Actor Terrence Howard turned down role for gay kiss: "If I kissed a man, I'd cut off my lips"
Measure twice, cut once...
In an appearance on the "Club Random" podcast with Bill Maher on April 27, Howard said that turning down the role was the "biggest mistake" of his career. He explained that he had first turned down an offer to play singer Smokey Robinson in another film and wanted to be loyal to Lee Daniels. "I was loyal to him because I gave him my word as a man," he said.
While neither film ultimately materialized, Howard described the moment he learned of Gaye's sexuality directly from legendary producer Quincy Jones. "I asked Quincy, 'I heard a rumor that Marvin was gay. And Quincy said, 'Yes,'" Howard recounted. Based on that information, he reportedly decided to turn down the role for good. "I couldn't do it. I couldn't kiss a man on camera because I can't fake anything like that," he said. But the actor went further in his statement, "It would destroy me. If I kissed a man, I would have to cut my lips off."
But Howard also denied that his stance was in any way homophobic. "I don't want to kiss a man. That doesn't make me homophobic. That's fine, do what you love, but don't ask me to do it. I can't play that character 100 percent. I can't give myself over to what I don't understand," he soon explained.
In conclusion, it's worth adding that singer Marvin Gaye never publicly expressed his sexual orientation during his lifetime. However, in an interview with biographer David Ritz , he said, "Sexually, I'm not interested in men. But the idea of myself as a woman fascinates me. At the same time, it scares me." According to some speculation, he added the letter "e" to his last name precisely to dispel rumors at the time about his sexuality.
The controversy over the actor's statement, however, reopens questions about acting authenticity and prejudice in Hollywood. Howard's statement drew strong reactions on social media, and once again served as a reminder that even in 2025, some topics remain sensitive in the American film industry.
