'Empire' Airs First Gay Black Weddg TV History

Contents:

• 'EMPIRE' STAR JSIE SMOLLET NFIRMS HE'S GAY
• JSIE SMOLLETT TAK PART TV'S FIRST GAY, BLACK WEDDG HIS LAST EMPIRE EPISO OF THE SEASON
• 'EMPIRE' CREATOR LEE DANIELS SAID HE'S BEEN STGGLG TO MAKE A GAY SUPERHERO MOVIE FOR YEARS BUT 'MAYBE THEY'LL GIVE TO A WHE GUY'
• 'EMPIRE' AIRS FIRST GAY BLACK WEDDG TV HISTORY

'EMPIRE' STAR JSIE SMOLLET NFIRMS HE'S GAY

------------LGBT story l and characters on work prime time aren’t new, but for a show steeped a genre that has a history of homophobia, “Empire” feels groundbreakg. Those scen are jarrg and paful to watch — but also black culture, masculy often begs and ends wh heterosexualy, and homosexualy is often seen as a sful aberratn.

JSIE SMOLLETT TAK PART TV'S FIRST GAY, BLACK WEDDG HIS LAST EMPIRE EPISO OF THE SEASON

For a show like “Empire” — whose st is black and will likely attract a predomantly black dience — to feature a gay man who isn’t a stereotype or ic relief is bold enough s own right.

'EMPIRE' CREATOR LEE DANIELS SAID HE'S BEEN STGGLG TO MAKE A GAY SUPERHERO MOVIE FOR YEARS BUT 'MAYBE THEY'LL GIVE TO A WHE GUY'

But seeg on a hip-hop show mak the show feel like a game ’s unlikely that there’s a sgle black gay man who won’t be able to intify wh Jamal, who’s portrayed by Jsie Smollett. Are some of those makg roads pop and rock mic, hip-hop particular lags behd acts breakg to the this time last year I wrote about FX’s “Chozen, ” an animated edy about a gay whe rapper that uld have been a provotive skewerg of the genre’s misogynist and homophobic ways.

'EMPIRE' AIRS FIRST GAY BLACK WEDDG TV HISTORY

I n still remember gettg emotnal wh Frank Ocean’s poted letter on his sexualy, celebratg any time a gay rapper ma an impact on pop culture (Big Freedia’s h Fe show and Le1f’s fiery but on “Late Show Wh David Letterman” to name a few) and cheerg when big nam like Jay Z, Kanye Wt or ASAP Rocky spoke support of ’s hard not to wonr if hip-hop will ever change.