Patrick Stewart Still Not Gay (Or Dead)
Actor Sir Patrick Stewart of "Star Trek" and "X-Men" fame sent the Twitterverse into paroxysms of laughter this week with his response to a column by the U.K. the Guardian that mistakenly reported he was gay.
According to an article in Gay Star News, Stewart tweeted actress Ellen Page, upon her coming out as lesbian last weekend:
"@EllenPage: Thank you @HRC and everyone for all the love and support. X. And I'll chime in with mine," he wrote.
The Guardian reporter Jane Czyzselska mistakenly took this to mean that "Captain Jean-Luc Picard" was gay, despite the fact that he has been married to women three times.
Further complicating things was his most recent wedding to Brooklyn beauty Sunny Ozell, which was also reported in Gay Star News under the headline, "Sir Ian McKellen 'marries' Sir Patrick Stewart" with the subhead "X Men star officiates his best friend's wedding to jazz singer Sunny Ozell."
Czyzselska wrote: "Some gay people, such as Sir Patrick Stewart, think Page's coming out speech is newsworthy."
The Guardian later took the word "gay" out of the passage.
Stewart, who was named PFLAG's Straight Ally of the Year last year, took the gaffe in stride and with a soup�on of humor, Tweeting, "Well, @guardian it makes for a nice change... at least I didn't wake up to the internet telling me I was dead again."
He also tweeted, "But @guardian I have, like, five or even SEVEN hetero friends and we totally drink beer and eat lots of chicken wings!"
Original Star Trek actor William Shatner also chimed in on the joke, tweeting at Stewart, "@SirPatStew @guardian I never get that kind of coverage! I'm jealous! ;-)"