Howard Kurtz, grimacing under the weight of his homophobia.
For real.
Last night, Putz Kurtz loosely piled together a collection of words from the English language in what could very generously be described as an "article" on The Daily Beast, demanding an explanation and apology as to why recently-out NBA player Jason Collins dated a woman for 8 years, even though he knew he was gay. Kurtz opens by talking about Collins' coming out article, and starts his coprophagous journalism with this barely-veiled bit homophobia:
Except that he downplayed one detail.
He was engaged. To be married. To a woman.
He dated Carolyn Moos for eight long years.
And when did she find out about his homosexuality?
A few days ago.
It only gets worse from there, with Kurtz stopping short of demanding an apology from Collins.
Oh yeah.
Howard, if you're reading this, I really hope you understand that TMZ and The Enquirer write better yellow journalism than you. The Huffington Post has posted classier pieces about nip slips than what you wrote last night.
It's not like Jason Collins is an anti-gay politician who got caught with a wide stance in the Denny's restroom. He's not running around knocking up women and tossing them aside like a jizz rag. He's gay, and you're treating him like an immoral suspect accused of committing the crime of being a human being.
I'm gay, and I had a girlfriend in 9th grade. Does that mean that I'm an untrustworthy liar who deserves grilling by my friends and family? No. I wasn't "confused" nor was I looking to hoodwink anyone to throw them off of my citrusy-gay scent. It's called living life outside the cute little binary you've created in your imagination. I know, Howard, t's really a shocking blow to narrow-minded worldview, but there it is.
Kurtz's piece is straight up homophobia. Nobody else on the face of the earth has to explain away and apologize for breaking up with a longtime partner, but Jason Collins does, because he's gay, and that's bad.
If Howard Kurtz has any bit of shame, he'll stop while he's ahead and try to salvage whatever is left of his journalistic integrity. Or, you know, apologize for being a colossal dick farm.
But I doubt either will happen.
10:50 AM PT: The Daily Beast just retracted Kurtz's hit piece for him:
In his original blog post, Kurtz incorrectly stated that Collins “didn’t come clean” about the engagement. In an amended version, Kurtz added that Collins “downplayed” the engagement and “didn’t dwell on it.”
The Daily Beast sincerely regrets Kurtz’s error—and any implication that Collins attempted to hide or obscure the engagement.
The fact still stands that Jason Collins is expected to explain himself for not fitting into a neat little binary that makes Very Serious People comfortable with the world. One step forward, two steps back.
11:18 AM PT: ericlewis0 shares this awful video in the comments, showing Kurtz repeatedly saying that Collins didn't "come clean" and how he's not being genuine because he "played both sides of the court."
1:21 PM PT: Howard Kurtz puts a beautiful spin on his swift canning by The Daily Beast.
Yeah, okay. And Jason Collins up and left his fiance to lead gay pride parades. (Oh, wait, you already believe that. Never mind.)