Methinks the furore over Dannii Minogue’s innuendo-laden comments to Danyl Johnson last night have got a little bit out of proportion. We covered this topic live on Unreality TV (and our sister site, Unreality Shout) last night and watched in bafflement as the general public angrily reacted to the situation.
Ugly scenes outside X Factor studios after Dannii Minogue's comments to Danyl Johnson
Initially, we were concerned too. Clearly not everybody in the UK had read Danyl’s interview in the News Of The World where he admitted to being bisexual. So Dannii’s comments, based largely on that interview, went over the heads of the people watching in horror at home. Danyl was uncomfortable and weepy on stage, while Simon angrily admonished Dannii that no-one’s going to be playing games with his contestant.
But before we gather up our torches and pitchforks and march on the X Factor’s Wembley studios, here’s something you have to bear in mind:
Dannii Minogue is a supporter of gay rights
In the rush to react angrily and half crucify the poor woman, most of us forgot that Dannii not only has a huge gay following, she’s been a supporter of gay rights for years. As the official statement from the X Factor reaffirmed:
Dannii made a joke about the lyrics of Danyl’s song, referencing a recent newspaper interview he has given about his private life. She spoke to Danyl straight after the show, explained what she was talking about and he wasn’t offended in the slightest. Dannii is mortified if her comments have been misinterpreted as she has always been hugely supportive of the gay and bi-sexual community for her entire career.
Many of the pro-Minogue commentators have suggested that what she meant was: you shouldn’t have to be ashamed of your sexuality, or need to change the gender of the song to suit the audience. Of course, in the time alotted to a judge to make their comments and move on, there was no way she could get her point across properly. Naturally, it was misinterpreted and hence the national outrage that followed.
The usual internet-led nonsense followed right away: thousands of comments, a flurry of angry reactions via Twitter, people baying for Dannii to be sacked and some offended punters stomping off making complaints to Ofcom.
Now, I’m not saying that people have no right to be annoyed. Dannii should have maybe stuck to comments about Danyl’s performance. That much is true. But, upon reading more around the story and using a little common sense, I don’t think she was trying to hurt Danyl’s chances. She just chose the wrong time and place to make the comment.
Dannii has went to great lengths to clear up the misunderstanding – she’s been active on Twitter since the scandal broke, and she’s posted an official statement on her web site explaining the situation:
I want to clear up exactly what happened on last night’s X Factor show and post my sincere apologies to anyone who took offense. I made a comment about Danyl changing the lyrics of his song (And I’m Telling You – Dreamgirls). It was meant to be a humorous moment about the fact he has an opportunity to have fun with his song. An openly bi-sexual singing a song that is lyrically a ‘girl’s song’. Danyl and I were joking about the very same thing in rehearsals on Friday, so it carried on to the show. I’d like to apologise to anyone that was offended by my comments, it was never my intention. I spoke to Danyl straight after the show last night and he wasn’t offended or upset by my comments, and knew exactly what I was saying.
She also said on Twitter that she would have no problem making an on-air apology for her gaffe. Although, with the recent news that Louis will not be present and Simon making an announcement, it’s unlikely that this will happen now.
Now, back to business as usual
We knew that the X Factor story was a work in progress when we reported on it last night. In my posting on Unreality Shout, I updated it to mention Dan Wooton’s comments on Twitter about the matter. I also mentioned on our forum that Dannii and Kylie both have massive gay followings and wouldn’t attack their fanbase in this way.
Let’s hope however, that this scandal is the last time in this series that the actions of the judges overshadow the talent of the contestants. Danyl may actually benefit from this newsstorm, so no harm done, right?
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