Tom Hardy shuts down after a reporter asks about his sexuality: fair or unfair?

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Tom Hardy was in Toronto this weekend for the TIFF premiere of Legend, yet another hyped film that is getting somewhat disappointing reviews. It’s not that people hate Legend outright, they just don’t think it’s a masterpiece or whatever, and Hardy’s Oscar buzz has definitely faded away a lot in the past few weeks. Anyway, any excuse to post new photos of the Bloke. He looked really beautiful at the TIFF premiere. Tired, but beautiful.

While at a press conference for Legend, Tom got a question from a reporter from the LGBT site Daily Xtra. One of the Kray twins (played by Tom, obviously) is an openly gay man, and Tom has a history of talking about his sexuality and experimental youth. Tom has never come out and identified as bisexual, but he has said in interviews (years ago) that he “played with everything and everyone. But I’m not into men sexually. I love the form and the physicality but the gay sex bit does nothing for me.” This is what happened:

Daily Xtra reporter: “In the film, your character Ronnie is very open about his sexuality. But given interviews you’ve done in the past, your own sexuality seems a bit more ambiguous. Do you find it hard for celebrities to talk to media about their sexuality?”

Hardy: “What on earth are you on about?”

Daily Xtra: “I was referring to an interview given to Attitude magazine a few years ago.”

Hardy: “But what is your question?”

Daily Xtra: “I was wondering if you find it difficult for celebrities to talk about their sexuality.”

Hardy: “I don’t find it difficult for celebrities to talk about their sexuality. Um, are you asking me about my sexuality?”

Daily Xtra: “Um…sure.”

Hardy: “Why?”

Daily Xtra: “Um…”

Hardy: “Thank you.”

[From THR]

I don’t understand why Hardy is so touchy about this subject at this point. I mean, I know that actors of a certain stature – like Hardy – walk a fine line between being LGBT-friendly and being able to appeal to straight-male-audiences. But… Tom has given interviews discussing his sexuality before AND he’s playing a gay character. Of course he’s going to get questions like this.

Something nice… when Tom appeared on Chatty Man this weekend, he got to hang out with dogs. Minorly NSFW because of language.

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Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.

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87 Responses to “Tom Hardy shuts down after a reporter asks about his sexuality: fair or unfair?”

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  1. ldub says:

    sounds like just an off day and he didn’t like the way the question was phrased.

    don’t worry bloke we all have them.

    • qwerty says:

      That question was just fishing for a headline. The reporter didn’t even know himself what he wanted to ask him about.

      • Liv says:

        And the reporter just admit that the point was his own sexuality, not the one of the character…and that is certainly not a topic which he has to discuss publicly. So rude. Then again he could say something like next question and move on with the interview.

      • crtb says:

        it must get tiring to be asked those kind of questions alllllllllll of the time. Who cares?

    • bluevelvet says:

      Bottom line, it’s really not any of the interviewer’s (or his audience’s) business. So there : P

      • InsertNameHere says:

        Did you actually read the exchange? Hardy backed the reporter into asking about his sexuality – that wasn’t the aim of the question at all.

    • litter says:

      From Hardy’s line of questioning, it sounded like he would have answered the question if it actually pertained to the movie.

  2. Lilacflowers says:

    That clip with the dogs has me laughing all day yesterday

    • Becks says:

      Yes! I’m a Dog lover and every time I see Tom Hardy with pups, my ovaries explode!
      He’s adorable on those clips, as well as the doggies 😍

    • byland says:

      Okay, real question: will the videos make me cry? What’s the context of conversation during the puppy wiggliness? Because I’m running out of tissues on my bedside table and I don’t want to have to move to get more.

  3. BeBeA says:

    I get why a famous person would shut down on certain questions, yes they are public figures but why do they have to get personal with strangers.

    • luxlife says:

      For real! Why does anyone need to know about a person’s sexuality. And it really makes me angry when people from the LGBT community insist on “outing” people who either aren’t ready to come out (for what ever reason) or aren’t even homosexual! And Tom has clearly said that homosexual sex was not for him.

      • Mary-Alice says:

        Heh, not only people from the LGBT community though. While those certainly expect and are quite pushy as reporters, it’s very common people who, even on this blog, drag actors’ sexuality into conversations about actors’ work. Cheap and quite hypocritical given that same people shout about “no gossiping”. LOL It’s just disappointing human nature. Nosy and thirsty covered under some “noble” cause.

  4. Aussie girl says:

    I don’t think he was having an off day. He just was perplexed as to why the reporter was asking about his personally sexuality. Well that was my thoughts when I watched it.

    • Esteph says:

      I got that feeling too

    • eleri says:

      the weasely reporter was being purposefully oblique and i liked it when mr. hardy said ‘what are you on about?’. tom tom tom all day long!

    • Original T.C. says:

      Agreed, the reporter was trying to be slick and Tom called him out on the carpet like “no weasel, stop the bs and be honest that you are trying to get into my private bedroom business!”. No, neither reporters nor fans need to know about what type of sex a celebrity is into unless they are up for charges of rape, assault or pediphilia. And no, don’t use the excuse of “we only want to know if you are gay so you can be a role model to gay youths”. Actors are not role models, doctors , teachers and community activists are. Good for Tom 🙂

      • Chaiselongue says:

        Well said.
        Weasel ‘journalist’ from a particular site can’t come up with a question about the film, so tries to get a newsworthy quote – and fails miserably. Great!
        Totally team Hardy on this.
        Legend is a an enjoyable good, not great, film about gangsters, one of whom was openly gay. The film doesn’t focus on this although it’s one of the several strands of the story. Ronnie Kray was not an activist. Utterly pointless question with nothing to back it once weasel was called out on it. Um, indeed.

    • Kitten says:

      +1,000,000
      It was a stupid, inappropriate question. Ugh.

    • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

      Plus, he has already stated that he’s straight. I don’t think your sexuality is really anyone’s business, but he has already answered a direct question about it very openly. This reporter was being very coy and trying to say “you played a gay character, so are you gay?” without coming out and saying it. It was dumb and inappropriate.

    • Who ARE these people? says:

      Glad to see I’m not alone in thinking the reporter was playing games and Hardy didn’t play along. Sometimes members of the press seem more hung up on these issues than their readers. Does it really sell papers/get clicks the way it used to?

    • bluhare says:

      Exactly. That’s why they call it “acting”.

    • byland says:

      It was a poorly worded question to start with. How should Tom Hardy know if it’s difficult for other celebrities to talk about their sexualities? The only person he can answer that definitively about is himself – and could perhaps give insight as to his wife’s thoughts on the matter, but that’s not his place, only hers.

    • Mary-Alice says:

      Tom has been very professional here, all I saw/heard is very nice. I have no reason to believe he suddenly switched to the opposite. Besides, why is the actor’s personal life dragged into a conversation about his work? For how much longer is this going to be tolerated and in such a manner? He is not the character, he is someone *pretending* to be the character. If and when actors want to talk, they talk. It’s not a reporter’s (or anyone else’s) business to bring the topic to the conversation. I’m not even Tom’s fan but this is so unprofessional, pushy and disgustingly nosy.

  5. Mark says:

    meh gossip sites and magazines are more harmful to LGBT people than they’d like to let on because that would mean people admitting they are wrong. They claim to be pro-lgbt but whenever there is a actor who is apparently in the closet people feel like they have a right to out the person and turn it into a witchhunt.

    I’m glad he didn’t answer so it didn’t turn into a media frenzy.

    • I Choose Me says:

      Mark I so agree with you! The manner in which some posters speculate about some actors sexuality (some even act as if they KNOW for a fact) is very telling.

      Team Hardy.

    • Wazza says:

      Yes! And actually his tone of voice was very forgiving and compassionate, he wasn’t unkind to the idiot reporter,he just made clear he didn’t want to discuss then and there. The room was packed, it was in really poor taste that the question was asked.

  6. CidySmiley says:

    I don’t think the reporter was originally asking about his sexuality, he asked about the character, and Hardy has previously talked about his sexuality so the reporter probably assumed it was okay. I feel bad for him, actually, cause he was just doing his job.

    • Original T.C. says:

      He was asking about Tom’s sexuality. Mr Hardy might look like an unintelligent bloke but he’s actually a pretty sharp guy. He knew exactly what the reporter was fishing for and he was right that’s why the reporter had nothing else to say at the end. LOL.

    • ReginaG19 says:

      I thought the question was rude as hell – “your sexuality is ambiguous?” I don’t see how the question is relevant because he’s playing a gay character in a movie? People are so obsessed with that Attitude interview. To say that this question is fair game because he has spoken about it is kind of reaching, especially since his comments were not ambiguous. I mean he says “but I’m not into men sexually” – case closed. Imagine being asked a question that is trying to convince you otherwise?

  7. lulu1 says:

    That was badly-phrased and terrible journalism. Why should Mr Hardy or anyone else answer a question that makes no sense???

    In addition to that, I really don’t see why journalists feel they have the right to ask actors about their sexuality anyway – assuming that was what this tactless word-mangler of a reporter was doing. If I were an actor is this situation, I would ask journalists to discuss their own sexuality.

  8. islandwalker says:

    None of them should have to answer questions about their sexuality. It’s none of our business.

  9. JH says:

    It’s a dumb question. The reporter got a deserving answer.

  10. smcollins says:

    On a purely superficial note, while he looks good with the beard he has such beautiful lips! Don’t hide them from us! 😉

  11. Sixer says:

    Ha. Kaiser, to a Brit reading this, it doesn’t come off as The Bloke being touchy about being asked in a snidey, sneaky way about his sexuality. It comes off as The Bloke being a chippy git to a reporter being snidey and sneaky.

    These are our two default Brit responses to being asked “trip-up” questions: the chippy one, as here; and the polite Brit one, such as Hiddlesburp would give, that somehow ducked the question with self-deprecation and a flowery word salad.

    I’m completely biased, of course, but I bet if you sat The Bloke down in a long interview, he’d talk loads about sexuality. I think he just got chippy at a sandbag in a press conference for sound bites.

    • Shambles says:

      Chippy git is really fun to say. Chippy git, chippy git, chippy git.

    • Kitten says:

      ITA, and a I appreciate the British translation, Sixer.

      I really don’t think Tom has an issue with his sexuality–he’s always struck me as being really open about that sort of thing. I think he was just irritated about how the reporter asked the questioned. It was cheap and sneaky, even a bit wish-washy.

      • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

        Me, too, and as soon as The Bloke challenged him by asking what exactly are you trying to say? the reporter backed off and tried that greasy answer about oh um, ambiguity in actors and roles and stuff, The Bloke just said “bye.” I say good for him.

    • Sixer says:

      I don’t think he has an issue either. I think, given the right media outlet, he’d be happy to give one of his stream-of-consciousness monologues on it. It would make no sense, because his monologues never do, but there would be plenty of words!

      I am of the Chippy Brit variety. My standard answer to such obnoxious hinting is, “What’s your middle name, then? Wanker?” I won’t win any Hiddleston Manners Awards!

    • Lilacflowers says:

      I need a clip of Bill Nighy saying “chippy git” in a variety of attitudes

    • frisbee says:

      Here’s one he made earlier (chippy that is) and also apologising to a reporter who didn’t ask the stupid question (Bless!)

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsWZsVwSyAM

      Personal favourite chippy British response to a snide aside “if you had a brain mate – you’d be dangerous”

    • laura in LA says:

      Mmm, a flowery word salad sounds good, maybe with some chippy git on the side.

  12. jinni says:

    Considering he’s the one that put that quote out there for people to speculate in the first place when before there were no rumors about him in that regard, I don’t get why he is so touchy about reporters asking such a question. Especially since, like it was pointed out, one of the characters is gay. Every actor knows when they are playing a gay character these sort of questions are going to come up, so why do this role if he couldn’t deal with these sort of questions?

    • FingerBinger says:

      +1 Hardy opened that can of worms himself. The reporter wasn’t asking a gotcha question.

    • Nik says:

      I agree with both your thoughts. I think the question was poorly worded but he shouldn’t have gotten so defensive when the reason we know about his bisexual past is because of him.

    • EN says:

      Disagree. People get somehow upset about actors not wanting to talk about their experiences, and you see a lot of them trying to out an actor as gay.
      But when an actor honestly says that he tried and didn’t like it and this is how he knows he is straight, then it is fair game to ask him very personal questions from now on?
      This is why most actors are scared to death of these questions.

    • Arpeggi says:

      The premise that any actor playing a homosexual will be asked about their own sexuality is already weird; are actors asked about their sex life when they play a straight person? Of course they aren’t! They are actors, their job is to play pretend things that usually have nothing to do with their real selves, they shouldn’t have to refuse a role they like because people will want to extrapolate to their private life, that doesn’t make any sense. And saying that he, in the past, accepted in a certain context to talk about his sexual experiences doesn’t mean he has to do that everytime. Just like everything about sex, the fact that you consented to do something once, with a certain person, doesn’t grant automatic consent every time with every one; you can always say no. The question was badly worded and overly sneaky, it was his right to refuse to answer it.

  13. vauvert says:

    I think he was perfectly right to shut it down. the question asked was downright dumb. Let’s review:
    “Do you find it hard for celebrities to talk to media about their sexuality?”

    Well, Tom cannot speak for ALL celebrities so asking him about it like that makes no sense. As far as he himself is concerned, given the previous interviews, obviously he has had no problem talking about his sexuality and at this point probably feels he has shared all that he wants to share publicly. How many more times does he need to explain it? And why does he owe an explanation to anyone? (I am not a fan, so don’t shoot me, but isn’t he married and has a baby?)

  14. Jaded says:

    TIFF is neither the time nor place to ask such a stupid question.

    • Who ARE these people? says:

      You mean like the stupid question Benedict Cumberbatch got asked last year?

      (and it wasn’t the time or place then either)

  15. renee says:

    At a minimum, it was a poorly asked question but most likely the reporter was trying to have a “gotcha” moment.

  16. Renee says:

    I can’t shade him for this. He is in a room full of people he doesn’t know being asked something that is of an extremely personal nature. Just because he has brought it up in the past does not mean that others should or can, or that this was the correct context to do it in. He’s there to stump for a film and not to talk about himself, really. It’s a bit different than an interview. Also, he’s acting, not performing the story of his life. I guess when heterosexual actors are asked about their heterosexuality in majority queer contexts, then it won’t matter so much when things like this occur.

  17. meme says:

    Stupid reporter, stupid question. I adore Tom Hardy and his love of dogs makes him even more loveable. So freaking handsome, The Bloke is.

    England has such fun shows…why can’t we have shows like this in the US?

  18. Colette says:

    For anyone who doesn’t understand why a an actor would be touchy discussing their sexuality.Take a minute and make a list of all the A list LGBT actors in Hollywood.There are none, so MAYBE that’s why they are touchy.I just had this same discussion on another site regarding gay rappers.

    • Mary-Alice says:

      I’d rather say that we don’t know if any of the A-listers are gay but I also wonder why should we know? They should be A-listers for their work, no? Why is all this expectation that actors must come out because… role models or whatever, leaders of the new era of pure honesty and blah-blah. This is not a crusade, it’s their bedroom. I hate people trying to sneak into my personal life, why wouldn’t actors? What business do we or reporters have there after all? Acting is a job, not a political or moral stance. And no, I don’t buy the “youth look up to them”. It’s our job to raise our kids with the expected values. Actors work and simply get paid much, those who manage to succeed. Enough with the pushy coming out agenda.

  19. Emma says:

    Lmao he made that journalist look like a fool.

  20. Mia4S says:

    Basset Hound, Great Dane!!!

    And amateur reporter.

    None of our business.

    (My not quite haiku for this thread.)

  21. CidySmiley says:

    The reporter said “do you find it hard for celebrities to talk about their sexuality?” Not “what is your sexuality” Tom had a good moment to shine some light on the topic but instead he chose to be a butt. I don’t understand why everyone is mad at the reporter. It’s a good question! Does media scrutiny make it hard for celebrities to open up about their sexuality? Good question.

    • Who ARE these people? says:

      Then rephrase. “You’ve been a celebrity as well as a damn fine actor for some time now. We reporters are so intrusive about your private lives including matters of sexuality. In fact, we’re ignoring what you’ve already told us about yourself specifically, and now you’re playing a person who is gay, so hey! We’re on! So, as we are still asking personal questions that we have no right to ask and about which our readers probably do not care at this point because Times Have Changed, given that you’ve likely surveyed all the celebrities that you know about the tactless ways we pry into your personal lives, what were your findings? Come on, you can tell me! I’m cool!”

      Honestly, they come across like middle-schoolers who are titillated with the notion that because they are journalists who are “supposed to” ask anything, they can now ask about sex, sex and more sex. Whoopie! Don’t blame Hardy one bit.

    • Kitten says:

      How is that a good question, though? “Good questions” aren’t ones that require a yes/no answer to satisfy them. Good questions open up a discussion and prompt the interviewee to form a thoughtful response. That’s like Journalism: 101.

      Also, Tom DID answer the question BTW:
      “I don’t find it difficult for celebrities to talk about their sexuality.”

      Sorry but ask a stupid question get a stupid answer.

      • CidySmiley says:

        I didn’t think it was a stupid question. And also I don’t think I should have to remind everyone this: journalists usually work for a company and collaborate their questions. He asked if it was hard for celebrities to open up about their sexuality, it wasn’t just a yes/no. He probably could have worded it better, and staged it better. I’m not saying Tom had no rights to be irritated, being asked a ton if questions about sexuality, but he’s playing a gay character and has talked about it before. The reporter probably assumed it was cool for him to ask.

      • Jaded says:

        @CidySmiley – the reporter asked Tom to speak for others, not himself. How could he have answered? He doesn’t speak for the majority of actors on questions of their personal sexuality. Furthermore, he was there to promote his movie, not proselytize on an issue from a personal perspective or from the perspective of other actors. It was a totally boneheaded question and he dealt with it very well.

  22. Nev says:

    I saw this live on the news. The reporter was hemming and hawing and it was annoying. That’s why he was shut down. There was never and proper question asked.

    • CidySmiley says:

      “Do you find it hard for celebrities to talk about their sexuality?”

      • ReginaG19 says:

        And Tom answered no. The reporter also prefaced his question with “your sexuality is ambiguous”. I don’t know who would be ok with that, famous or not.

  23. mkyarwood says:

    If you can’t ask a trans person about their genitalia, you probably don’t need to ask a cisgender person what kind of hole they like to stick theirs in most. I ‘spose.

  24. snakecharmer says:

    HE IS SO HOT like SMOKIN’

  25. Marianne says:

    Im with Tom on this one. Kind of rude to ask such personal questions.

    Also, I wouldnt say his oscar buzz is completely gone. He still has The Revenant.

  26. Tara says:

    This comments section would look very different if an actress had behaved like this.

    • Don't kill me I'm French says:

      The comment section would look different if it is not about Tom Hardy .

      • Coco says:

        This.
        It’s funny because especially on this place I’ve seen so many people making fun of other actors calling then gay or calling their girlfriends “beards”. But they get defensive when an actor is asked about a subject he has brought in the past.

      • Tara says:

        Yeah you’re right. I still think people are more critical of actresses, but there are some male actors who wouldn’t get away with it either. Tom Hardy could push an old lady down stairs and someone would defend him saying they kind of see why he did that.

  27. Skye says:

    I have never loved anyone more than him in those videos. How did I miss the magic of Tom Hardy for so long???

  28. serena says:

    Douche!

  29. Bread and Circuses says:

    I actually love the way he handled this. “Quit prancing around the subject. ARE you asking me about my sexuality? Yes? Well, then screw off. It’s my business.”

  30. Coco says:

    I like Hardy, but is amusing the pass he gets on this place some times.

  31. Bethie says:

    I love Tom Hardy, but I never know what the hell he’s saying. I had to watch “Stuart: A Life Backwards” with the captions on. And I know that’s not how he really talks, but I sometimes couldn’t understand him in this interview, too. God, I’m such a bloody Yank.

  32. Tiny Martian says:

    Love Tom, and loved his response. It was a leading question, and Tom wanted to know what it was leading to. The interviewer couldn’t even respond clearly, Tom had to make him think about it!

    And he did answer the question, but it was a dead end question unless it was meant to lead into Tom’s personal life, which shouldn’t be a part of the conversation anyway.

  33. Spike says:

    I checked out Daily Xtra. It’s a Canadian publication at the TIFF. It’s not a celeb rag. NSFW ad warning.

    Well written articles about political, social and international issues related to the LGBT community. I perused their online videos – they’ve interviewed All Pacino, Benedict Cumberbatch, Julia Binoche, Meryl Streep, etc. The Pacino interview is great.

    This interview was one of five covering films featuring LGBTQ characters. Evan Rachael Wood, Ellen Paige, Susan Sarandon and James Franco were all interviewed.

    Now this is my personal deal – I have some stock answers for questions I don’t intend to answer. Move along, there’s nothing to be seen here. Tom put his sexuality out there years ago in another interview. He needs to have a stock answer. Especially for a press conference. About his role as a gay gangster. It’s the cost of doing business.

    Franco was a bit bewildered in his red carpet interview, but he just said he wasn’t prepared to answer the question at that time.

    I’m not saying Tom was wrong. The studio’s PR team needs to prep him more effectively. However his response (which was fine) was picked up by many sites. Just Google Tom Hardy TIFF. Unfortunately he became the story.