'If somebody wants to say they're gay, it's up to them,' Nigel Lythgoe tells Entertainment Weekly.
Once Maroon 5 frontman and "The Voice" judge Adam Levine gave "American Idol" a tongue-lashing regarding what Levine deemed the "masking" of its gay contestants, it seemed only a matter of time before we'd hear a rebuttal from the "Idol" powers that be. Said rebuttal has arrived via executive producer Nigel Lythgoe in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
"To be frank, I didn't understand why we're talking about contestants being gay or not gay," Lythgoe told the magazine when asked about Levine's complaint that the ratings juggernaut prefers that gay contestants don't publicly disclose their sexuality. "I don't go into my dentist and say, 'Are you gay?' I don't say to contestants on 'So You Think You Can Dance' [on which Lythgoe serves as a judge and executive producer], 'Are you gay?' What does it got to do with me? What does it got to do with anybody? When does privacy stop in this country? If somebody wants to say they're gay, it's up to them. You don't expect us to turn around and say, 'Are you gay?' Why would we do that? — 'By the way, he's a Catholic and he supports Obama and here's his sexuality' — what does that have anything to do with singing talent? Maybe it does for Adam Levine, but not for me."
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Complete article at MTV : http://on.mtv.com/nBIEFL
