During the lockdown, it feels like some of the most random celebrities are trending on Twitter for the oddest reasons. Like, people will dig up some old clip and re-amplify it like it’s new and then try to say that so-and-so is “canceled.” It’s bizarre. But on Friday night, Jeff Goldblum was trending for a real reason: he appeared as a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race. He wept over a lip sync to Katy Perry and he also asked some weird or uncomfortable questions about tucks and why an Iranian-Canadian queen wore a sparkly hijab.
Jeff Goldblum, known for his iconic role in the “Jurrasic Park” franchise, is facing social media backlash over comments he made to a contestant on “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Goldblum, who appeared as a Season 12 guest judge on the wildly popular show with “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s” Rachel Bloom, came under fire when he asked if the Islamic religion was “anti-homosexuality” and “anti-woman.”
His comments came during a “Stars and Stripes” themed runway walk, when Jackie Cox, whose non-drag name is Darius Rose, wore a red and white striped caftan and a blue hijab with silver stars. Cox, who is Iranian-Canadian, strutted the runway saying, “You can be Middle Eastern, you can be Muslim and you can still be American.”
Goldblum asked Cox if she was religious, and she said that she was not. “To be honest, this outfit really represents the importance that visibility for people of religious minorities need to have in this country,” Cox explained. That’s when Goldblum asked about the Islamic religion and how it treats people who identify as LGBTQ. “Is there something in this religion that is anti-homosexuality and anti-woman? Does that complicate the issue? I’m just raising it and thinking out loud and maybe being stupid,” the actor said.
The comment instantly sparked a backlash from fans, some of whom insisted that Islam is not the only religion that persecutes women and the LGBTQ community. Calling it a “complex issue,” Cox said that she also has misgivings about the way people who identify as LGBTQ are treated in the Middle East. A recent study done by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 52% of American Muslims agreed that “society should approve of homosexuality.”
I’m including the clip below… personally, I don’t think this was the moment for a larger conversation about how one particular religion deals with homosexuality, drag and women’s issues. It feels especially like a set-up because Jackie Cox was just doing the stars-and-stripes theme and… yeah, it feels like Goldblum couldn’t wrap his mind around the idea of a patriotic hijab. Christianity has had significant issues with all of this as well.
Ummmmmmmmm….. Jeff Goldblum wyd pic.twitter.com/dQndTH65VR
— Ira Madison III (@ira) April 25, 2020
Personally, I think the tuck question was a lot worse??
Jeff Goldblum being confused by tucking. That’s it, that’s the tweet. 😂@thegigigoode #DragRace pic.twitter.com/GuU2fEUmL1
— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) April 25, 2020
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Both questions clearly made the contestants uncomfortable. Gigi Goode’s face when he asked about tucking was….horrified. Normally the contestants would toss back a joke-Trinity was especially good about that-but I didn’t care for the way he was saying the comments.
I was excited for his appearance but I came out of it grossed out by the way he spoke to the contestants. I didn’t enjoy him in the debate challenge either.
His whole schtick is being awkward and uncomfortable and I have trouble watching his new show because of it. I turned it off half way through because it’s just too awkward. He makes me uncomfortable
Was it awkward? Sure. Was it in a political episode? Yes, so I can understand why they kept it in. Have they raised the issue before about Christianity? Yes, the queens have often talked about coming from a strict Christian background and the difficulties it can bring. An example is Dusty Ray Bottom talking about being sent to conversion camp.
Correct, Lara. It is usually some poor queen from a strict religious background – Dusty Ray, Eureka, are two who come to mind. It was an episode all about politics. I get why they left it in. The tucking comments were more uncomfortable. And, Jackie Cox is making a big thing about being Persian/Muslim, so answering questions about it doesn’t seem to be out of bounds to me.
But it’s important to remember that those moments with Christian queens when they speak about their faith and drag is either in the work room, untucked, or brought up amongst the queens themselves. I cannot remember (and someone please correct me if I’m wrong) the last time a guest judge asked a contestant to justify their faith amongst their LGBTQI+ identity. It almost seemed like Jeff had never seen a drag queen in person before. Now I can’t decide if Jeff himself decided to ask, if the production had a hand in it (and this season they’ve had a mighty heavy hand when it comes to rigga morris), or if it was edited in a way that made it seem so far out of left field. But all of the comments he made combined made for an uncomfortable viewing experience. I don’t know if I see it as appropriate to cancel someone over this, but I think it’s more of an indictment of the editors/producers of the show. They didn’t have to leave that narrative in, but they chose to. Whether that was for some strange religious conversation or to help Jackie’s storyline to justify her beating Widow in the LSFYL, we’ll never know
The problem is that Jeff’s comment is a broad generalisation – Islam = homophobia and misogyny. Contestants sharing their experiences with Christianity or a Christian upbringing is simply not comparable because in America (or the current RPDR target audience), Christianity generally viewed as a very wide spectrum of beliefs – from your very left-leaning Presbyterian churches all the way to your Westb*r* Baptist nut jobs. A contestant discussing their experience with family members that abandoned them due to Christian religious views or being sent to a Christian conversion camp, while very awful, would never be considered to be “the Christian norm” by a typical American viewer. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Islam. Perhaps you have enough experience and knowledge to know that “anti-gay and anti-woman” IS NOT a representation of a religion followed by ~1.5 billion people world wide, but not enough was said to ensure the average intended viewer would walk away with any other perspective. I think Jackie handled the situation admirably but they should have cut Jeff’s idiotic, bumbling, tone deaf question and kept her response about conflict with the religion in which she was raised (some other Christian queens have expressed), living her truth and the impacts the Muslim ban has on her life. (Anyway, go Heidi!!!!!!)
I’m probably one of the few, but Jeff Goldbloom gives me the creeps. There’s something so slick and calculated about him – I just don’t get good vibes, and never have.
Jeff Goldblum is creepy AF. He gets always with the most absurd and inappropriate behavior because he is deemed eccentric. He is not.
Yes, he comes across to me that way too
I’ll sit with you – safety in numbers. At one time I found him oddly attractive and now he just oozes smug creepiness and condescension.
I’ll sit with yall too. Creepy AF
with you
Agreed. He used to be so hot when I was younger and didn’t have as much real-life experience with creepy dudes. Now, not so much. He’s gross.
There are, apparently, a LOT of stories about this dude, and blue checks were confirming their existence on Twitter a while ago. Nicole Cliffe confirmed receipt of a multiple page email from one of his victims, and that she’d found a credible journalist to work on things (before she deactivated her account).
His Me Too moment is coming.
Yep. I remember that twitter thread detailing some of his predatory behavior, but no major outlet has broken the story nor has any author even tried to self-publish a linear narrative of the allegations they receive. It worries me. As you guys stated above, his “eccentricity” and the financial investment in his resurgence seem to be giving him some sort of pass for now.
He’s always made my skin crawl. You definitely aren’t alone.
I heard a story on another message board about him grabbing a young woman while he was playing a gig and forcing his tongue down her throat. She was with work colleagues and was incredibly uncomfortable and embarrassed. People kept telling her how lucky she was but she was very upset. I’ve never forgot that.
Religion is a tricky ground. We’ve gotten used to debating Christianity and attacking Islam and there is so much difference in the way those religions have been criticized. Being raised in Christian society helped me see how hypocritical it was. And I see Church as a vile Firm. However, I do think it is important to raise the questions about women’s position in ANY religion, as most are (Christianity too) still undermining women and our rights. I don’t see one of them as a problem – I see all of them. But, that’s just me. I don’t judge people who have beliefs – I think faith can be a wonderful friend in life, however, when it’s about rights, politics and norms that are 2000 years old we need to discuss the politics behind all of them now. Spirituality is a different thing to me.
well thought out comment, thanks @Lemonylips
Abrahamic religions are deeply rooted in misogyny. But it really wasn’t the right time for this type of discussion. Yikes.
While there is a lot of homophobia in many Islamic societies, there are also traditions of tolerance and acceptance. There is for example a lot of homoerotic poetry by many classic Arabic Muslim poets. https://www.out.com/news-opinion/2016/7/27/queer-muslims-islamic-poetry-represents-solace-and-acceptance The truth is that there is not single tolerant or intolerant religion, all religions have the capacity for both.
I don’t think he comment was anything important / shocking as its widely known that being trans and having any sex outside of a marriage are both haram in Islam. Also I think his comment /question was a reasonable response to what the contestant said.
And him making that obvious comment is probably exactly what that contestant wanted, the contestant is not religious so is not there to defend Islam.
Is anyone really surprised that an old person acted their age? My grandfather used to ask inappropriate questions all the time once he hit his late 60s. As they say, “Age dulls the edges of the mind like the wind softens mountains.”
From what it sounds like, he was curious and eager to learn—that just definitely wasn’t the time or place. However, one argument I’ve been hearing a lot is “well Christianity does ___ too.” All religions have their issues, some overlapping. But that doesn’t mean we can’t call into question some without constantly mentioning others. I think part of the issue was his discussing “religion” when to a certain extent this is a “culture” issue.
It always bothers me when people bring Christianity up when people criticize Islam as means of calling out hypocrisy. If it’s some MAGA-type doing it, sure. But people have pulled that card on me a million times and it’s like… honey… I do call the Christians out. A lot.
Is wearing a hijab okay if you’re just doing for fashion or make a statement? I’m really asking.
As for Islam, are we still doing this? Christianity and Judaism aren’t any better but of course Christianity looks better when you compare the laws of certain Islamic countries to those of Western “Christian” countries. I’m putting that in quotation marks because while for example Germany may be regarded as a country whose culture is steeped in Christianity, it’s really not a Christian country as such. Many many African countries treat homosexuality as a crime and are often predominantly Christian.
We like our superiority, don’t we? But god forbid (ha!) people apply for refugee status based on their sexual orientation. Weeeell ….. their Muslim home country can’t be THAT bad, can it?
Yes covering your hair for any reason is fine. Also, wearing abayas and other cultural clothing is fine. If you try to portray yourself as a Muslim woman and also act poorly while wearing a hijab, this is what people would take issue with. Keep in mind there are places like Iran and Saudi Arabia where all local women wear hijab, this doesn’t mean everyone thinks everyone else is a believer , it’s just the rule to cover yourself in this way.
Clothing and whatever you can use to cover your hair with aren’t sacred items, it’s just something which covers your aura when you’re out or in the presence of non mahram men. In contrast it is offensive to some people to wear bindhis or crosses as fashion if you don’t see them as sacred
“Islam isn’t the only religion that persecutes women”. Is that a defense? Other people do it too so Islam gets a pass? What a weird answer to that question. All three major world religions stem from the same place/faith and all three have issues with women and lgbtq people. We seem to be able to Freely bash, and rightly so, Christians like the Duggers for their misogyny. It just never seems to come up in regard to the Jewish community, probably because Orthodox Jews are rarely in the news in the US outside of NY. In regards to the Muslim community many On the left seem too afraid to add ask the hard questions out of fear of being labeled anti Muslim. I don’t see anything wrong with his question. And I don’t think we should give any oppressive belief system a pass because we want to be woke.
I so agree, religions in general don’t get a pass from me and they are all deeply problematic in practice and some in theology.
But Jackie was showing, through her drag, what it means to be Muslim American. And so I think the issue people have is, was this the right place to ask this question? Should she be put on the spot to defend Islam (which, I believe she said she’s not a practicing Muslim but was representing her family and Iranians in america in general), when she is just doing a drag performance? Do we ask queens to defend the myriad problems within Christianity whenever they dress as a nun or do any other play on Christianity, which is done very often?
So the question is good but the time and place, and the person who ended up being put on the spot (Jackie) was maybe not so good, in many peoples opinions.
I’m not sure where I stand, erring on the side of Jackie shouldn’t have been asked that when she was wearing the first hijab ever seen on the Dragrace runway. That was enough for her to have done. But I do see both sides I guess.
Jackie isn’t just showing what it means to be a muslim american, he is specifically dressing up as a muslim woman. Drag is supposed to be a caricature and I thought that putting on a hijab as part of a drag performance is kind of disrespectful. I agree with the sentiment but not the execution if that makes sense
You’re right. It’s a balancing act for everyone though. Even when it’s family, you can find yourself leaning too far in either direction at different times. This did go down a little more smoothly than it could have. It’s not good to put people on the spot like that though.
Jeff Goldblum is an idiot who’s gone a long way convincing some people that he’s a “smart” celebrity. SNL parodied that years ago on a Celebrity Jeopardy when David Duchovny conveyed him as a guy who says stupid things in a very mannered way. He’s also a creep with a very young wife who he admits he first saw when he was gawking at her performing gymnastics (he tells this story as if it’s cute).
Watch any episode of Graham Norton that he’s on and he keeps trying to dominate the conversation.
Honestly, I didn’t find the exchange(s) too cringeworthy, perhaps because I know that Jeff Goldblum is pretty kooky. I’m also a white, gay, Protestant male so it is entirely possible that I am not as informed on these issues as I should be. I enjoyed Goldblum as a judge because he seemed very engaged with the queens. I always enjoy watching heterosexual (I believe that’s how Goldblum identifies) men guest-judging on Drag Race because they’re always excited and confused in the beginning, but by the end of the show they’re all in. Jeff Goldblum was actually kind of flirty with all of the queens, which cracked me up but also reminded me of a story about JG here on Celebitchy where someone in the comments said that they had a friend who met Jeff in person and he was very flirty with everyone he interacted with: men and women. That was very much the vibe he gave off when he guest judged on Friday, IMO. Maybe it is a little creepy now that I think about it…
He was really going through it. I think he cares a lot about having important conversations, but I think he was very lacking in tact and should start with a broader personal understanding of the issues/questions he is raising, and assess whether this is the right forum to raise them.
He was also going through it with his emotional reaction to the lip sync. And for me, who ALWAYS starts crying when any of the queens convey great passion in their performance, it was nice to see a judge have the same reaction I always do. When Jackie showed her strong emotion during the lip sync, Jeff just lost it. I think it shows that he cares a lot. And Drag is an art form full of laughter as well as deeper emotions, so he felt that.
But white men of his age, they’ve been given a pat on the back for even trying, and have believed that it’s the responsibility of others to educate them where they lack knowledge. My very beloved late dad was the same way. He would say things that would be so outdated to the point of offense, or would think every interaction with a POC or LGBT person was a chance for that person so gently educate him, instead of doing his own work to understand the differences of others. My dad was a very loving person and was a civil rights ally, an early hippie, very big on equality, and raised his white kids with a CLEAR message that we work against racism and we listen to others and humble ourselves. But as he got older he couldn’t keep up (or wouldn’t, he wasn’t perfect) and eventually it really showed in his language and the questions he would ask.
Sorry this is so wordy 🤣. I’m a huge drag race fan. This episode, and Jeff’s comments, made me think quite a bit. Nice to see this covered here.
I agree, I don’t see malice in his comments. I understand why this need some older peeps have of being “educated” can be really patronizing and annoying, but lately – and this is just my opinion, you don’t have to agree – I really think people need to start choosing their battles. Was his question kinda unfortunate? Yeah. Is he some racist homophobe who was grossed out by what he was seeing? Obviously not.
Can we talk about whether it’s sketchy that a drag queen (who says he is not religious) is impersonating a muslim woman by wearing a hijab in a drag show? I feel like that is disrespecting a religious covering. Of course any person can wear a head covering but the point of drag is caricature. Also, I get that many women choose to cover and I 100% respect that choice but I think it sucks to make light of a garment that’s also forced on women all over the world and a drag queen wearing a hijab as a costume feels gross. If we’re talking about cultural sensitivity I think the costume choice is the more relevant discussion. I don’t have strong feelings about Goldblum one way or the other but it doesn’t seem to me that he said anything out of line. I think part of the point of having a straight guy judge drag race is that yeah he might be a little confused about things like tucking and that makes good tv. I’m a woman and I’m confused about why any guy would put themselves through that willingly lol
Drag exists to deconstruct gender norms. It celebrates femininity by challenging our perceptions of it head-on.
Islam isn’t exactly known for celebrating women and it doesn’t embrace the gay culture in which drag flourishes.
Jackie Cox can wear whatever she likes but can we stop pretending it isn’t deeply hypocritical to celebrate a religion whose adherents would see her dead.