Hollywood Reporter scribe Ray Richmond discusses the fallout from his column, “Griffin Never Revealed Man Behind the Curtain,” and sets things straight on the timeline of what went down last week after the piece, which lamented Merv Griffin's life as a closeted gay man, was published.
Richmond says that the Hollywood Reporter (whose editor Elizabeth Guider he vigorously defends) “blinked” only briefly, pulling the column but then republishing it. Reuters, on the other hand, completely pulled the column, which they had labeled with a new headline “Merv Griffin Died a Closeted homosexual”.
Richmond is surprised that his column was even published in the first place, and says that its publication on the day of Griffin's funeral was an unfortunate coincidence.
Finally, he adds: “I have to wonder if the response in defense of keeping Griffin's secret life a secret post-mortem would have been as acute had he died penniless and forgotten. It would seem there is a direct relationship between the size of one's estate and the level of security guarding his or her heretofore undisclosed sexual preference. It appears that $1.6 billion will buy an awful lot of closet space.”
Setting the Record Straight (So to Speak) on My Merv Griffin Uproar [past deadline]
Previously
Merv Griffin's Gay Shame Becomes The Hollywood Reporter's [tr]
Hollywood Reporter: Merv Griffin Was Gay [tr]
