Internet
and tabloid gossip about the personal life of stars is
nothing new, but this appears to be the first time that a rumor
started solely by an anonymous internet poster on a message board
has become a "source" for traditional news outlets.
News
and entertainment shows on channels like CNN have increasingly
referenced or reported on internet gossip over the last few years,
but usually in vague terms. The fact that CNN's American Morning
and Good Morning Live actually named Cross,
rather than simply raising the question of whether someone on
Desperate Housewives is coming out, is surprising. It
also lends credibility to the rumor, since their phalanx of lawyers
would be unlikely to allow them to name Cross on-air unless they
had sources who privately confirmed the information.
It's
possible that Cross's publicists are behind the rumor in the first
place. Stars and their publicists have a long history of using
the press to "leak" information like this, and they're
increasingly using the internet as an even faster method of testing
the potential impact of the information, building buzz about their
client, and keeping the client at arm's length should the information
prove too damaging.
Last
year's Cynthia Nixon outing
is a great example of this: Nixon's revelation was almost old
news by the time she spoke a word about it directly.
On
the other hand, virtually all subsequent coverage of the "news"
about Cross coming out stems from a single anonymous message board
post--which hardly gives the rumor a high degree of credibility.
This
fact speaks to the larger lesson of
this incident: regardless of whether the gossip is true, there
has clearly been a sea change in the way news is made and reported
in this country. Nothing highlights the way the internet has changed
the landscape of American pop culture more than when anonymous
message board posts have the ability to make or break news.
It
also speaks to the increasingly vulnerability of closeted stars,
since anonymous message board posters are not bound by the same
rules as journalists, nor are they as willing to play by the publicists'
rules.
Closeted
celebrities, however, can take some comfort in the fact that there
have been rumors about various celebrities' sexuality for years,
and most of it never goes beyond gossip to become news. It only
happened this time because the gossip combined very specific information
about an impending event (not just the fact that Cross is gay,
but that she's coming out in May in The Advocate) involving
a woman long rumored to be gay who stars on the most popular show
on television.
If
Cross does come out, it will be a big win for lesbian visibility.
But regardless of her sexual orientation, this story is a testament
to the increasingly prominent role of the internet in journalism,
and the increasing difficulty public figures face in controlling
the flow of information.
Update:
Cross's publicists finally issued a press release stating that
the rumors are "completely untrue" but Marcia is "very
supportive of the gay and lesbian community." On the ABC
talk show The View Wednesday morning, Cross responded
"I'm not" when asked if she was a lesbian, and had this
to say about the rumor: "it’s very odd and I assume
it’s what comes with being 42 and single. I don’t
know if they needed to find a reason why I wasn’t married."
A raft of traditional news outlets, including ABC News, TV Guide,
the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Wyoming
News, have covered her denial.
