- Dan Levy reflected on homophobia in the 2000s, when he was a host on MTV Canada.
- Levy said he got comments from coworkers about him not being a "real man."
Dan Levy recalled facing homophobia during his early days as a host on MTV Canada's "MTV Live," telling his former cohost Jessi Cruickshank that he would receive homophobic comments from coworkers.
Appearing on Cruickshank's new podcast, "Phone a Friend with Jessi Cruickshank," Levy reflected on the climate of mid-2000s homophobia and its culture of outing people. While Levy was out in his personal life, he wasn't necessarily out on camera and faced derogatory comments in the workplace.
"I remember walking into work one day, and someone asked me what I did on the weekend. And I said, 'Well, I installed a dimmer switch in my apartment,'" Levy said. "And that person said, 'Wow, it's almost like you're a real man.'"
Levy told Cruickshank that at the time, there was "nobody to go to because it was a different time." While he thinks that he could have been better taken care of in the workplace, the "Schitt's Creek" showrunner said he doesn't know whether he could "place blame" for anything that happened due to the time period.
Levy's career began in 2006 as a host on "MTV Live," and he also hosted MTV Canada's "The After Show" with Cruickshank. His first acting role was in the TV movie "Degrassi Goes Hollywood," and he's best known for co-creating and starring in the Emmy award-winning series "Schitt's Creek" alongside his father, the award-winning comedian Eugene Levy. Levy, as well as "Schitt's Creek," have both been recognized by LGBTQ organizations like GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign.
Levy told Cruickshank that in the late 2000s, he worried about whether coming out more publicly would affect his career and acting aspirations. A culture of exposing queer celebrities also made him draw back even more.
"You had these kind of bloggers making it their job to out people without their consent like it was some kind of news responsibility," he said.
"When you do feel like there's this hunt to out gay people of note in culture, it almost makes you want to hide even more because you don't wanna draw any attention to yourself," he continued.