How Did "Empire" Viewers Respond To The Show's First Gay Kiss?
We've been following Fox's red-hot new drama Empire, both as fans of the show and slaves to the pop-culture constellation.
And while ratings are breaking a 23-year-old record—and stars like Courtney Love and Jennifer Hudson are signing up to make appearances—it appears the show's gay storyline wasn't a hit with early test audiences.
The Washington Post's Cecilia Kang was on HuffPost Live and recalled a discussion she had with co-producers Lee Daniels and Danny Strong about the kiss Jamal (Jussie Smollett) has with his boyfriend, Michael (Rafael de La Fuente).
"The test audiences they showed this to...the ratings plummeted," said Kang. "They did not like that scene at all."
She said the response "was indicative of the homophobia that many have discussed existing within parts of the African-American community," per Huffington Post.
But Daniels and Strong stuck to their guns and refused to cut the scene. Kang says they're hoping to "push buttons with this show" and address "real issues, rich topics that really resonate."
