Billy Eichner Clarifies Comments Many Perceived to Be a ‘Slap in the Face’ of Hulu’s ‘Fire Island’

Billy Eichner returned with a long-awaited episode of Billy on the Street, and he tapped Paul Rudd for the revival!

“Fire Island,” Hulu’s LGBTQ+ ensemble dramedy from writer and star Joel Kim Booster and director Andrew Ahn, will be recognized at the 32nd annual Gotham Awards with its Ensemble Tribute. In addition to Booster, the acclaimed Searchlight Pictures release co-stars “Saturday Night Live” Emmy nominee Bowen Yang alongside Conrad Ricamora, James Scully, Matt Rogers, Tomás Matos, Torian Miller, Nick Adams, Zane Phillips and Margaret Cho.

Fire Island” will receive The Gotham Film & Media Institute’s ensemble tribute during the 32nd annual Gotham Awards ceremony, Variety has learned exclusively. The announcement comes during the Gotham Week Conference, which concludes Sept. 23 in Brooklyn. The “Fire Island” cast includes Joel Kim Booster, Bowen Yang, Conrad Ricamora, James Scully, Matt Rogers, Tomás Matos, Torian Miller, Nick Adams, Zane Phillips and Margaret Cho. Directed by Andrew Ahn and written by Booster, the LGBTQ romantic comedy follows best friends Noah (Booster) and Howie (Yang) as they embark on a summer adventure with their eclectic group of friends to Fire Island Pines. Inspired by Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” the film explores queerness through a diverse, multicultural lens.

EJ Panaligan editor “Bros” co-writer and star Billy Eichner had sincere words to share about his upcoming romantic comedy at the Variety Cover Party at TIFF sponsored by Skyy. “I could have never imagined in a million years that we would have been able to premiere in such a spectacular way,” Eichner said about the buzz behind the film leading up to its release. “Thank you to everyone at Variety, this feature really was the most beautiful, accurate thing that’s ever been written about me.” In a lengthy interview with Variety, Eichner discussed the film’s entirely LGBTQ cast along with the many distinctive ways in which his personal life has influenced the development of the movie’s characters and plot lines. “I’ve worked so hard on it, I care so much about it, and I want it to do well for the sake of the LGBTQ stories getting greenlit,” he told Variety‘s Brent Lang. “So there’s a burden I feel, much as I want to sit here and just talk about how funny the movie is.”

also prides themself on not being emotionally available?”In the R-rated comedy, already being cited for its realistic depictions of gay men having sex, Eichner plays Bobby, a brash, blunt podcaster who spearheads an LGBTQ+ museum and falls for Macfarlane’s Garth Brooks-loving estate lawyer Aaron, who is quite a different representative of the community they both inhabit.“It’s interesting to see, as an actor, how many flaws I can have [with a character] and still get away with making the love story happen,” Macfarlane said, adding that he sometimes pushed back on his character’s rougher edges, thinking they might be too off-putting. “I saw the movie yesterday and I thought, ‘Aaron, you are such a dick!'”Eichner agreed, noting that Bobby and Aaron are “both dicks at various points, but that’s how people are.”Stoller assured Macfarlane he was in good stead: “I remember telling you, the more flawed and real you are, the more the audience is going to root for you for figure out your shit.”Apatow, a veteran of film exploring minefield relationships and stubborn male growth (“Knocked Up,” “This is 40”), commented on the historic nature of “Bros.” “It’s a very special experience, but it starts out with Nick and Billy having this really great idea,” Apatow said.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic It’s 2022, and a Hollywood studio has just made a movie in which two men fall in love and can’t figure out what to do about it. No one dies of AIDS. No one gets tire-ironed on the side of the road. Judd Apatow produced the thing, so you know it’s funny. And yet, somehow, “Bros” doesn’t feel like that big a deal. Sure, it’s a well-budgeted, wide-release, R-rated gay romcom, and that’s historic (if you put enough qualifying adjectives in front of it). But one of those had to come along sooner or later. Oddly, it feels like there already have been others, and there’s no question more are coming, considering how hard Hollywood has been working to include gay characters.

that at the ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ press conference!” he shouted.Well, no, you didn’t. “Bros” is a pretty singular entry on the film-festival circuit this year – not because it’s about a gay relationship, but because it takes the sensibility of producer Judd Apatow and co-writer and director Stoller – whose previous movies include “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “Meet Me at the Greek” and “Neighbors” – and applies them to a story that isn’t interested in trying to fit gay characters into the usual straight rom-com template.In fact, it makes fun of the whole idea of doing that in a scene early in the movie, in which Eichner’s character, Bobby, is asked to write a gay rom-com for a studio exec who’s only really interested in an edge-less movie that will show that “love is love is love.”Bobby, spewing pop-culture references and snarky putdowns with almost exactly as much zest as the guy who plays him does, begs to differ, and so does “Bros.” With a cast in which all the LGBTQ characters are played by LGBTQ actors, the film manages to make the point that, as Branum also said in the Q&A, “queer lives are different than straight lives.”The film, Eichner said, started when Stoller (“a straight man, for better or worse”) decided that his next film should be a romantic comedy about a gay couple.

The major studio romcom is back with a flourish, but it took Billy Eichner and Nicholas Stoller to prove the format still works, even if this time it is two gay men who are the ones who  find love against all odds.

TORONTO – Contrary to popular belief, there have been more gay romantic comedy movies than you might think. Many of them were released independently and a few even by the mini-majors (Searchlight, Focus Features, Sony Classics, etc).

Billy Eichner’s “Bros” just make history at the Toronto International Film Festival? It certainly felt like it. The Universal movie is breaking all kinds of barriers: It’s the first gay rom-com ever made by a major studio, the first with an all openly LGBTQ cast and Eichner is the first openly gay man to ever write and star in a studio movie. Audiences finally got to see the movie for themselves in Toronto on Friday night and, judging by the shrieks of laughter throughout the screening, it was a hit. “I want to thank TIFF for letting a comedy into a movie festival!” Eichner yelled into the audience before the film rolled, making a valid point about the dearth of studio comedies that world premiere at top international film festivals.

Deadline launched Day 1 of its photo studio at the Toronto Film Festival, as cast members of TIFF-premiering films stopped by including Nicolas Cage, from Butcher’s Crossing; Luke Macfarlane and Billy Eichner from Bros; Gabrielle Union and Jeremy Pope from The Inspection; and many more. Click on the photo above to launch the gallery. 

Cheryl Burke is setting the record straight.

Joel Kim Booster is speaking out.

Billy Eichner has been kicked off the dating app Tinder for the second time. Back in 2019, the Billy on the Street star revealed during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that he had been removed from the platform because moderators thought he was an impersonator. Billy received an apology from company bosses at the time, but during a new interview for Variety, he shared that he had been ditched yet again.

Variety. "I can't book a late-night talk show appearance just to get reinstated on Tinder.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Welcome to this week’s “Just for Variety.” As you’ll read (and see in the video above), this week’s column is a little different this time around. I am running around the Beverly Center trying to find something to wear for my interview with actor Luke Macfarlane. It’s not often I think about my outfits because I’m classic and consistent — chinos, button-up shirt, bow tie and a pair of colorful sneakers. However, my time with Macfarlane is going to be different because my editor has convinced me not only to work out with him, but to do it on camera.

Billy Eichner is addressing some comments he recently made in a new interview.