ENTERTAINMENT: Universal pulls trailer for Vince Vaughn flick “The Dilemma” after complaints about derrogatory use of word “gay”

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Anderson Cooper has led the way this week by complaining loudly about the trailer for the upcoming Vince Vaughn comedy The Dilemma in which the actor says to a roomful of people: “Ladies and gentlemen, electric cars … are gay.”

Anderson said on his CNN show and on The Ellen DeGeneres Show this week that he saw the trailer while at the movies over the weekend and was not only shocked that the phrase was in the film, but right there in the trailer.

It’s made a difference: Universal Pictures has decided to pull the trailer for the movie and replace it with a new one some time today, the studio tells TMZ.
Sources at Universal Pictures told Deadline Hollywood‘s Nikki Finke they showed the trailer to gay rights groups beforehand, including GLAAD, and didn’t get any negative feedback. We’ll see if GLAAD has anything to say about that claim.

UPDATE: GLAAD says: Last month Universal shared a link to the trailer for the film ‘The Dilemma’ with GLAAD. After reviewing, GLAAD called on Universal to remove the scene where the word ‘gay’ was used as a pejorative from the trailer. Today, after Anderson Cooper also spoke out against the scene, Universal confirmed to GLAAD that the offensive joke will be removed from promotional campaigns from this point forward, including in the trailer currently playing in movie theatres.

Said GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios: “The use of the word ‘gay’ in this trailer as a slur is unnecessary and does nothing more than send a message of intolerance about our community to viewers.”

A rep for Universal Pictures also told TMZ, “The teaser trailer for The Dilemma was not intended to cause anyone discomfort. In light of growing claims that the introduction to the trailer is insensitive, it is being replaced. A full trailer, which has been in the works for some time, will post online later today.”

Kudos to Anderson for staying on this. And I have to add this thought because I’ve been hearing from gays who think Anderson has to publicly come out with all that is going on and his involvement in the reporting. I just want to reiterate my stance on this: any gay person should come out when and if they damned well want to. I’m grateful for Anderson’s passion and persistence on this topic.

Here is his appearance on Ellen’s show: