14 DAY TRIAL // Clint Eastwood was one of the many A-list guests at the Guys’ Choice Awards 2015 held this weekend at the Sony Pictures Studio in Culver City, California. The legendary actor and director introduced Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and, in the process, made a Caitlyn Jenner joke that didn’t sit well with many members of the audience.
Spike TV is now confirming for USA Today that said joke won’t be included in the broadcast because of its offensive nature.
Clint Eastwood doesn’t approve of Caitlyn’s transition
According to the publication, the famous director introduced Johnson on stage by comparing him to other worldwide famous athletes who made a successful crossover to acting, like “Jim Brown and Caitlyn Somebody…”
Until last week, Caitlyn “Somebody” aka Caitlyn Jenner was known as Bruce Jenner, one of the best and most loved athletes in US history and a very successful reality star thanks to his connection to the Kardashians.
Rumors that Bruce was going to transition from male to female had been making the rounds for a couple of years at the time he confirmed them in an April interview with Diane Sawyer for ABC. However, it wasn’t until last week that he came out as a woman by announcing the name he would be using for the rest of his life: Caitlyn.
It was also the first time Jenner was seen in public in women’s clothes, thanks to a beautiful Vanity Fair pictorial. Caitlyn Jenner’s VF spread was touted as a revolutionary step in the struggle of the LGBT community for more awareness and acceptance, so it became the topic of most conversations, both online and off-line.
Obviously, Clint Eastwood doesn’t approve of Jenner’s coming out or of the attention she’s been getting since the VF issue.
David Schwarz, Spike TV senior vice president of communications, confirms Eastwood’s joke happened, but says, “We will remove the reference in the version that will air” on June 18.
Clint Eastwood isn’t alone
As it happens, Clint Eastwood isn’t the only celebrity to have nothing nice to say about Jenner’s big reveal, as neither is he the only one to be silenced in his criticism.
Also last week, Tom Cruise’s son Connor tweeted that the world was making too much fuss about Caitlyn when there were other, more important things to discuss about. The backlash was so huge that he was forced to delete his initial messages and offer a clarification: overpopulation, over-fishing and pollution were more important issues to discuss about than Caitlyn, he said.
Before that, former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell came under heavy fire after tweeting “Sorry… still calling you Bruce” after Caitlyn’s Vanity Fair came out with the tagline “Call me Caitlyn.”
He too was pressured into taking it back and apologizing.