The Daily Beast is bashing a Vogue interview with Kendall Jenner for “coming out” as heterosexual. Because, you know, that’s the “default sexuality.”
Kendall Jenner of the Kardashian clan is Vogue’s April 2018 cover star. In her interview inside the fashion magazine, the 22-year-old supermodel was asked about her sexuality. She gave an honest answer to the invasive question, however it was met with cringes and criticism by one Daily Beast writer who was annoyed that it wasn’t an admission of sexual perversity.
From the beginning, The Daily Beast headline called Jenner’s Vogue interview a “Ridiculous ‘Coming Out’ Moment.” Entertainment writer Ira Madison III clarified, “No, not out of the closet. She came out as straight.”
In the Vogue interview, writer Jonathan Van Meter commented to Jenner that many people online seem to think that Kendall’s sexaulity comes off slightly vague on social media, so (naturally) many think she might be gay.
Kendall dismissed the idea.
“I think it’s because I’m not like all my other sisters, who are like, ‘Here’s me and my boyfriend!’” she said. “So it was a thing for a minute because no one ever saw me with a guy. I would always go that extra mile to be low-key with guys… You don’t want to, like, look crazy.”
Fair enough. But when Kendall started to use ambiguous language concerning her sexual nature, Daily Beast got petty.
“I don’t have a bisexual or gay bone in my body, but I don’t know. Who knows?! I’m all down for experience -- not against it whatsoever,” continued Kendall. “But to answer your question: I’m not gay, I have literally nothing to hide. I would never hide something like that.”
That’s when Madison began his rant.
“The default sexuality in our world is still hetero, and even if a celebrity might have some pockets of the internet question their sexuality, it doesn’t affect their careers the way it does, say, when a celebrity actually comes out of the closet,” he complained.
He claimed that it is “amusing, of course, that Jenner had to publicly ‘come out’ as straight” and that “rather than a succinct tweet or, you know, just living her life, it’s easier to use this ‘coming-out-as-straight’ moment to grab headlines.”
Why is The Daily Beast taking this all so seriously? Kendall was answering a pointed question about something that is strictly her business. But, an insistent Madison wrote, “Perhaps there’s no room for real discussions of sexuality and how her response might seem especially glib as the daughter of someone who has actually grappled with their identity and sexuality in public.”
There’s certainly no room, it seems, for “real discussions” about heterosexuality at The Daily Beast.
