Phillip Scofield Why all the Fuss

And once again Grannygravy I find myself agreeing with you and I've changed my mind. Like to give people the benefit of the doubt but hey ho. Got to be sympathetic to his wife on this.

Aprilrose you got that spot on. I'd like to applaud your wisdom but there is no icon (that I can find ) so I'll send you instead

Anniebach Surely a man of 30 knows he is homosexual?

According to the media, Annie, he says he did know but he got married anyway! As he is in showbiz, he is surrounded by gays .... it's not like he was in the army back then.

I have read some of the showbiz messages of support and comments on his "bravery" which are gushing. One person said his interview was "the height of bravery", clearly discounting bomb disposal and other high risk jobs!!

If he had betrayed his wife of 27 years with another woman, there would be none of this virtue signalling. I can't stand the hypocrisy.

Gay, straight, bisexual, be what you want to be especially nowadays when men can even win women’s prizes by just saying they’re a woman.
Cheat on your partner -inexcusable. Those doing the patting and hugging for coming out are ostensibly condoning the cheating.

Surely a man of 30 knows he is homosexual?

Having worked with people who hid their sexuality for years I think a little more understanding of the very real fears and the very real pressures gay people were under until relatively lately should be taken into account. In many jobs coming out as gay was not only difficult but impossible. As for the relationships with women some of the gay men I have known have sometimes been actively pursued by women. I would imagine it happens to a few, some manage to dismiss them (but that's usually men who are 'out', some tried to be friends (but that sometimes led to problems) and no doubt some married them hoping they weren't gay really.
As for the relationship in the TV programme. Perhaps there was a power element for PS but there is also the possibility that the young man was much more comfortable with his sexuality and knew what he was doing. I simply don't know. I do know of a gay partnership that began when one of the men was just 18 and the other was 40+ and that went on until the older man died.
Whatever happened it's amazing the prejudice and judgemental attitudes still out there. Makes you realise why PS stayed in the closet so long. And therefore how it has contributed to the wife and daughters' distress. If it was easier to be honest things wouldn't have happened as they have.
Still never watch the programme can't stand any of them -Holly, Philip, Ruth or Eamonn. Storm in a teacup. Or as my mum always said "Worse things happen in Russia" . Never understood where that came from!

I think he must have been forced into it, as someone else was about to speak out.

James Corden’s ‘you are strong. You are loved’, reminded me
Of bananas

Males preference for male has been in existence since male specie inhabited earth. P S is no exception but come on did he have to make a public announcement his wife was aware of this through out their twenty seven year and the birth of two daughters marriage.?What some women will tolerate beggars belief.Having gone ' public' may not have been the wisest thing.How far ones limits of ' tolerance' stretch ? time will tell.

I agree with Grannygravy. I initially had sympathy for him, even though the style of the announcement was way over the top. I've changed my mind now.

From what is emerging, rumours about his relationship with a very young runner etc, it appears he wasn't being totally honest in that interview with Holly. Seems it was a PR set up/damage limitation exercise, carefully orchestrated.

We don't know what's happened between him and his wife over the years, she possibly knew and reluctantly accepted it. She must be very humiliated now this is all public.

I don't care if he's gay or not personally. I just don't like hypocrisy.

I agree with tickingbird. This has nothing to do with his sexuality. He’s gay, no problem with that. The problem is that he’s lied to his wife for 27 years and now he’s being called brave and he’s ‘proud of himself’. I feel sorry for his wife and daughters. He’s a cheat and a liar.

tickingbird It’s the fawning and faux sincerity. The hugs and pats on the back.

Yes, all the virtue signalling by the luvvies .... it's nauseating. My thoughts are with his wife and daughters.

Typing is not my forte and I am without spellchecker on this. I note some reversed letters.

I couldn't care less about who either PS or BOJO sleep with ,I think PS has made a mistake in how he dealt with this and as for Bojo ANY man who leaves a wife while she's being treated for cancer is beneath contempt in my book though I think she's better off without the scumbag

this isn’t about him coming out as gay. His sexuality is his business and shouldn’t impact on his career but, possibly, years ago it would have done

Whilst his sexuality might have had some impact on his career had he been openly homosexual some years ago, the reality remains that he is using it now to positively impact on his career and I suspect put himself above criticism in some way. Anything said against him now will be labelled homophobia, no matter how realistic the criticism. He has almost guarenteed himself a job for life now no matter what he might have been up to with young (er) men

There are two camps I think here. Those who want to be positive to him because of his sexuality. This includes the media and other people in the entertainment business and those who are thinking more of his wife and his family and how he has treated them badly. To make any other comment draws the accusation of homopbobia I fear. (Yes I am jumping in with both feet).

This is just an observation but reading across the newspapers and media sites this morning, much of the reported news is positive to PS however, if like me you like to look at the comments section where ordinary readers have their say a different picture begins to emerge. Eevn when moderated, comments which are positive to PS seem to be getting a high number of down votes or red arrows
( depending on which paper you are reading through). That suggests to me that whilst many may be fearful of making a comment directly ( or even stopped by moderation and threats of banning etc.) a good many are making their feelings and views known with the little red arrow, which of course is anonymous.

Maybe despite all the positive press and beleif that people have moved their moral compass considerably, a large number may not have done so. Many may believe there is a double standard applied when a man cheats on his wife with another man ( after all Boris Johnson has been fair game for those who want to criticise him for living with a woman who is not his wife etc.) . Maybe also many can feel for those hurt by the public nature of this. There may even be those who ( shock horror and without prejudice) hold moral views about homosexuality itslelf ( according to the comments and the red arrows etc.)

Now let me make it clear. I am not offering a personal view here, just an observation of what I have drawn from a content analysis of comments across the media this morning. Please do not shoot the messenger.

I was also sent this YouTube video about his friendship with a young male sixth former which has its own theory of why he chose to come out.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=Kyce8KwLGiQ&feature=youtu.be

For me, this isn’t about him coming out as gay. His sexuality is his business and shouldn’t impact on his career but, possibly, years ago it would have done. It’s the fawning and faux sincerity. The hugs and pats on the back. I have it on good authority it has been an open secret for years but he had been approached by some publication and this coming out was cobbled together within 24 hours to limit any damage. He refused to say if he’d been in any relationship with a man prior to this (highly likely he had) and the quivering lip and humble body language was fake in my opinion. If it turns out to be true about the young production assistant(s) then he deserves to be taken to task for the same reason the likes of Harvey Weinstein have. I’m not suggesting he’s as bad as HM but he’s getting sympathy and plaudits for his bravery when he’s been deceiving his wife for many years.

When I first saw this news I thought why on earth does he want us (me) to know? Nothing to do with us. As a man with a wife and children, this story is not all about him.

The man chose to speak on tv, the press cannot be blamed for
his choice to talk

Well, that explains why he and Holly never got it together! So many accused, or tried to accuse them of messing around. They really are party partners!
I never saw it myself in him, but, then, why should I. I just hope he doesn't start mincing around like a lot of men do when they finally come out.

That's a lot of judgement based on an if! Gossip mongers & the press always have a field day. Poor man

trisher Your hypocrisy and stupidity know no bounds. There is no homophobia in my posts as there has never been any racism. You lack the intelligence or insight to have a reasoned discussion on anything so trot out your “learned by rote” cliched lines in the vain hope of shutting down anyone that disagrees with you. Whenever you are asked to explain yourself you can’t so provide links to someone else’s opinions or resort to telling posters to f**k off. I find it strangely amusing.

How do you know that?

Fed up of seeing his name all over the papers ?

trisher you accused posters of being homophobic but crafty
enough not to name them, there are no homophobic posts,
I agree with tickingbird re Lawrence Fox, if it had been him
not Schofield you would have had the knives out,