Joseph Segal, an aspiring London-based actor and musician, received a shocking rejection from a talent agency he approached for representation.
Said the agency in its rejection: “We already have a gay actor on our books and also an actor/musician of the same age. So we feel there would be a clash. I'm unable to consider you at the moment.”
https://twitter.com/JosephPCSegal/status/972540114722279424
Support and outrage began pouring in.
Christ. This is scary. Reprehensible!
— Mark Gatiss 💙 (@Markgatiss) March 10, 2018
Joseph, it is a disgrace that this agent has brought your sexuality in to the equation as a reason not to take you on. I've worked with many gay actors and they very often are playing a straight character and vice versa. So your sexuality is irrelevant to your casting eligibility
— Tom Hopper (@Tomhopperhops) March 10, 2018
This is mental. Do you wear a sign? Who gives a shit! How many straight actors they got? Any clashes? I heard Schwarzenegger wasn't actually a cyborg from the future but they gave him the part anyway. Christ, it's literally pretending to be somebody you're not. Sorry pal.
— 🇺🇦Matthew Lewis🇺🇦 (@Mattdavelewis) March 10, 2018
After Segal's tweet went viral, he heard back from the agency, which had an apology.
https://twitter.com/JosephPCSegal/status/972580565856735232
Segal today reported that the agency has shut down following the incident, and it was not even properly licensed in the first place.
https://twitter.com/JosephPCSegal/status/973146267172950016