Dan Levy opens up about homophobia he faced at MTV: ‘Almost like you’re a real man’
The "Schitt's Creek" star spoke out on the debut episode of Jessi Cruickshank's podcast.
Dan Levy is opening up about his time at MTV Canada.
On the debut episode of fellow MTV host Jessi Cruickshank's "Phone a Friend" podcast, the "Schitt's Creek" star got candid about his time hosting "The Hills: The After Show" and the homophobia he faced.
"I didn't feel particularly free," the 39-year-old said of working for MTV Canada. "It was kind of like, 'conform to the culture of the workplace or sit it out.'"
Levy explained that while he didn't want to sound "apologist," he's unsure of whether he can "place blame on people for it 'cause that's just how it was."
"Do I feel like I could have been taken care of a little bit better? Do I think there could have been more sensitivity around handling different types of people to make sure that everyone felt like they were a part of the team," he asked. "Yeah."
Levy then recounted a time he faced a homophobic remark said by a colleague.
"I'm not going to name names," “I remember walking into work one day and someone asked me what I did on the weekend. I said I installed a dimmer switch in my apartment. And that person said ‘Wow, it’s almost like you’re a real man,'" the Toronto-native shared. "I thought, ‘This isn’t right.’ But at the time, there was no sensitivity, and there was no one to go to. Because it was a different time.”
Levy also opened up to Cruickshank about what it was like to start out his career in the entertainment industry as a gay man who wasn't out yet.
“Will it change my career? Will the opportunities be limited? Will that limit my life as an actor?" he said he wondered at the time, adding, tThere wasn’t a ton of out actors that were thriving and drowning in work."
The "Big Brunch" actor pointed out that there were "bloggers making it their job to out people without their consent like it was some kind of news responsibility," causing him to want to avoid being in the spotlight too much.
"We didn’t have the sensitivity that we do now around people’s coming out and the fact that it’s an incredibly personal experience," he said. "It almost makes you want to hide even more because you don’t want to draw any attention to yourself.”
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