The gay blogosphere is abuzz with this provocative quote from an alleged Gerard Butler interview from 2004:
"I talk about my sexuality," he says, "But it's always glossed over. People seem to shy away from the issue. Whenever it is discussed, its distended and exaggerated. Gerard Butler is gay. No I'm not. I don't know myself what I am so it can be bewildering to see that being plugged. I have been in relationships with women. And men. That doesn't make me gay. That doesn't make me straight. Its hard enough to go through these things in my mind without being scrutinised about it so there are times when you want to close the door and say my sexuality is my own personal business."
Tangy stuff! Where did this bombshell interview come from? Hmm, let's see here... "Movieline." Hey, that's us! So is this thing the real deal, or the product of someone's overactive imagination?
Sorry kids, but this one's a fake -- Butler's rep Joy Fehily confirms it, and so can we.
Archive.org traces the article's origin to an NYCWave.com message board where author "Marianne Tydings" posted it in August 2004. (Try Googling the woman's name -- you'll have no luck.) In the post's supposed excerpt from Movieline, Butler is anticipating the release of Phantom of the Opera that year, but a look back through our archives reveals no interview with Butler during that time period. Movieline did talk to Butler about the sequel to Tomb Raider for our July/August 2003 issue, but it's a completely different interview and there are no salacious quotes about his sexuality.
Also, Movieline's an American magazine, and we'd never spell the word "scrutinised" without a Z. Who would? How about a British tabloid, or an internet poster whose attempt to whip up an imaginary interview left one easily-discovered grammatical tell?
ยท Gerard Butler - I'm not gay, I'm not straight, I'm just me! [Archive.org]