Bo Burnham, a comedian, musician, writer, actor, and director, rose to recognition after his song “My Whole Family” went viral on YouTube when he was 16 years old in 2006.
Using his celebrity to his advantage, Bo Burnham released his first album of comedic songs, performed on different comedy TV shows, and had his own special. When he was moving uphill as a comedian, however, he used numerous apologetic remarks and even made jokes about many populations, particularly the LGBTQ+ community.
In a June 2016 interview with Rolling Stone, he stated that a comedian’s job is to keep the audience interested and laughing for an hour, and that some people may be insulted in the process.
Fans were outraged by Bo Burnham’s gay slurs.
Burnham also said how viewers were upset with him for using the ‘f-word’ to refer to gay guys in his show during the same conversation. He added that he didn’t want to get away with using gay slurs by stating, “Take a joke,” as an excuse.
“Like, I understand if hearing that word bothers you,” he added. “But, you know, I’ve got an explanation. I don’t even use it; the show refers to me as such. It’s more of a representation of what it’s like to live online.”
He went on to remark that as a comic, he does things like this to elicit reactions and make people think. As a result, he can’t whine about individuals who disagree with him or try to suppress them when they’re angry. Burnham has stated that he would like to hear people say “I don’t believe that was right” rather than “This comedian shouldn’t be permitted to say that.”
His songs were deemed ‘a little homophobic’ by some.
The 31-year-old comedian’s debut video, ‘My Whole Family,’ was uploaded to YouTube when the medium was still mostly used to share home movies and educational videos with family and friends.
Burnham penned the lyrics detailing how his family assumed he was gay, and he had even shared the video to show his brother at college. The first verse of his song is as follows:
My entire family thinks I’m gay; it’s just how I’ve always been. Perhaps it’s because of the way I walk that they assume I like…boys.
Even back then, people were upset by his words. People “misinterpreted” the song and assumed it was homophobic, he said on The Off Camera Show in November 2018. The comedian admitted that as a 16-year-old, he did a lot of things he afterward regretted, and that his blunders were “offensive” and “not helpful” at all.
Burnham, on the other hand, was glad he made those mistakes once in his life since he believes it taught him a lot and helped him grow as a man and content producer. Bo Burnham: Inside, his fourth Netflix special, was released this year to positive critical acclaim and is presently nominated for six Emmy Awards in the 73rd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. He dedicated the special to Lorene Scafaria, his long-time girlfriend.
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