The Bachelor star Juan Pablo Galavis was asked if the franchise should have a gay or bisexual star, and in his answer he said he has “respect” for gay people but that they’d be a bad example for kids because they’re more perverted. Has he ever watched Bachelor Pad—or, you know, his own damn show?
In an interview with The TV Page’s Sean Daly, after pointing out that he has a gay friend nearby, Juan Pablo says definitively that, “no,” there shouldn’t be a “I respect them, but honestly, I don’t think it is a good example for kids to watch that on TV.”
But a parade of often-drunk women fighting each other for the affection of a man they’ll probably break up with in the tabloids after humiliating themselves on television: that’s a good example?
The single father who is currently on national television dating women in a probably futile attempt to find a partner actually said “it is confusing in a sense” for there to be “two parents sleeping in the same bed and the kid going into bed,” whatever that means. And of course, it’s not confusing for a 4-year-old to watch her dad date 27 women with cameras and producers.
There’s audio of the two-minute response, which is not exactly always coherent—he’s clearly stumbling through either language or the ideas or both, and he does seem somewhat conflicted. But it’s pretty easy to understand him when he says: “There’s this thing about gay people, it seems to me, you know—I don’t know if I’m mistaken or not—they’re more pervert in a sense.”
Update: ABC and Warner Bros. Entertainment, which produces the show, released a statement saying “Juan Pablo’s comments were careless, thoughtless and insensitive, and in no way reflect the views of the network, the show’s producers or studio.”
And Juan Pablo also replied. English isn’t his first language, and he’s blaming language because he did not mean “pervert,” but actually meant “gay people are more affectionate and intense” than straight people. This from someone whose pool of bachelorettes includes someone who’s frequently topless for no reason, and whose second televised group date with more than a dozen women was having a couple of them pose naked with puppies and use the fact that it was for charity to quiet their objections. But I digress.
Juan Pablo full statement posted on Facebook said:
“I want to apologize to all the people I may have offended because of my comments on having a Gay or Bisexual Bachelor. The comment was taken out of context. If you listen to the entire interview, there’s nothing but respect for Gay people and their families. I have many gay friends and one of my closest friends who’s like a brother has been a constant in my life especially during the past 5 months. The word pervert was not what I meant to say and I am very sorry about it. Everyone knows English is my second language and my vocabulary is not as broad as it is in Spanish and, because of this, sometimes I use the wrong words to express myself. What I meant to say was that gay people are more affectionate and intense and for a segment of the TV audience this would be too racy to accept. The show is very racy as it is and I don’t let my 5 year old daughter watch it. Once again, I’m sorry for how my words were taken. I would never disrespect anyone.”
On the recurring use of the word “respect,” Time’s James Poniewozik wrote a very thoughtful column, pointing out that “‘respect’ isn’t just a magic word that you can apply to any statement to neutralize it. At some point, it has to actually correspond to your actions, and to the way you believe people should be treated in the real world, or it’s just empty rhetoric.”
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