Kevin Spacey hit his mark, adopted a theatrical wingspan fit for the occasion, and enunciated so as there was no confusion. “I’m coming out,” the celebrated actor crooned to the audience of Sunday night’s Tony Awards, where he was hosing for the first time.
“No, wait — no,” he then stammered, hitting the punchline to a weak-at-best joke about fudging the lyrics to his opening number.
It was the second reference to coming out Spacey made in his musical revue, the first coming during a particularly awkward exchange with Whoopi Goldberg.
“Whoopi, how long have you been in that closet?” Spacey asked. “Well Kevin, it depends on who you ask,” Goldberg quipped, earning a roar from the crowd.
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Twitter took note of the oddity of it all:
Seriously, Kevin Spacey, stop with the smarmy "coming out" quips … unless you're really doing it. #TonyAwards2017
— snicks (@therealSnicks) June 12, 2017
https://twitter.com/kevinrfree/status/874057862640791552
This is just Kevin Spacey's big long coming out announcement isn't it? #TonyAwards2017
— Lucy Flawless (@everythingsjake) June 12, 2017
https://twitter.com/kevinpokeeffe/status/874056290732916736
Anyone else tracking Kevin Spacey's coy coming out teases? I've counted three so far. #TonyAwards2017 #ComeOutKev
— Vintorry (@peacebang) June 12, 2017
Kevin Fallon put it pretty well over at The Daily Beast, writing, “To be clear, we’re not ridiculous enough to really find offense in Spacey’s jokes. Our general reaction can be summed up in our loud groan and dramatic eyeroll after it happened. Kevin Spacey joking about his sexuality at the Tony Awards in 2017 is just… annoying.”
The entire act — which skewered 2017 Tony nominees like Dear Evan Hansen, Groundhog Day, Come From Away, and Natasha, Pierre, and the Comet of 1812 — seemed a bit off the mark. Even guest stars Steven Colbert and veteran host Billy Crystal couldn’t do much to help the energy on stage. But hey, maybe you’re obsessed with musicals and will love it.
LA Times reporter Steven Zeitchik, who attended the show, said, “These jokes are way inside but they are slaying in the room.”
So there’s that.
Judge for yourself below:
Richard 55
Maybe Kevin is making fun of the coming out culture.
J.T.
The “coming out culture?” What the hell is that?
Donston
I’m guessing celebrities, pseudo celebrities and random people on Twitter dramatically coming out as things they’re not or as things that don’t actually reflect their “lifestyle”?
Coming out has become very cliche, but it’s still a huge thing. I don’t mind people making fun of themselves living in glass closets. But Spacey hasn’t earned that right.
I actually watched some clips of the show. It was all very cheesy and cringe-inducing. I have no idea what people find charming about Spacey. He’s not even much of an actor.
Donston
Also, if I had to guess I’d say at least half the people who regularly post here are closeted or living a life not reflective of who they are.
Jack Meoff
Hand on didn’t Spacey already come out last year some time or is he on again off again and trying to give James Franco a run for his money on that score?
RIGay
Oh, come on – don’t get your panties in a bunch. The only thing NOT gay about the Tony’s last night were the commercials for plaque psoriasis!
I thought the show was great, Kevin Spacey was marvelous as the host – great talent.
…but even with the Divine Miss M winning a Tony (and a marvelous “SHUT THAT CRAP OFF!” acceptance speech!), the Tony’s are not my favored award show. I could not help but realize the very expensive bubble that these shows create to encapsulate and insulate the actors and crew- 8 shows a week from the time the show opens. It dawned on me when NO ONE acknowledged the other actors or elements in the category. There was an underlying feeling that this was far more cut-throat than either the Emmy’s or Oscars.
Donston
I didn’t watch (I haven’t watched the Tonys in quite a while), though I figured there’d be at least a couple coming out jokes. Spacey has been living in a glass closet for ten years. He’s not even self-conscious about it anymore. But expecting him to ever “officially” come out, be real and take stance on things? Yeah, that’s never gonna happen. That’s not what Hollywood and the entertainment industry is about, and we just need to accept that.
It’s funny how the majority of celebs and semi celebs to “come out” over the last five years or ones who speak regularly about LGBTQ don’t live an actual “gay lifestyle”. And it almost always comes off as narcissism and for publicity’s sake. The actual gays who want to live as who they are still mostly stay mum. Yet, people are still constantly talking about how “it’s 2017. It doesn’t matter anymore”.
In general, the show and Spacey’s hosting got very mixed reviews. So, I won’t bother trying to look it up.
DCguy
To your point, I do remember a rash of female celebrities who came out as bisexual but every single one of them was in a heterosexual relationship when they did it. The only one who didn’t do this was Kristen Stewart. Granted her mother outted her.
Donston
Spacey gets no pass. Had he not spent years denying it and actively trying to keep people from finding out finding out I wouldn’t care about him coming out. But it seems almost every gay actor in Hollywood, whether they’re open or live in a glass closet, contends with some level of self-hatred. They desperately try to not engage in conversation about lgbtq and say silly things like “who cares who someone has sex with” and “It’s 2017, that stuff doesn’t matter anymore”. And they refuse to confront the industry’s hypocrisy and general homophobia. Then you have a poser and narcissistic idiot like Nico Tortorella . You have James Franco (who I do believe is heterosexual but has engaged in gay sex) say dumb sh*t like, “Sailors used to have sex and as long as they were masculine they weren’t considered gay”.
Hollywood is just a cesspool of self-hate and hedonism and megalomania. Even with all that’s happened over the past year it still hasn’t ignited anything.
NCSilverBear
Why does everything have to be about someone’s sexuality? Loved Spacey’s opening. Very talented and funny. He seems to wear his sexuality well, whatever it is, without apology. I like it when a man is sure enough that he can laugh at himself. That exchange between Whoopie and Kevin was a hoot. Did anyone not get all those boys/men climbing out of Spacey’s bed???? Loved the show. Lots of 1st class entertainment, no silly cheep shots and although there was some “politicking”, it was done in good taste. Was disappointed that they couldn’t work it out so that a number with Bette Midler from “Hello Dolly” was done. The Tonys is the only award show I’ll watch any more because it has class and the people are classy. I didn’t know enough about most of the entries this year to have any favorites, but from what I saw, I liked everything!
Donston
“Why does everything have to be about someone’s sexuality?”
Maybe because homophobia and internalized homophobia are still very prominent things, especially in entertainment? Also, Spacey is the one who put attention on it by making jokes. Also, this is someone who aggressively expressed being heterosexual throughout the 90’s, during the peak of his career. And then he eventually moved to another country, so he can have gay sex in peace. Now that it’s become so obvious and he realizes he can still get work he doesn’t care anymore. It’s all very lame and very hypocritical. But that’s Hollywood for you.
Josh447
Regarding sexuality and coming out, it’s a bit of a game: Next?!!!
Loved all the numbers and in case some didn’t notice, Spacey’s chipping (or chirping) away at coming out was backed by a stage full of hot boiling testosterone in those masc-hot backup dancers, which says it all even if Spacey doesn’t.
jjose712
But this is Broadway not Hollywood. You need to be talented to be successful on Broadway, so your sexual orientation doesn’t matter.
There are a lot openly gay actors working and having success on Broadway.
In fact, gay actors generally go to the Tonys with their boyfriends instead their beards like they do to the Oscars.
If one look to the actors coming out in recent years it’s very clear that all of them are theatre and television actors, there’s no film actor (or mainly film actor now that tv is respectful and actors like to play all fields) who came out, at least i don’t remember anyone
Mick406
You said pretty much everything I wanted to say. Like you, I could care less about Spacey’s sexuality. All I know is this man is a tremendous talent and can do many things. He is a versatile and brilliant actor. Those song and dance pieces are not all that easy to do. Of course, he made it look easy, but there had to be many, many hours of memorization and rehearsal for him. And he pulled it all off magnificently! He’s also a great singer and ‘showman’. I enjoyed the Tony’s for what they were: An opportunity for ‘escapism’. I just enjoyed the entertainment without looking deeply into it. I also wish there could have been a large Hello Dolly cast number with Bette Midler. She too is a multi-talented person. I enjoyed it all and I hope Spacey is chosen to do it again next year. To me, he was flawless!
petej
kevin has not come out so many times, oblivious to the background patter, that now he’s sneakin’ in that he’s gay and you’ve been pranked to not know it.
DCguy
Oh Please, Spacey is one of those self haters along the lines of Sean Hayes. The type were they are (Or in Sean’s Case were) comfortable being in the glass closet of Hollywood bigotry and actually will lash out and attack out lgbts who talk about people needing to come out. Spacey’s attitude would be the same as if a few minorities are members of a country club, but they all pretend to be white, and as long as that happens nobody says anything. They would attack new members who actually don’t wear white face because there is nothing hypocrites hate more than somebody being truthful.
So instead of attacking the bigotry that makes their behavior seem necessary to them, they hate the people brave enough not to buy into it.
Roan
I don’t understand the cast with #Host written on it. Would someone explain that?
Kit McCollum
He was wearing a cast in the Evan Hanson spoof because the character does in the real musical. #Host was written on it because the Tony producers exhausted a long list of people to host (all of whom declined) until Spacey was approached and said yes. The joke about Spacey being the 25th choice may not have been far off the mark.
Roan
Thanks, Kit!
Mick406
Yes, thanks for clearing that up. I only figured out what the cast was all about AFTER I saw the number from “Evan Hanson. Had no idea that the Tony’s had to look that hard to find a host. I think Kevin did a marvelous job and is to be applauded not only for his talent but for his self-deprecating humor.
NateOcean
The second sentence of this Queerty article claims it was Spacey’s first time “hosing”.
Hosing, no “t”.
Think of the money save on editors around here.
scooter12
Come on…..seems the Gay Media have become overly critical and yes, overly sensitive to ANYTHING and EVERYTHING! Spacey has been out to friends and family for years, and there is no rule that he has to say anything publicly…THAT was the joke…because every single person in that theatre already knows he is gay, and the joke is why in the hell does everyone care so much?? I thought he was wonderful, and that the opening number was brilliant…no matter what the seemingly affected article author says.
Donston
I’m the least sensitive of people and I have many issues with gay media. But Spacey doesn’t get to be cutely ironic, not when he spent years denying it and went out of his way to make sure people didn’t find out.
I also think reading the comment section will give you a greater understanding of why so many lgbt people resent the entertainment industry.
unclemike
No doubt Spacey is a talented actor, singer, and dancer, but this was one of the most timid and uninspired Tony awards yet. The opening sucked all the energy out of the room. And that duet with the lovely Patti LuPone ended the show like a funeral dirge. Ugh.
Thad
Despite being quite openly gay (only 20 million TV viewers know), I now have proof I’m actually quite butch. I was watching the Stanley Cup final.
Mick406
Now, THAT was funny!!!
J.T.
I think Kevin Spacey is a fine actor, maybe even a talented actor. But his whole charade at the Emmy Awards leaves me disappointed.
trobbins13
Kevin you are a very attractive man. Please just come out already. After all everyone else is. Love your build up though. Come out and join our family.
Heywood Jablowme
This is what happens when you wait way too long to come out. Not pretty! But funnier than Barry Manilow, maybe.
Mick406
I love Barry Manilow’s music, but DAMN! That boy needs to put some meat on his bones! His face is almost difficult to look at. They cut too much fat off his face during plastic surgery.
Donston
I have less issue with Manilow, because he didn’t spend years actively denying it, and he did eventually get there. He’s also a guy who’s actually interested in being with a man and not just hooking up with random young guys for the rest of his being, unlike Spacey and a sea of other Hollywood closet cases. Beyond that, Spacey has always oozed smarmy and phoniness.
OzJosh
I don’t mind Spacey being playful about coming out / not coming out… it’s just a pity his opening number was one of the weakest in recent Tony history.
mz.sam
Yeah, the dude is talented. But more talented as a closeted, if not self-loathing and the most uncharismatic Tony Award host EVER!
butchqueen
Fist him with crushed glass and butter flavored Crisco.