Josh Gad says Beauty and the Beast ‘gay moment’ didn’t deserve praise
The 2017 film hinted that LeFou had feelings for Gaston. (Disney)
Beauty and the Beast star Josh Gad has said the 2017 film’s headline-making “gay moment” didn’t deserve praise.
During production of the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast, director Bill Condon confirmed to Attitude that Gad’s character LeFou was gay, prompting censorship of the film in countries like Malaysia.
Upon the film’s release, however, many in the LGBT+ community were disappointed.
Although the film hinted that LeFou was gay and had feelings for Gaston, played by Luke Evans, it was never confirmed. What came to be known as the first explicitly “gay moment” in a Disney film was a fleeting glimpse of LeFou dancing with a man.
Reflecting on the film five years on while speaking to The Independent, Gad said: “We didn’t go far enough to warrant accolades. We didn’t go far enough to say, ‘Look how brave we are.’
“My regret in what happened is that it became ‘Disney’s first explicitly gay moment’ and it was never intended to be that.
“It was never intended to be a moment that we should laud ourselves for, because frankly, I don’t think we did justice to what a real gay character in a Disney film should be. That was not LeFou.
“If we’re going to pat ourselves on the back, then damn it we should have gone further with that. Everybody deserves an opportunity to see themselves on screen, and I don’t think we’ve done enough – and I certainly haven’t done enough to do that.”
Josh Gad was supposed to star in a Beauty and the Beast prequel series
Earlier this year, Josh Gad announced that an “incredible” Beauty and the Beast prequel series would soon begin filming, focused on the relationship between Gaston and LeFou.
Asked if the series would look at LeFou’s sexuality, he told the Just for Variety podcast at the time: “I think that we have origin stories here that are unbelievably exciting because they’re unexpected. And I think ‘expect the unexpected’ is all I can really say.”
Sadly, just a few weeks later, Luke Evans confirmed that production for the series was to be cancelled indefinitely.
This is a very sad message for us to tweet. We are devastated. Goodbye, for now, from Gaston and Le fou ❤️
— Luke Evans (@TheRealLukevans) February 10, 2022
He wrote on Twitter: “This is a very sad message for us to tweet. We are devastated.
“Goodbye, for now, from Gaston and LeFou.”
