In Hollywood, Cher's daughter says she thinks Ellen is too gay. And in Jamaica, church leaders want disco relics the Village People banned from the island because they're too popular among gays.
Chastity Bono, Cher's kid (with Sonny), raised eyebrows Monday with an interview in Daily Variety, in which the gay activist was quoted as saying that Ellen DeGeneres' besieged ABC comedy series is putting off viewers with its inside humor.
"Originally, [DeGeneres] said this wasn't going to be the Gay Ellen Show, that every episode wasn't going to deal with gay issues. But it pretty much has," the 29-year-old Bono said, in Variety.
Bono said she likes the show just fine and that it isn't "too gay for me."
After the article hit newsstands, Bono, the media-savvy pointwoman for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, was disowning the story. GLAAD issued a statement, saying her comments had been taken out of context. Bono wasn't saying she thought Ellen was too gay, GLAAD argued, she merely was espousing theories as to why the once-hit comedy is now a likely cancellation candidate.
No comment from ABC on what it considers too gay. But an ABC affiliate in Columbus, Ohio, has essentially made its feelings known. It's threatening to drop the show because the owners have a "problem with the content."
In Jamaica, meanwhile, the Village People, who set gay stereotypes to a disco beat in the 1970s and scored mainstream hits with "YMCA" and "Macho Man," are courting controversy with a scheduled weekend concert there.
The leader of a church council says the Village People's show at the Negril Music Festival will be an affront to local mores--giving a forum for a "behavior [that is] repugnant to the majority of people in this country..." (There are anti-gay sex laws on the books in Jamaica.)
The promoter of the music fest is trying to diffuse the situation by drawing a distinction.
"[Band members] have never said they are gay," Ronnie Nasralla tells Associated Press. "The Village People capitalized on their popularity in the gay community, that's all."