Terrence Howard just gave Hollywood — and the LGBTQ community — a fresh reason to roll their eyes. The “Empire” actor dropped a bombshell on Bill Maher’s podcast, saying he once turned down a chance to play soul legend Marvin Gaye because of rumors about the singer’s sexuality. Howard said he couldn’t handle portraying a queer man, and claimed that if he ever kissed a man on screen, he’d “cut [his] lips off.”
Howard made the remark while discussing a long-passed conversation with legendary producer Quincy Jones about Gaye, who, despite being married to women, has long been surrounded by speculation regarding his sexuality. “I’m asking Quincy, ‘I’m hearing rumors that Marvin was gay,’” Howard recounted. “And I’m like, ‘Was he gay?’ And Quincy is like, ‘Yes.’” According to Howard, that was enough for him to walk away from a potential biopic that never materialized.
Instead of leaning into the nuance and complexity of playing such an iconic and possibly queer figure, Howard decided he couldn’t “fake it” for the role — even if it meant stepping away from a major opportunity. “I would cut my lips off,” he said bluntly, adding that kissing a man would be impossible for him to portray. Maher, never one to miss a chance to agree with a cringey opinion, said he also wouldn’t want to kiss a man, but found Howard’s comments extreme: “I would not do that.”
A tired performance of toxic masculinity
If this whole exchange sounds exhausting, it’s because it is. Social media wasted no time calling Howard out for his remarks, with users labeling him “deeply problematic” and questioning why he keeps advertising his discomfort with masculinity. One X user wrote, “He performs masculinity for the approval and acceptance of cishet men and despises gay men. We know already.”
Others reminded the world of Howard’s violent past, pointing out allegations from two ex-wives and a confession in a 2015 interview where he admitted to hitting his former spouse Lori McCommas in 2001. One user summed it up: “I’m having a hard time believing he likes women.”
Howard’s latest remarks are another entry in a long and depressing Hollywood tradition: treating queerness as a line too far for certain actors, especially Black men raised in environments where toxic masculinity is praised and queerness vilified. While queer actors are still fighting to get cast at all — even in queer roles — some straight actors publicly announce how unwilling they are to even simulate queerness for a role, equating it with moral or physical disgust.
The LGBTQ impact: erasure and rejection in real time
Howard’s refusal to portray a potentially queer version of Marvin Gaye sends a clear message: queer stories are not worth telling if they make straight actors “uncomfortable.” In an industry where LGBTQ people still struggle to be seen, this kind of rhetoric reinforces the idea that our lives, our love, and our very identities are taboo — even in fiction.
Instead of confronting internal biases or embracing the emotional stretch that acting requires, Howard chose to plant his flag firmly in the land of fragile masculinity. And unfortunately, he’s far from alone. For every out queer actor trying to navigate an industry that still routinely sidelines them, there are ten more Terrence Howards loudly explaining why they just can’t deal.
This isn’t just about one role or one quote on a podcast. It’s a symptom of a broader unwillingness to embrace the full spectrum of human experience in storytelling — and that’s a loss not just for LGBTQ audiences, but for the art of cinema itself.