ABC/Adam Taylor
Two men "near dancing" on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars."
An openly gay singer, Who Is Fancy (yes, that is what he calls himself), is set to perform his new song, "Boys Like You," with Ariana Grande and Meghan Trainor on the reality competition show's November 23 episode. The song is about a man falling in love with another man, so the singer's choreographer wanted to have two men dancing with each other in the performance. But TMZ reported that ABC wasn't having it.
According to the site's sources, a "DWTS" producer responded to the choreographer's request via email: "Apologies all but this is a definitive no from the network."
ABC reportedly said it would allow "near dancing," such as the performance earlier this week in which pro dancers Alek Skarlatos and Carlos PenaVega basically toss each other around to Queen's "We Will Rock You."
ABC
Show representatives declined to comment for this story. One of TMZ's sources said, "Creative conversations are ongoing about the dance number."
This isn't the first time that an ABC show has been embroiled in controversy over a diversity issue. For years, the network had been pressured to have a minority or gay man lead "The Bachelor." Ironically, its first minority bachelor, Juan Pablo Galavis, who's Latino, would say that a gay man could never be the Bachelor.
It would seem that ABC's nonfiction shows haven't caught up to its scripted series. A gay couple is part of the central story on "Modern Family," for example. But it did take "Modern Family" one season for its gay couple, Cam (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitch (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), to kiss, after pressure from viewers and critics.
But "Quantico," the FBI-themed series that premiered this season, has portrayed two men kissing already.