it. Either, apparently, does Stephen Colbert (who I love and who played a funny gay teacher on Strangers with Candy, and is very gay-positive on his own show). I find SNL's Ambiguously Gay Duo to be so sophomorically stupid. I can't fathom who thinks it's funny or why it continues to be shown. Excrement. Same with the recurring gays in outer space skits. Ugh.
It's like they think every single member of their audience is a straight moron who wouldn't understand more nuanced humor.
Posted by: Paul R | Mar 25, 2008 1:54:01 PM
funny, when I read this yesterday I was thinking 'gayest look"? and I instantly gave BOTH fingers as my gayest look. perhaps he'll ask Will Smith to give his best Niggerish Look when he's on next.
Posted by: haxby | Mar 25, 2008 2:02:47 PM
My take, Leno is so formulaic in everything he does. Talk about a too-tightly wrapped package!! I'm surprised he doesn't get sick of his own schtick.
Posted by: Dan B | Mar 25, 2008 2:10:24 PM
In the case of interviews, I think Leno asks only publicist approved questions, though I guess if he doesn't care if the celeb comes back or not he'll dig in a little deeper. Many of this guests seem very uncomfortable. It's really his monologue and skits that are annoying. He's always trying to identify as black too, suggesting he prefers a super macho self-persona.
Posted by: anon | Mar 25, 2008 2:12:46 PM
So very right, and so very nicely put. For those who have noticed, as have I, that Whittey is smokin', a whittless.com there is an easter egg of him shirtless. Quite the treat. Here's a hint - he's a real doll!
Posted by: joe mama | Mar 25, 2008 2:19:26 PM
Yeah Paul, I feel you. And I agree.
But I gotta admit, I did love the old skit featuring Dana Carvey as Lyle, the Effeminate Heterosexual.
http://snltranscripts.jt.org/91/91plyle.phtml
Oh, and now I must officially Whitty to my growing list of favorite gay blogs.
Posted by: Banjiboi | Mar 25, 2008 2:57:26 PM
I love every single thing Jeff Whitty does from the time he wakes up in the morning until the time he falls into a drug-induced sleep.
Posted by: JeffNYC | Mar 25, 2008 3:11:34 PM
mr. whitty is on my heroes list.
Posted by: nic | Mar 25, 2008 3:53:39 PM
Extraordinary, ANON & HAXBY, you managed to make this thread go racially offensive.
HAXBY, it is understandable to equate the word "nigger" with "faggot", but to equate it with "gay"?
HAXBY, I could reel off a slew of racial insults to white people and white gays that you haven't heard in your twenty-something (or thirty-something years) on this earth; but Andy Towle has been a fair and patient host. I'm not going to abuse his hospitality.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | Mar 25, 2008 4:31:19 PM
Good for you Whitty! Oh, and I checked out the site, whitless.com and also checked out the shirtless picture. Whitty is definitely very hot. Brains, looks and personality, a triple threat. I stopped watching Leno after his first week on the air. Have tried to watch a couple of times since, but he makes me physically sick. Not funny and really creepy. To me Conan is no better. I just wish Craig Ferguson was on in Leno's time slot. To me, Ferguson is funny!
Posted by: Bob R | Mar 25, 2008 5:15:25 PM
Get Leno outta there so we can get Conan in!
Posted by: Paul | Mar 25, 2008 5:28:09 PM
Actually, Derrick, you should be upset about Leno's painful attempts to self-identify with blacks, I guess because the stand up circuit was really "rough" in the 1970's, very hip and urban and all that. It's his fantasy, not mine. He doesn't book a lot of black guests though, nor have rap artists on. Hmmm....
Posted by: anon | Mar 25, 2008 5:32:41 PM
Leno also made at least one joke per night after the Larry Craig incident, usually about some kind of homo sex, with that nervous laugh that only someone who has experienced it and is trying to hide it can have.
Posted by: Jojo | Mar 25, 2008 6:11:09 PM
I know this won't be popular but it's typical to hear gay people get bent out of shape over a joke and then retaliate with juvenile finger-waving. Why is it that gay people are allowed to play rough and tumble with straight women, straight men and ESPECIALLY LESBIANS, cracking every 7th grade joke and to their faces? It's a joke. It's meant to hit home. Often they are at someone else's expense and, most of the time, they miss. But cry me a river. And if you don't like something because it's demeaning, dehumanizing, or in bad taste, you'll really get the point across with the finger. Yeah. Everybody bows down to 12 year old bad girls. Oh and if this dude was fat, 50 and bald, I'm so sure he'd still get the thread of "you go girl" and "my hero".
Posted by: Yoursister | Mar 25, 2008 6:47:52 PM
The reason Leno is so on gays is that,even if he wanted,he is to ugly to be gay.Can anybody see that lower jaw in drag?Huu,puke,puke,puke.
And, yes, Jeff is cute.
Posted by: Oscar | Mar 25, 2008 7:41:59 PM
It's time for Jay to go, and thank god his days are numbered. He needs to go away and play with his cars.
Posted by: mhk | Mar 25, 2008 8:39:54 PM
Aren't we the hypocrits? Sure Leno gets childish in some of his remarks, but look at comedians as a whole. For the past several years, comedians get their laughs by demoralizing people, and we think it is funny until it hits home. Think of all the Michael Jackson jokes, how about Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Presidents, Vice Presidents, politicians as a whole, lawyers, doctors, etc...the list goes on and on. Leno is not alone in this. Letterman went after Paris Hilton when he had her on his show after she left the pokey. Everyone thought that was funny, but of course that is OK because she deserved it, right? The days of telling a joke, with a story is gone. Go for the quick jabs, the Henny Youngman one liners. Bill Cosby is one of the few that can tell a story and make you laugh. For the rest of the comedians, if it isn't demoralizing, dirty, and throw in sexual innuendo's (all usually about someone famous), they wouldn't survive. What use to be regarded as 'blue' humor is now the norm.
Red Skelton told a story about when he was on stage, and a woman walked up to him and stated that she had found a purse in the ladies room. Well, Red, being the kind man that he was, asked her name. She replied, Helen Hunt. Red, told her to hold onto the purse and he would make an announcement. So, just before continuing his act, he stated he made the announcement: "Ladies, a purse was found in the womens restroom. Please check to see if you have yours. If you think that you may have lost your purse, go to Helen Hunt for it."
You don't find that kind of comedy anymore.
Posted by: MP | Mar 25, 2008 9:49:08 PM
Re Haxby: Lord when will these children learn!?
Posted by: Giovanni | Mar 25, 2008 9:56:30 PM
Comedy is comedy, but Leno wasn't making jokes here. I'd cut him slack if he were. He was just being an ass.
I don't get Leno, and I don't get his fans, but he is not an equal opportunity asshole. If anything he's smarmy. What pissed of Whitty was his unquestioned assumptions that playing gay is embarrassing. Leno's just an idiot.
As for Whitty, I've thought he was hot from the first moment I laid eyes on him. And now...
Posted by: David in Toronto | Mar 25, 2008 9:57:43 PM
This show totally ROCKS! So glad this show is back! Check out blogs related to returning shows at Richromances.com, there are many hollywood celebs and beautiful people are dating and chatting~~~I am so exciting about it.
Posted by: Mariee | Mar 25, 2008 10:45:10 PM
Red Skelton?
Posted by: MHK | Mar 25, 2008 10:46:40 PM
Fucking Brilliant!
Posted by: Aman Chaudhary | Mar 26, 2008 2:29:21 AM
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