‘The Normal Heart’ Playwright Larry Kramer Claims Barbra Streisand Finds Gay Sex ‘Distasteful’
Barbra Streisand finds gay sex “distasteful,” according to U.S. playwright Larry Kramer. The LGBT rights activist claimed that the music icon delayed the television film production of his play “The Normal Heart” because of her own discomfort about the subject of gay.
The TV movie “The Normal Heart” is based on Kramer’s play of the same name about the AIDS epidemic in the early ‘80s. It will star Mark Ruffalo, Matt Bomer, Taylor Kitsch, Jim Parsons, Alfred Molina, Jonathan Groff and Julia Roberts.
Kramer revealed that the production was delayed by Streisand, who had the film rights for years. He said that they were at odds on the film budget, as Kramer demanded “a lot of money” and that the story be told his way, while Streisand said that she couldn’t raise the money.
However, according to Kramer, there was another reason why it took years for the film to be made.
“I said, ‘I really think it’s important that after eons of watching men and women make love in the movies, it’s time to see two men do so,’” he told the New York Times.
“I bought her a book of very beautiful art pictures of two men making love, and she found it very distasteful.”
Streisand denied the accusation, saying that her intention was for the film “to promote the idea of everyone’s right to love. Gay or straight!”
“Larry was at the forefront of this battle and, God love him, he’s still fighting,” she said in a statement obtained by the paper. “But there’s no need to fight me by misrepresenting my feelings. As a filmmaker, I have always looked for new and exciting ways to do love scenes, whether they’re about heterosexuals or homosexuals. It’s a matter of taste, not gender.”
This is not the first time Kramer has criticised Streisand over her inability to bring his play to life on screen.
In April, Streisand had to defend after an email from Kramer that went public claimed that she was the reason why the film almost did not get made.
“I tried very hard to get it made, but when it became clear that we couldn’t raise the money to do it as a film due to the controversial nature of the material, I thought, ‘All right, we’ll do it on TV,’” she told The Hollywood Reporter.
“But HBO would only pay Larry $250,000 for the rights, and he would not let it go forward for anything less than $1,000,000, and no company was willing to move on it.”
The film rights were reverted to Kramer, and “Glee” creator Ryan Murphy got involved.
“In the press, Larry kept speaking out against me. But I think it’s unfair to keep blaming me for the movie not getting made. I worked on it for 25 years, without pay. Larry had the rights for the last 15 years and he couldn’t get it made, either. Those are the facts.”
Streisand added that Kramer offered the directorial chair to Streisand in 2007, but only using his screenplay. The singer/actress refused because “as a filmmaker, I couldn’t have my hands tied like that.”
The TV movie is also produced by Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment. It will debut on HBO on May 25.
