American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert has finally spoken out on the controversy concerning him and his recent cover on Out magazine--well, to be more exact, about the allegations from the magazine's editor, Aaron Hicklin, that Adam and his management had many conditions surrounding the cover shoot.To backtrack a bit, Adam was included in the magazine's Out 100 list, honoring the most successful gay people today. He was named, in fact, as Breakout Honoree of the Year by the magazine. But Hicklin later posted an open letter on the magazine's website, complaining that the management had qualms about putting Adam on the cover of the magazine. "Apparently, Out was too gay, even for you," he wrote. He then alleged that Adam's management would not let the singer do the cover unless a straight woman is included, and that the singer wouldn't look "too gay". He also claimed that Adam refused offers from the magazine to appear on its cover while American Idol was still underway.
The writer who interviewed Adam, Shana Naomi Krochmal, wrote a separate open letter, saying that the singer's publicists asked her not to make the interview, "you know, gay-gay," and not to ask him questions about political topics, such as the March in Washington that was yet to be held at the time.
Hicklin went on to say that Adam, as a gay person, should represent the LGBT community in getting more acceptance. "You're a pioneer, an out gay pop idol at the start of his career," he wrote. "Someone has to be first, and we're all counting on you not to mess this up. You have to find your own path and then others can follow. We just hope it's a path that's honest and true and that you choose to surround yourself with people who celebrate your individuality."
The argument bled out to Twitter, where Adam first responded. "Guess ya gotta get attention for the magazine," he wrote. "You too are at the mercy of the marketing machine. Until we have a meaningful conversation, perhaps you should refrain from projecting your publications' agenda onto my career."
Now, Adam spoke to Entertainment Weekly and reacted in detail to Hicklin's comments. "I am managing my own image, more than maybe the editor of Out magazine likes to give anybody credit for," he said, adding that his management have been supportive of him from the beginning. "I didn't want to jump onto a gay magazine as my first thing, because I feel like that's putting myself in a box and limiting myself. It was my desire to stay away from talking about certain political and civil rights issues because I'm not a politician. I'm an entertainer. That is not my area of expertise."
"I didn't feel comfortable talking about the March on Washington. ... so I asked my publicist to ask the interviewer to stay away from the political questions," he added. "I take full responsibility for that. I think that the editor has his agenda and has his opinions, which I respect, but they're not necessarily my opinions. And I wish there was a little respect for that. Not every gay man is the same gay man."
Adam also felt that Hicklin's open letter contributed more to separate than unite people towards the gay cause. "The letter that Aaron wrote is holding us back," he said. "Because it's recognizing the big difference as opposed to letting us all ignore preference and just be people. So I think in attempt to champion a cause he's actually taking a big step backwards."
Adam added that the use of the phrase "gay-gay" was taken out of context. "If there are things going on behind the scenes with my management, it has nothing to do with my interview with them," he concluded. "He really crossed a line."
