# Do MEN ride the casting couch, too? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 24, 2019, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318 "2019-12-24T00:36:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318/1 "2019-12-24T00:36:19Z")
Just asking. I’ve heard about Matthew Perry and Henry Cavill who got to where they were by bending over a desk in a producer’s office. I know there are plenty of bi’s, gays, and gay-for-pays in the industry, and hundreds with paid women ‘beards’ to appeal to their romantic fans. But I wonder about all of those men, we never ever hear much about how much they have to ‘play nice’ in the industry. So un-manly! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318/2 "2019-12-24T02:18:26Z")
I’m sure it happens but I’d guess a lot of it is guys being gay for pay. Never heard of either Matthew perry or Henry cavill doing that. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318/3 "2019-12-24T02:27:09Z")
What about the situation with Kevin Spacey? > **[Kevin Spacey | Sexual misconduct allegations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Spacey#Sexual_misconduct_allegations)** > > On October 29, 2017, actor Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey, while appearing intoxicated, made a sexual advance toward him at a party in 1986, when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. Rapp had also shared this story in a 2001 interview with The Advocate, but Spacey's name was redacted from publication to avoid legal disputes and public outing. Spacey stated through Twitter that he did not remember the encounter, but that he owed Rapp "the sincerest apology for what would have been deepl Fifteen others... ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318/4 "2019-12-24T02:33:42Z")
Brendan Fraser has discussed an act of sexual assault against him, committed by someone in the film industry: > [@](#): > > Fraser alleged in 2018 that he was sexually assaulted by Philip Berk, the president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at a luncheon in the summer of 2003. The incident and his subsequent divorce launched Fraser into a depression which, combined with his health issues and a backlash within the industry over speaking out against Berk, he believed caused his career to decline. > **[Brendan Fraser](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan_Fraser)** > > Brendan James Fraser (/ˈfreɪzər/ FRAY-zər; born December 3, 1968) is a Canadian-American actor. Fraser had his breakthrough in 1992 with the comedy Encino Man and the drama School Ties. He gained further prominence for his starring roles in the comedies With Honors (1994) and George of the Jungle (1997) and emerged as a star playing Rick O'Connell in The Mummy trilogy (1999–2008). He took on dramatic roles in Gods and Monsters (1998), The Quiet American (2002), and Crash (2004), and furthe Fr... I don’t know if there were ‘casting couch’ implications–by 2003, Fraser already did have a thriving career. But the allegations, if true, go to show that men do get victimized. The Coen Brothers’ movie _Hail Caesar_ depicts some fictionalized incidents of casting-couch harassment of actors. That’s not proof of anything, of course, except that the concept is not particularly outlandish. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318/5 "2019-12-24T03:10:19Z")
Kevin Spacey had so many allegations come out in such a short period of time it’s hard to remember that some of them came from fellow cast and crew members. In his biography of Vincente Minnelli, film critic Emanuel Levy relates that Minnelli’s wife (Judy Garland) walked in on him having sex with a young, small-time actor. Patrick McGilligan is just one Hollywood biographer who wrote of George Cukor’s male-only weekend parties. I don’t know if either of those directors actually “auditioned” male actors in the generally accepted meaning of the “casting couch.” But there were a lot of gay studio execs in Hollywood, and abuse of power is not strictly a heterosexual phenomenon. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318/6 "2019-12-24T03:11:37Z")
Several male actors allude to their harassment/casting-couch experiences in [this article](https://tinseltownmom.com/celebrity-dads-speak-out-about-their-casting-couch-experiences/). ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318/7 "2019-12-24T04:20:27Z")
I don’t take salacious glee in this topic. Men or women being harassed or pushed into casting couch performances is wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Kovitlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kovitlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kovitlac)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318/8 "2019-12-24T16:17:08Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > I don’t take salacious glee in this topic. Men or women being harassed or pushed into casting couch performances is wrong. I don’t think anyone here is arguing that. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318/9 "2019-12-24T16:48:44Z")
I’ve read several books about the gay and lesbian communities in Hollywood back in the days of the Moguls. The Moguls themselves were flamboyantly heterosexual, but some craft areas like costume design and props were places that tolerated and therefore accumulated gays as long as they kept on the down low, and many actors and actresses were gay or bisexual. I don’t recall incidents of explicit casting couch equivalences. But any small community inside a larger one will tend to favor people in their crowd and as one would expect some younger members got into favor by being sexually available. Those opportunities could have been enthusiastically embraced, cynically taken, or acts of desperation and probably were a mix of all three, given humanity. I wouldn’t say those acts were as viciously exploitative as the casting couch, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318/10 "2019-12-24T18:50:29Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > I don’t take salacious glee in this topic. Men or women being harassed or pushed into casting couch performances is wrong. Uh…did anyone? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318/11 "2019-12-24T20:39:24Z")
I do recall a book saying that the casting couch worked for men, too. I read it in the 70s, and it was discussing the studio system. It makes sense. There would be gay studio executives and gay actors who might try to take advantage. Even a straight actor might decide to give in, hoping for a role. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318/12 "2019-12-24T20:50:58Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Uh…did anyone? > [@salinqmind](#): > > Just asking. \*\* I’ve heard about Matthew Perry and Henry Cavill who got to where they were by bending over a desk in a producer’s office.\*\* I know there are plenty of bi’s, gays, and gay-for-pays in the industry, and hundreds with paid women ‘beards’ to appeal to their romantic fans. \*\* But I wonder about all of those men, we never ever hear much about how much they have to ‘play nice’ in the industry. So un-manly! :eek:\*\* Sounds like salacious gossiping to me. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318/13 "2019-12-24T22:43:15Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Sounds like salacious gossiping to me. Eye of the beholder. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318/14 "2019-12-24T22:48:01Z")
“Riding the casting couch” also makes it sound like fun, rather than abuse. And yes, some men have spoken out about it. I’ve no doubt there are a lot more who haven’t. It’s unlikely to be in the same numbers as women who’ve experienced it (purely because there are a lot more men in positions of power in Hollywood and TV, and overall there are more straight men than gay men, so women have more potential abusers in that field than men do), but there will be more than have spoken out about it, and it’s equally despicable. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318/15 "2019-12-24T23:15:25Z")
I’ve never heard of the rumors described by the OP, but Corey Feldman has made vague references to being abused along with Corey Haim when they were child actors. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318/16 "2019-12-24T23:49:19Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Sounds like salacious gossiping to me. Sounded like that to me, too. I tried to chalk it up to inadvertent bad wording in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2019, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318/17 "2019-12-25T02:17:59Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Sounded like that to me, too. I tried to chalk it up to inadvertent bad wording in the OP. Certainly didn’t seem to be treating this as a serious issue. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2019, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318/18 "2019-12-25T02:38:46Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > I’ve never heard of the rumors described by the OP, but Corey Feldman has made vague references to being abused along with Corey Haim when they were child actors. He hasn’t been vague, he just hasn’t really named names. Interestingly, other actors (like Elijah Wood) who have said things affirming his claims have walked back what they said shortly thereafter. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2019, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318/19 "2019-12-25T02:40:19Z")
[Here](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/03/bryan-singers-accusers-speak-out/580462/) is an article from The Atlantic Monthly about allegations against the movie director Bryan Singer. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2019, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318/20 "2019-12-25T04:07:53Z")
I hadn’t heard anything about Cavill and the couch but I had read the rumors (which seem possible) that most if not all of his “relationships” with women were of the PR variety. The whole Gina Carano thing especially seemed plausible. The Bryan Singer parties with young boys stories have been around forever. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-ride-the-casting-couch-too/845318.md?page=2)