Billy Eichner says Hollywood is ‘homophobic underneath the surface and very hypocritical’

‘A lot of decisions have been made based on fear,’ actor said

Billy Eichner has accused the Hollywood industry of being “homophobic” and “hypocritical”.

Addressing the lack of queer romcoms being made, the 43-year-old comedian and actor said that the film industry still isn’t completely supportive of the LGBT+ community.

During the MTV Movie and TV Awards over the weekend, Eichner told Page Six that “Hollywood has often been very accepting on the surface but very homophobic underneath the surface and very hypocritical.

“And a lot of decisions have been made based on fear – fears that I think are often irrational – and yet, people were scared,” he continued. “You know, a lot of it was based around what they think the mainstream audience would or would not accept. And that’s pretty infuriating when you think about it.”

Speaking of his film Bros, a forthcoming American romcom directed by Nicholas Stoller, Eichner said that he focused on creating a film that would paint a real and relatable picture of what it’s like to date as a queer person in this day and age.

“I’m happy that we’re here, and it’s a movie that’s really a long time coming,” the actor said.

“I think why so many people are watching the trailer and why so many people are talking about it is because there’s a real hunger for stories like this.”

(Getty Images for MAKERS)

Eichner also said that he’s going to need “everyone to rally” behind his new film “so that they make more movies like this”.

Bros is produced by Stoller and Judd Apatow, and stars Eichner, Luke Macfarlane, Ts Madison, Monica Raymund, Guillermo Díaz, Guy Branum, and Amanda Bearse.

The film will be released on 28 October 2022.