Tammy Faye Never Unrstood What That Whole Gay Thg Was About | PopMatters

Contents:

• HOW TELEVANGELIST TAMMY FAYE MSNER BEME A GAY IN
• ‘THE EY OF TAMMY FAYE’: HOW A BIBLE THUMPER BEME A GAY ADVOTE AND IN
• TAMMY FAYE NEVER UNRSTOOD WHAT THAT WHOLE GAY THG WAS ABOUT
• HOSTG A TALK SHOW WH TAMMY FAYE BAKKER WAS THE BT KD OF CHAOSJIM J. BULLOCK ON WORKG WH THE FAMO EVANGELIL, AND HIS FIRST RPONSE WHEN THE IA WAS FLOATED TO HIM: “MY HONT-TO-J REACTN WAS ‘SHE’S FUCKG CRAZY.’ AND HE SAID, ‘WELL, WOULD YOU MEET WH HER?’ I SAID, ‘OH, MY GOD, Y, OF URSE.’”BY MATTHEW JABSSEPTEMBER 17, 2021BY JOHN STOREY/GETTY IMAG.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVETAMMY FAYE BAKKER’S GILD WORLD ME CRASHG DOWN 1987. THE PERKY HOST OF THE PTL CLUB, A LONG-NNG CHRISTIAN PROGRAM THAT MA BAKKER ONE OF AMERI’S MOST FAMO EVANGELILS, WAS TOO CLOSELY AFFILIATED WH HER HBAND—ASSEMBLI OF GOD TELEVANGELIST JIM BAKKER—TO EVA THE D SNDAL THAT LAND HIM FERAL PRISON. BUT TAMMY FAYE, WH HER RTOONISH MAKP AND MIDWTERN MAGISM, WAS ALWAYS THE MORE CHARISMATIC BAKKER. IN THE ’90S, AFTER REMARRYG AND CHANGG HER LAST NAME TO MSNER, SHE MA A SOFT EBACK THE FORM OF THE JIM J. & TAMMY FAYE SHOW, A DAYTIME TALK SHOW FULL OF WACKY SEGMENTS LIKE GOAT-KG NTTS.THE JIM OF THE TLE WAS NOT MSNER’S RCERATED EX, BUT JIM J. BULLOCK—A EDIC ACTOR BT KNOWN FOR THE ABC S TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT, A RECURRG ROLE ON ALF, AND THE LATE-’80S ERATN OF HOLLYWOOD SQUAR. AS HER HOST, BULLOCK SAW MSNER’S POST-SNDAL LIFE UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL A WAY THAT FEW OTHERS DID. IN ADDN TO JIM J. & TAMMY FAYE, HE APPEARED THE 2000 DOCUMENTARY THE EY OF TAMMY FAYE, A GOOD PRIMER FOR THE NEW MOVIE OF THE SAME NAME STARRG JSI CHASTA AS MSNER AND ANDREW GARFIELD AS BAKKER.“TAMMY WAS ALWAYS A REAL PERSON; WHAT YOU SAW IS WHAT YOU GOT,” BULLOCK TELLS VANY FAIR. “HER FAH WAS EVERYTHG TO HER. SHE WAS AN CREDIBLY PASSNATE WOMAN AND VERY CHRISTLIKE, LOVG EVERYONE. IT’S HARD WHEN YOU GET TO A SUATN LIKE THAT THAT SPS OUT OF NTROL SO QUICKLY. IT’S HARD TO KNOW WHICH WAY IS UP AND WHICH WAY IS DOWN, AND SHE NEVER SAID ANYTHG BAD ABOUT JIM.”THE IA FOR A MSNER-LED SERI AROSE WHEN SHE APPEARED ON LEEZA, THE NBC TALK SHOW HOSTED BY FORMER ENTERTAMENT TONIGHT RRPONNT LEEZA GIBBONS. LEEZA PRODUCER JOHN REDMANN HAD PUT TOGETHER A 1994 EPISO THAT UNED THREE SNDAL-PLAGUED WOMEN OF THE LATE-20TH CENTURY: MSNER, GENNIFER FLOWERS, AND ROXANNE PULZER. GIBBONS SAYS SHE IALLY WORRIED THE NCEPT WAS EXPLOATIVE, BUT ONCE REDMANN NVCED MSNER TO PARTICIPATE, THE OTHERS AGREED TOO. AT THE END OF THE EPISO, THE TR PERFORMED “I WILL SURVIVE” TOGETHER.“SEEG HER PERSON WAS LIKE WHEN YOU’RE A KID AND YOU SEE A CHARACTER AT DISNEYLAND,” REDMANN SAYS. “YOU N’T BELIEVE THAT SHE’S A REAL PERSON AND SHE REALLY EXISTS. SHE WAS TY BUT WH A HUGE PRENCE. SHE KNEW HOW TO TURN ON, WHETHER ON MERA OR OFF MERA. SHE WAS SRED PEOPLE WOULDN’T LIKE HER. EVERY TIME I SAW HER AND HUGGED HER, MY SHIRTS WOULD HAVE HALF HER FACE IMPRTED ON THEM BEE SHE WORE SO MUCH MAKP. I’D HAVE ORANGE BRONZER AND RED LIPSTICK MARKS ALL OVER.”GIBBONS SCRIB MSNER AS “THE QUTSENTIAL TALK SHOW GUT” BEE SHE WAS “UNHIBED, VULNERABLE, AND A VISUAL BONANZA WH HER EYELASH.” AFTER THE TAPG, GIBBONS TOLD MSNER SHE SHOULD HAVE HER OWN SHOW. REDMANN SUGGTED THE IA TO PRODUCER DAN WEAVER, WHO HAD ALSO WORKED ON DONAHUE AND THE GERALDO RIVERA SHOW. SO WEAVER STARTED TO VELOP THE PROJECT, TERMG THAT MSNER WOULD BE A GREAT TALKER BUT NOT SUCH A RELIABLE EMCEE. SHE’D NEED A HOST TO HELP KEEP THE BROADST ON TRACK. WEAVER, WHO DIED 2018, ALSO CID THAT HOST SHOULD BE AN OPENLY GAY MAN—A RARE REQUT CIR 1994. SOMEHOW, THOUGH, MA SENSE. MSNER’S PRIMARY DIENCE SEEMED TO HAVE TWO HALV: NSERVATIV WHO LOVED HER PARABL, AND GAYS WHO LOVED HER PAGEANTRY.BULLOCK WAS WORKG ON A LTLE-SEEN S CANADA WHEN HE GOT THE LL OM WEAVER. “MY HONT-TO-J REACTN WAS ‘SHE’S FUCKG CRAZY,’” BULLOCK SAYS. “THAT’S LERALLY WHAT I SAID TO HIM, AND HE SAID, ‘WELL, WOULD YOU MEET WH HER?’ I SAID, ‘OH, MY GOD, Y, OF URSE.’ I DIDN’T KNOW ANYTHG ABOUT TAMMY, BUT I ED TO TUNE , LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, TO PTL [THE BAKKER-N WORK THAT AIRED THE PTL CLUB] AND LGH AT HER.”MSNER AND BULLOCK CLICKED RIGHT AWAY, AND THEY SOON FILMED TRIAL NS—NO FANCY LIGHTG, NO WARDROBE, JT A MERA ON A TRIPOD AND A SET THAT MSNER LIKENED TO THE JUNKYARD OM SANFORD AND SON. “WE WERE JT TRYG TO BE WHO WE WERE, BUT REGIS AND KATHIE LEE WAS SORT OF THE TEMPLATE, AND THIS LTLE SHOW LLED MIKE & MATY,” BULLOCK SAYS. EVENTUALLY, THEY SHOT AND SOLD A PILOT TO FOX, RERDG A PEPPY THEME SONG POSED BY “THE NANNY NAMED FRAN” WRER ANN HAMPTON CALLAWAY.BY RON GALELLA COLLECTN/GETTY IMAG.“EVERYONE WHO WORKED ON THAT SHOW, CLUDG TAMMY AND MYSELF, WORKED FOR PENNI ON THE DOLLAR BEE NO ONE WAS GOG, ‘THIS IS MAGIC, THIS IS GOLD,’” BULLOCK SAYS. PEOPLE WERE GOG, ‘WE'RE TAKG A REAL CHANCE HERE.’ THE WARM-UP GUY [EDIAN STEVE MOORE] WAS MAKG MORE THAN TAMMY AND ME.”THE JIM J. & TAMMY FAYE SHOW PREMIERED AT THE TAIL END OF 1995. ACRDG TO BULLOCK, HAD A PEE-WEE’S PLAYHOE RA. “TAMMY FAYE CHANNELED LUCILLE BALL WHENEVER SHE WAS SEEKG ‘THE FUNNY,’” PRODUCER JAN LANDIS SAYS; ED, AN EARLY EPISO FOUND MSNER SHOVG CHOLATE HER BRA DURG A FONDUE SEGMENT. (LANDIS ALSO SAYS BAKKER WAS “AN EMOTNAL CHILD BOTH ON AND OFF MERA AND MATAED A SENSE OF ENTLEMENT THAT SHE ENJOYED DURG HER PTL DAYS.”) THE SERI STGGLED TO BOOK A-LIST CELEBRI. WHEN ASKED TO NAME AN PECIALLY FAMO GUT, BULLOCK C A POST–GOLN GIRLS ESTELLE GETTY. BUT THERE WAS ONE EXCEPTN: ROSIE O’DONNELL, WHO ADORED MSNER. O’DONNELL, AS BULLOCK RELLS , ENURAGED THE SHOW’S MICROMANAGG HIGHER-UPS TO LET MSNER AND BULLOCK BE AS SILLY AS THEY WANTED. THOSE HIGHER-UPS, BULLOCK SAYS, WERE TOO BY DOG THE OPPOSE, ATTEMPTG TO REIGN THE HOSTS’ WHIMSY.MOST POPULARVANY FAIR’S “IT’S RAG TEENS” COVER AT 20: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?BY SAVANNAH WALSHRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE MAY BE “THE MOST EXPENSIVE B OF FAN FICTN EVER”BY SAVANNAH WALSHHOLLYWOOD ELE RH TO GET PLASTIC SURGERY BEFORE THE STRIKE ENDSBY MARIE LODITHROUGHOUT THEIR TIME TOGETHER, BULLOCK NEVER SAW MSNER WHOUT HER SIGNATURE SMETICS—HEAVY MASRA, LORFUL EYHADOW, LIP LER, THE WORKS. “WE WANTED TO DO A MAKEOVER SHOW,” HE SAYS. “WE SAID, ‘TAMMY, WE’RE JT GOG TO TAKE OFF FOR A MUTE. AND WE WANT TO DO YOUR HAIR.’ SHE’D SAY, ‘A CLOWN NEVER TAK OFF HIS MAKP.’” BULLOCK SAYS HE DID SEE THE STAFF FEED HER LI TURKEY DURG MERCIAL BREAKS AN EFFORT TO BALANCE OUT MSNER’S DIET COKE AND POWRED-SUGAR-DONUT NSUMPTN.BULLOCK ALSO SAYS HE NEVER SAW AN OUNCE OF JUDGMENT HER. MSNER HAD EMBRACED GAY PEOPLE ON THE PTL SHOW, PASSNATELY TERVIEWG AN AIDS PATIENT AT A TIME WHEN THE VIS WAS THE SOURCE OF NATNWI DISCRIMATN. BULLOCK HIMSELF HAD NTRACTED HIV 1985, AND HIS PARTNER, JOHN, WOULD DIE OM AIDS PLITNS 1996. “I WOULD BE AT THE STUD ALL DAY SHOOTG, AND THEN I’D E HOME AND JOHN WAS SO SICK,” BULLOCK RELLS. “SO MANY GOOD THGS AND SO MANY BAD THGS WERE HAPPENG AT THE SAME TIME. I N REMEMBER MANY TIM TAMMY KNOCKG ON MY DRSG-ROOM DOOR, G , AND JT HOLDG ME. SHE KNEW WHAT I WAS GOG THROUGH. SHE LOVED JOHN, AND SO SHE WAS RIGHT THERE WH ME AS MUCH AS SHE ULD BE.”THE JIM J. & TAMMY FAYE SHOW DIDN’T LAST LONG. MSNER WAS DIAGNOSED WH LON NCER 1996 AND LEFT TO SEEK TREATMENT. BULLOCK AND THE PRODUCERS ATTEMPTED TO MOVE FORWARD WHOUT HER, DNG A HANDFUL OF FEMALE REPLACEMENTS, CLUDG KTLA MORNG NEWS REPORTER GAYLE ANRSON AND A RELATIVELY UNKNOWN KRIS JENNER. BUT THE PRODUCERS SETTLED ON ANN ABERNATHY, WHO HAD HOSTED ALONGSI REGIS PHILB BEFORE KATHIE LEE GIFFORD ENTERED THE PICTURE. THE JIM J. & ANN SHOW DIDN’T SURVIVE THE YEAR. “ANN WAS A LOVELY WOMAN AND A TOTAL PRO,” BULLOCK SAYS. “BUT THEY CHANGED THE THEME SONG, AND EVERYTHG JT BEME DILUTED.”ONCE THE SHOW DISBAND, BULLOCK AND MSNER DIDN’T SEE MUCH OF EACH OTHER, AS THEY DIDN’T N THE SAME SOCIAL CIRCL. MSNER LATER EQUENTED GAY-PRI PARAS, DID A SEASON OF THE REALY SERI THE SURREAL LIFE, AND PUBLISHED A MEMOIR LLED I WILL SURVIVE…AND YOU WILL, TOO. BULLOCK SAYS THEY HAD FFEE TOGETHER BEFORE MSNER DIED 2007, WHEN BULLOCK WAS APPEARG HAIRSPRAY ON BROADWAY.“THERE WAS A REAL SWEETNS TO TAMMY FAYE,” REDMANN, THE LEEZA PRODUCER, SAYS. “SHE WAS CREDIBLY KD AND FUNNY. SHE LOVED TO JOKE AND MAKE PEOPLE LGH, EVEN AT HER OWN EXPENSE. BUT THERE WAS A SADNS UNR THE SURFACE. I REMEMBER GOG TO VIS HER RANCHO MIRAGE, JT LGHG AND HAVG A GOOD TIME. SHE WOULD LL ME AND CHECK ON HOW I WAS DOG. I KNOW SHE WAS HAPPY TO BE BACK ON TELEVISN.”THE FACT THAT BOTH HOSTS HAD EXPERIENCED THE RISE AND FALL OF FAME NTRIBUTED TO THEIR LOOSE, LAWLS APPROACH ON THE JIM J. & TAMMY FAYE SHOW. THEY WERE THRILLED JT TO SHOW UP AND HAVE FUN. IN THE MIDST OF A OVERFLOWG WH TALK SHOWS HOPG TO BE THE NEXT OPRAH OR JERRY SPRGER, BULLOCK AND MSNER OFFERED AN UNPOLISHED MP THAT SET THEM APART OM THEIR DAYTIME PETORS, EVEN IF THEY NEVER BEME A SENSATN.“​​THAT’S WHY TAMMY AND I WERE SO GOOD TOGETHER, I THK,” BULLOCK SAYS. “WE BOTH HAD JOYO SPIRS.”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIR— UNHAPPY LTLE TRE: THE DARK LEGACY OF BOB ROSS— THE TE STORY OF A HOLLYWOOD PARTNERSHIP BUILT AND DTROYED BY MONEY, SEX, AND CELEBRY— TED LASSO’S ROY KENT ON WHY THE SHOW ISN’T “WARM AND FUZZY”— CAFTANS, GOYARD, AND ELVIS: INSI THE WHE LOT’S COSTUM— THE CHAIR IS LIKE AN AMIC GAME OF THRON— THE BT MOVI AND SHOWS STREAMG ON NETFLIX THIS MONTH— RACHAEL LEIGH COOK ON RECLAIMG SHE’S ALL THAT— WATCH KRISTEN STEWART CHANNEL PRCS DI SPENCER’S OFFICIAL TRAILER— FROM THE ARCHIVE: JEFEY EPSTE AND HOLLYWOOD’S OMNIPRENT PUBLICIST— SIGN UP FOR THE “HWD DAILY” NEWSLETTER FOR MT-READ DTRY AND AWARDS VERAGE—PL A SPECIAL WEEKLY EDN OF “AWARDS INSIR.”MATTHEW JABS
• HOW TO TALK WH A GAY OR LBIAN PERSON
• HIV+ GAY MISTER RELIV 1985 TERVIEW WH TAMMY FAY BAKKER NEW FILM 'THE EY OF TAMMY FAYE'

HOW TELEVANGELIST TAMMY FAYE MSNER BEME A GAY IN

Though the televangelist is remembered for all of those thgs and more (cludg her first hband, Jim Bakker, gettg nvicted for dg churchgoers out of more than $150 ln), what endur is the seemgly scere love she had for her gay fans. But was groundbreakg 1985, when she terviewed a gay man livg wh AIDS and showed him passn (amid some very personal qutns about her terviewee’s sex life).

It was a parture om the norm to hear a person her posn – half of an evangelil Christian uple – support gay people, pecially as evangelism beme creasgly nservative. “I thk I have a lot mon wh the gay populatn bee they’ve been ma fun of and put down and misunrstood and have really had a rough row to hoe life, ” she told the South Florida Sun-Sentel 2002, ahead of a live show she performed for primarily gay dienc. In both films, Msner’s support for gay people and people diagnosed wh AIDS is amplified – and by dog so, both films attempt to reem her memory.

‘THE EY OF TAMMY FAYE’: HOW A BIBLE THUMPER BEME A GAY ADVOTE AND IN

When speakg to Pieters, who was reverg om chemotherapy, Msner started to tear up over his parents’ reactn when he me out as gay. Pieters told CNN affiliate KABC he thought Msner was “pretty savvy” askg what she did, even though some of those qutns uld be nsired offensive today, sce her dience likely didn’t know many gay men or people wh AIDS.

In a 2002 terview wh the LGBTQ outlet Metro Weekly, Msner said she was aware of the impact that episo would have wh gay viewers.

“I was probably one of the first ever to have a gay man on my show, ” she said of the episo wh Pieters.

TAMMY FAYE NEVER UNRSTOOD WHAT THAT WHOLE GAY THG WAS ABOUT

Followg Jim Bakker’s d nvictn and the uple’s divorce, Msner grew more vol about supportg gay people as a Christian, even when the evangelil Christian muny disapproved. She assisted gay advocy groups at chary events and beiend notable gay figur like RuPl and the filmmakers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, and the pair eventually directed the 2000 documentary about Msner’s life. That documentary was largely sympathetic toward Msner and highlighted her populary among gay fans – and helped rhape the image of Msner om a disgraced televangelist to a pillar of acceptg Christiany.

In a scene the new film “The Ey of Tammy Faye, ” Msner (Chasta) stat her support for gay people early on, years before she ved Pieters onto her program.

“I don’t thk of them as homosexuals, I jt thk of them as other human begs that I love, ” she tells a stunned Jerry Falwell, played by Vcent D’Ono. “[Christians] have bee nmng, ” she said after reassertg her love for her gay fans. Her support for gay people stood sharp ntrast om evangelil lears like Falwell, who took over the Bakkers’ Praise the Lord Network.

HOSTG A TALK SHOW WH TAMMY FAYE BAKKER WAS THE BT KD OF CHAOSJIM J. BULLOCK ON WORKG WH THE FAMO EVANGELIL, AND HIS FIRST RPONSE WHEN THE IA WAS FLOATED TO HIM: “MY HONT-TO-J REACTN WAS ‘SHE’S FUCKG CRAZY.’ AND HE SAID, ‘WELL, WOULD YOU MEET WH HER?’ I SAID, ‘OH, MY GOD, Y, OF URSE.’”BY MATTHEW JABSSEPTEMBER 17, 2021BY JOHN STOREY/GETTY IMAG.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVETAMMY FAYE BAKKER’S GILD WORLD ME CRASHG DOWN 1987. THE PERKY HOST OF THE PTL CLUB, A LONG-NNG CHRISTIAN PROGRAM THAT MA BAKKER ONE OF AMERI’S MOST FAMO EVANGELILS, WAS TOO CLOSELY AFFILIATED WH HER HBAND—ASSEMBLI OF GOD TELEVANGELIST JIM BAKKER—TO EVA THE D SNDAL THAT LAND HIM FERAL PRISON. BUT TAMMY FAYE, WH HER RTOONISH MAKP AND MIDWTERN MAGISM, WAS ALWAYS THE MORE CHARISMATIC BAKKER. IN THE ’90S, AFTER REMARRYG AND CHANGG HER LAST NAME TO MSNER, SHE MA A SOFT EBACK THE FORM OF THE JIM J. & TAMMY FAYE SHOW, A DAYTIME TALK SHOW FULL OF WACKY SEGMENTS LIKE GOAT-KG NTTS.THE JIM OF THE TLE WAS NOT MSNER’S RCERATED EX, BUT JIM J. BULLOCK—A EDIC ACTOR BT KNOWN FOR THE ABC S TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT, A RECURRG ROLE ON ALF, AND THE LATE-’80S ERATN OF HOLLYWOOD SQUAR. AS HER HOST, BULLOCK SAW MSNER’S POST-SNDAL LIFE UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL A WAY THAT FEW OTHERS DID. IN ADDN TO JIM J. & TAMMY FAYE, HE APPEARED THE 2000 DOCUMENTARY THE EY OF TAMMY FAYE, A GOOD PRIMER FOR THE NEW MOVIE OF THE SAME NAME STARRG JSI CHASTA AS MSNER AND ANDREW GARFIELD AS BAKKER.“TAMMY WAS ALWAYS A REAL PERSON; WHAT YOU SAW IS WHAT YOU GOT,” BULLOCK TELLS VANY FAIR. “HER FAH WAS EVERYTHG TO HER. SHE WAS AN CREDIBLY PASSNATE WOMAN AND VERY CHRISTLIKE, LOVG EVERYONE. IT’S HARD WHEN YOU GET TO A SUATN LIKE THAT THAT SPS OUT OF NTROL SO QUICKLY. IT’S HARD TO KNOW WHICH WAY IS UP AND WHICH WAY IS DOWN, AND SHE NEVER SAID ANYTHG BAD ABOUT JIM.”THE IA FOR A MSNER-LED SERI AROSE WHEN SHE APPEARED ON LEEZA, THE NBC TALK SHOW HOSTED BY FORMER ENTERTAMENT TONIGHT RRPONNT LEEZA GIBBONS. LEEZA PRODUCER JOHN REDMANN HAD PUT TOGETHER A 1994 EPISO THAT UNED THREE SNDAL-PLAGUED WOMEN OF THE LATE-20TH CENTURY: MSNER, GENNIFER FLOWERS, AND ROXANNE PULZER. GIBBONS SAYS SHE IALLY WORRIED THE NCEPT WAS EXPLOATIVE, BUT ONCE REDMANN NVCED MSNER TO PARTICIPATE, THE OTHERS AGREED TOO. AT THE END OF THE EPISO, THE TR PERFORMED “I WILL SURVIVE” TOGETHER.“SEEG HER PERSON WAS LIKE WHEN YOU’RE A KID AND YOU SEE A CHARACTER AT DISNEYLAND,” REDMANN SAYS. “YOU N’T BELIEVE THAT SHE’S A REAL PERSON AND SHE REALLY EXISTS. SHE WAS TY BUT WH A HUGE PRENCE. SHE KNEW HOW TO TURN ON, WHETHER ON MERA OR OFF MERA. SHE WAS SRED PEOPLE WOULDN’T LIKE HER. EVERY TIME I SAW HER AND HUGGED HER, MY SHIRTS WOULD HAVE HALF HER FACE IMPRTED ON THEM BEE SHE WORE SO MUCH MAKP. I’D HAVE ORANGE BRONZER AND RED LIPSTICK MARKS ALL OVER.”GIBBONS SCRIB MSNER AS “THE QUTSENTIAL TALK SHOW GUT” BEE SHE WAS “UNHIBED, VULNERABLE, AND A VISUAL BONANZA WH HER EYELASH.” AFTER THE TAPG, GIBBONS TOLD MSNER SHE SHOULD HAVE HER OWN SHOW. REDMANN SUGGTED THE IA TO PRODUCER DAN WEAVER, WHO HAD ALSO WORKED ON DONAHUE AND THE GERALDO RIVERA SHOW. SO WEAVER STARTED TO VELOP THE PROJECT, TERMG THAT MSNER WOULD BE A GREAT TALKER BUT NOT SUCH A RELIABLE EMCEE. SHE’D NEED A HOST TO HELP KEEP THE BROADST ON TRACK. WEAVER, WHO DIED 2018, ALSO CID THAT HOST SHOULD BE AN OPENLY GAY MAN—A RARE REQUT CIR 1994. SOMEHOW, THOUGH, MA SENSE. MSNER’S PRIMARY DIENCE SEEMED TO HAVE TWO HALV: NSERVATIV WHO LOVED HER PARABL, AND GAYS WHO LOVED HER PAGEANTRY.BULLOCK WAS WORKG ON A LTLE-SEEN S CANADA WHEN HE GOT THE LL OM WEAVER. “MY HONT-TO-J REACTN WAS ‘SHE’S FUCKG CRAZY,’” BULLOCK SAYS. “THAT’S LERALLY WHAT I SAID TO HIM, AND HE SAID, ‘WELL, WOULD YOU MEET WH HER?’ I SAID, ‘OH, MY GOD, Y, OF URSE.’ I DIDN’T KNOW ANYTHG ABOUT TAMMY, BUT I ED TO TUNE , LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, TO PTL [THE BAKKER-N WORK THAT AIRED THE PTL CLUB] AND LGH AT HER.”MSNER AND BULLOCK CLICKED RIGHT AWAY, AND THEY SOON FILMED TRIAL NS—NO FANCY LIGHTG, NO WARDROBE, JT A MERA ON A TRIPOD AND A SET THAT MSNER LIKENED TO THE JUNKYARD OM SANFORD AND SON. “WE WERE JT TRYG TO BE WHO WE WERE, BUT REGIS AND KATHIE LEE WAS SORT OF THE TEMPLATE, AND THIS LTLE SHOW LLED MIKE & MATY,” BULLOCK SAYS. EVENTUALLY, THEY SHOT AND SOLD A PILOT TO FOX, RERDG A PEPPY THEME SONG POSED BY “THE NANNY NAMED FRAN” WRER ANN HAMPTON CALLAWAY.BY RON GALELLA COLLECTN/GETTY IMAG.“EVERYONE WHO WORKED ON THAT SHOW, CLUDG TAMMY AND MYSELF, WORKED FOR PENNI ON THE DOLLAR BEE NO ONE WAS GOG, ‘THIS IS MAGIC, THIS IS GOLD,’” BULLOCK SAYS. PEOPLE WERE GOG, ‘WE'RE TAKG A REAL CHANCE HERE.’ THE WARM-UP GUY [EDIAN STEVE MOORE] WAS MAKG MORE THAN TAMMY AND ME.”THE JIM J. & TAMMY FAYE SHOW PREMIERED AT THE TAIL END OF 1995. ACRDG TO BULLOCK, HAD A PEE-WEE’S PLAYHOE RA. “TAMMY FAYE CHANNELED LUCILLE BALL WHENEVER SHE WAS SEEKG ‘THE FUNNY,’” PRODUCER JAN LANDIS SAYS; ED, AN EARLY EPISO FOUND MSNER SHOVG CHOLATE HER BRA DURG A FONDUE SEGMENT. (LANDIS ALSO SAYS BAKKER WAS “AN EMOTNAL CHILD BOTH ON AND OFF MERA AND MATAED A SENSE OF ENTLEMENT THAT SHE ENJOYED DURG HER PTL DAYS.”) THE SERI STGGLED TO BOOK A-LIST CELEBRI. WHEN ASKED TO NAME AN PECIALLY FAMO GUT, BULLOCK C A POST–GOLN GIRLS ESTELLE GETTY. BUT THERE WAS ONE EXCEPTN: ROSIE O’DONNELL, WHO ADORED MSNER. O’DONNELL, AS BULLOCK RELLS , ENURAGED THE SHOW’S MICROMANAGG HIGHER-UPS TO LET MSNER AND BULLOCK BE AS SILLY AS THEY WANTED. THOSE HIGHER-UPS, BULLOCK SAYS, WERE TOO BY DOG THE OPPOSE, ATTEMPTG TO REIGN THE HOSTS’ WHIMSY.MOST POPULARVANY FAIR’S “IT’S RAG TEENS” COVER AT 20: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?BY SAVANNAH WALSHRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE MAY BE “THE MOST EXPENSIVE B OF FAN FICTN EVER”BY SAVANNAH WALSHHOLLYWOOD ELE RH TO GET PLASTIC SURGERY BEFORE THE STRIKE ENDSBY MARIE LODITHROUGHOUT THEIR TIME TOGETHER, BULLOCK NEVER SAW MSNER WHOUT HER SIGNATURE SMETICS—HEAVY MASRA, LORFUL EYHADOW, LIP LER, THE WORKS. “WE WANTED TO DO A MAKEOVER SHOW,” HE SAYS. “WE SAID, ‘TAMMY, WE’RE JT GOG TO TAKE OFF FOR A MUTE. AND WE WANT TO DO YOUR HAIR.’ SHE’D SAY, ‘A CLOWN NEVER TAK OFF HIS MAKP.’” BULLOCK SAYS HE DID SEE THE STAFF FEED HER LI TURKEY DURG MERCIAL BREAKS AN EFFORT TO BALANCE OUT MSNER’S DIET COKE AND POWRED-SUGAR-DONUT NSUMPTN.BULLOCK ALSO SAYS HE NEVER SAW AN OUNCE OF JUDGMENT HER. MSNER HAD EMBRACED GAY PEOPLE ON THE PTL SHOW, PASSNATELY TERVIEWG AN AIDS PATIENT AT A TIME WHEN THE VIS WAS THE SOURCE OF NATNWI DISCRIMATN. BULLOCK HIMSELF HAD NTRACTED HIV 1985, AND HIS PARTNER, JOHN, WOULD DIE OM AIDS PLITNS 1996. “I WOULD BE AT THE STUD ALL DAY SHOOTG, AND THEN I’D E HOME AND JOHN WAS SO SICK,” BULLOCK RELLS. “SO MANY GOOD THGS AND SO MANY BAD THGS WERE HAPPENG AT THE SAME TIME. I N REMEMBER MANY TIM TAMMY KNOCKG ON MY DRSG-ROOM DOOR, G , AND JT HOLDG ME. SHE KNEW WHAT I WAS GOG THROUGH. SHE LOVED JOHN, AND SO SHE WAS RIGHT THERE WH ME AS MUCH AS SHE ULD BE.”THE JIM J. & TAMMY FAYE SHOW DIDN’T LAST LONG. MSNER WAS DIAGNOSED WH LON NCER 1996 AND LEFT TO SEEK TREATMENT. BULLOCK AND THE PRODUCERS ATTEMPTED TO MOVE FORWARD WHOUT HER, DNG A HANDFUL OF FEMALE REPLACEMENTS, CLUDG KTLA MORNG NEWS REPORTER GAYLE ANRSON AND A RELATIVELY UNKNOWN KRIS JENNER. BUT THE PRODUCERS SETTLED ON ANN ABERNATHY, WHO HAD HOSTED ALONGSI REGIS PHILB BEFORE KATHIE LEE GIFFORD ENTERED THE PICTURE. THE JIM J. & ANN SHOW DIDN’T SURVIVE THE YEAR. “ANN WAS A LOVELY WOMAN AND A TOTAL PRO,” BULLOCK SAYS. “BUT THEY CHANGED THE THEME SONG, AND EVERYTHG JT BEME DILUTED.”ONCE THE SHOW DISBAND, BULLOCK AND MSNER DIDN’T SEE MUCH OF EACH OTHER, AS THEY DIDN’T N THE SAME SOCIAL CIRCL. MSNER LATER EQUENTED GAY-PRI PARAS, DID A SEASON OF THE REALY SERI THE SURREAL LIFE, AND PUBLISHED A MEMOIR LLED I WILL SURVIVE…AND YOU WILL, TOO. BULLOCK SAYS THEY HAD FFEE TOGETHER BEFORE MSNER DIED 2007, WHEN BULLOCK WAS APPEARG HAIRSPRAY ON BROADWAY.“THERE WAS A REAL SWEETNS TO TAMMY FAYE,” REDMANN, THE LEEZA PRODUCER, SAYS. “SHE WAS CREDIBLY KD AND FUNNY. SHE LOVED TO JOKE AND MAKE PEOPLE LGH, EVEN AT HER OWN EXPENSE. BUT THERE WAS A SADNS UNR THE SURFACE. I REMEMBER GOG TO VIS HER RANCHO MIRAGE, JT LGHG AND HAVG A GOOD TIME. SHE WOULD LL ME AND CHECK ON HOW I WAS DOG. I KNOW SHE WAS HAPPY TO BE BACK ON TELEVISN.”THE FACT THAT BOTH HOSTS HAD EXPERIENCED THE RISE AND FALL OF FAME NTRIBUTED TO THEIR LOOSE, LAWLS APPROACH ON THE JIM J. & TAMMY FAYE SHOW. THEY WERE THRILLED JT TO SHOW UP AND HAVE FUN. IN THE MIDST OF A OVERFLOWG WH TALK SHOWS HOPG TO BE THE NEXT OPRAH OR JERRY SPRGER, BULLOCK AND MSNER OFFERED AN UNPOLISHED MP THAT SET THEM APART OM THEIR DAYTIME PETORS, EVEN IF THEY NEVER BEME A SENSATN.“​​THAT’S WHY TAMMY AND I WERE SO GOOD TOGETHER, I THK,” BULLOCK SAYS. “WE BOTH HAD JOYO SPIRS.”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIR— UNHAPPY LTLE TRE: THE DARK LEGACY OF BOB ROSS— THE TE STORY OF A HOLLYWOOD PARTNERSHIP BUILT AND DTROYED BY MONEY, SEX, AND CELEBRY— TED LASSO’S ROY KENT ON WHY THE SHOW ISN’T “WARM AND FUZZY”— CAFTANS, GOYARD, AND ELVIS: INSI THE WHE LOT’S COSTUM— THE CHAIR IS LIKE AN AMIC GAME OF THRON— THE BT MOVI AND SHOWS STREAMG ON NETFLIX THIS MONTH— RACHAEL LEIGH COOK ON RECLAIMG SHE’S ALL THAT— WATCH KRISTEN STEWART CHANNEL PRCS DI SPENCER’S OFFICIAL TRAILER— FROM THE ARCHIVE: JEFEY EPSTE AND HOLLYWOOD’S OMNIPRENT PUBLICIST— SIGN UP FOR THE “HWD DAILY” NEWSLETTER FOR MT-READ DTRY AND AWARDS VERAGE—PL A SPECIAL WEEKLY EDN OF “AWARDS INSIR.”MATTHEW JABS

Randy Shulman, then a publisher of Metro Weekly, told NPR at the time that Msner’s msage was muddled, and that he spected she didn’t fully approve of her gay fans’ sexualy. “If you read between the l, she’s not sayg to me, ‘It’s OK that you’re gay; she’s sayg, ‘I five you for beg gay and when you go off and die, ’s gog to be between you and your maker. In a 2002 terview that same year wh Metro Weekly, Msner was asked what advice she would give to a young gay person whose parents haven’t accepted them.

“Don’t throw your gayns anyone’s face, jt live your life, ” she told Metro Weekly.

HOW TO TALK WH A GAY OR LBIAN PERSON

It was clear, though, that Msner unrstood her send wd of succs was largely owed to her gay fans. In her last terview, a nversatn wh Larry Kg the day before she died, Msner said that when she and Jim Bakker lost everythg after he mised funds om the PTL Club’s mistry, “ was the gay people that me to [her] rcue. This unlikely allyship, pl a penchant for over-the-top hair, makp, outfs, and dér—not to mentn a Judy Garland–que stggle to keep performg spe a growg penncy on prcriptn dgs—turned Tammy Faye to an unlikely gay in, so much so that World of Wonr, the team behd RuPl’s Drag Race, ma a 2000 documentary about her lled The Ey of Tammy Faye narrated by none other than Ru himself.

The scene where Tammy Faye brgs on HIV-posive gay pastor Steve Pieters (Randy Havens) is pulled straight om real life. To nsolidate his posn as print of PTL, Falwell not only reveals Bakker’s fancial misnduct but says he has had homosexual relatnships. Bakker nied unr oath that he had ever had a homosexual relatnship but his tobgraphy went so far as to mata that he was “very nfed” about his sexualy, the rult, he said, of beg molted by a male member of his fay’s church at 11.

The two gay pals had spent the 1980s watchg the glorly gdy televangelist on the Praise the Lord (PTL) Network, which she found wh her first hband, preacher Jim Bakker. Nowadays, Tammy Faye — who died 2007 at the age of 65 — is more famo as a gay in than as a Bible thumper. In 1985, durg the height of the AIDS crisis, Tammy Faye ved Stephen Pieters, an openly gay pastor wh AIDS, to her show “Tammy Faye’s Hoe Party.

HIV+ GAY MISTER RELIV 1985 TERVIEW WH TAMMY FAY BAKKER NEW FILM 'THE EY OF TAMMY FAYE'

Tammy voted 25 mut to terviewg Pieters, askg him about his life as a gay man, his illns and misnceptns about AIDS. Gays had always loved Tammy Faye, but now the documentary saw that she tly loved them back. “We’re all people ma out of the same old dirt, ” she said when asked about her thoughts on gay rights.