‘Glee’ star Dianna Agron responds to GQ controversy
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While everyone from fans of “Glee” to the Parents Television Council to Katie Couric have been making their feelings known about the cast’s racy GQ photo shoot, the magazine’s trio of cover stars, Dianna Agron, Lea Michele and Cory Monteith, have kept mum –- until now. Agron recently took to her Tumblr account to respond to the controversy.
“I am not a representative of the three of us, the show, or Fox, only myself,” she makes sure to point out before emphasizing that she and her castmates are not the first stars to push the public’s buttons.
“In the land of Madonna, Britney, Miley, Gossip Girl, other public figures and shows that have pushed the envelope and challenged the levels of comfort in their viewers and fans … we are not the first,” she writes. “Now, in perpetuating the type of images that evoke these kind of emotions, I am sorry. If you are hurt or these photos make you uncomfortable, it was never our intention.”
Agron, who describes herself as a “pretty tame and easy-going girl my whole life,” admits that she was uncomfortable by the concept of the photo shoot.
“Nobody is perfect, and these photos do not represent who I am,” she writes.
“They asked us to play very heightened versions of our school characters. A ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ version,” she adds. “At the time, it wasn’t my favorite idea, but I did not walk away. ... These aren’t photos I am going to frame and put on my desk, but hey, nor are any of the photos I take for magazines. Those are all characters we’ve played for this crazy job, one that I love and am so fortunate to have, each and every day.”
As for criticism that the show’s young fans might see these inappropriate images, Agron responds, “If your eight-year-old has a copy of our GQ cover in hand, again I am sorry. But I would have to ask, how on earth did it get there?” Before you point out that young kids are tech savvy and can easily stumble upon the photos on the web while searching for the show, she points out, “There are parental locks, and ways to get around this.”
As for Agron’s idea of her dream photo shoot... “I’d be in a treehouse, in a wild costume, war-paint and I’d be playing with my pet dragon,” she writes.
Readers, what do you think of Agron’s response? Are you disappointed that the real, pet dragon and treehouse-loving Agron isn’t represented in the photo shoot?
-- Vlada Gelman (follow my TV musings on Twitter at @stayingin)
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