Fabricated cover touts an exclusive interview with the 'Twilight' actor about his sexuality.
By Gil Kaufman
The fake Taylor Lautner <i>People</i> magazine cover
The January 7 cover of People magazine that touts an exclusive interview with "Twilight" star Taylor Lautner about his sexuality is a fake.
The mocked-up cover hit the Web on Monday and instantly raised eyebrows with its claims of an exclusive story titled "Out & Proud." A spokesperson for People confirmed to GossipCop.com that the cover — complete with other celeb images that are five years old — is "absolutely fake" but would not comment further when contacted by MTV News.
The Internet joke that began with a Twitter post comes just a few months after GQ Australia was forced to issue an apology to the actor after he took issue with a line of questioning in the interview. The actor was asked whether he was hit on during a meeting with director Gus Van Sant and "Milk" writer Dustin Lance Black, who are both openly gay.
"It's not a coincidence that there was a writer, a director and an actor at dinner," Lautner told GQ about the professional meal. "No, definitely not. I think they know I'm straight. But they're great guys. They're a lot of fun."
Days after the interview made its way online, Black took to his blog to weigh in on the magazine's line of questioning. "Really Mr. GQ writer? I'm curious, will you be asking all of the handsome actors I've ever had the privilege of working with or meeting if I made passes at them as well?" he wrote. "I'd love to be there when you ask Sean Penn that same question. Or, Mr. GQ writer, were you projecting your own unprofessional desires onto me and Gus? Perhaps? Or worse still, are you a homophobe?
"Above and beyond this clear attack on my character, I'm shocked that GQ would allow their writer to lean on the scurrilous, outdated stereotype that gay men are by nature sexual predators," he continued. "I mean, would you have asked this same question if it were Diablo Cody and Kathryn Bigelow at dinner with Mr. Lautner? Leaning on lies, myths and stereotypes about gay people is hateful, harmful and outdated."
The combination of the blowback from Black and other Internet commenters forced the magazine to issue an apology on its Facebook page.
"We've seen some of the comments floating around regarding our recent interview with Taylor Lautner and apologise if anyone was offended by anything in the article. It certainly wasn't our intention to paint anyone in the story as a sexual predator," the statement reads. "The point we were actually trying to push was that Taylor is irresistible to virtually everyone — regardless of sexuality or gender. Hence the film crew cheering at his shirtless scenes while shooting 'Twilight,' and Mark Wahlberg deeming him better looking than Leonardo DiCaprio."
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