Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Winter 1999
Abstract
Coincidentally, CLAGS's one-day symposium "Passing Performances: History, Evidence, Identification" occurred just as Hollywood's biggest film star publicly rejected the long-standing and wide-spread claims that he is gay. In a high-profile legal battle that concluded this past fall, Tom Cruise and his wife Nicole Kidman settled their libel suit against a London tabloid, which asserted that their eight-year marriage is actually a ruse constructed to conceal Cruise's alleged homosexuality. The couple reportedly settled for more than $500,000, and they hoped to quash rumors once and for all that their marriage is a sham. Even in this "post-Ellen" era, the suit reflects the entertainment industry's insistence on an unwavering heterosexual ideal. "Outing" celebrities in a culture fixated on this ideal can be fraught with sticky legal and ethical challenges.
Included in
American Studies Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons, Theatre History Commons
Comments
This article was originally published in CLAGSNews, vol. 9, no. 1.