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‘The Biggest Blowback’: Kevin Smith Says He Was Dissapointed When Ellen DeGeneres Walked Out Of The Screening Of His Lesbian Comedy Film
Kevin Smith released a documentary reflecting on his famous 1997 lesbian comedy Chasing Amy. The actor recalled being upset over Ellen DeGeneres walking out of the screening after the first half!
Kevin Smith starred in the 1997 LGBTQ+ movie Chasing Amy and invited “ "the most famous lesbian in the world" Ellen DeGeneres to its screening. But she unfortunately walked off mid-premiere. In the recently released documentary Chasing Chasing Amy by filmmaker Sav Rodgers, Smith recalled the anecdote.
The actor said he got the “biggest blowback” after learning that the former talk show host and her then-partner Anne Heche went for the premiere but left in the first half. "And us being like, 'Well, that's the most famous lesbian in the world. We just lost her. That means we're never getting on The Ellen Show,' " Smith added.
Their concern was valid considering DeGeneres was making headlines for coming out of the closet the same year Chasing Amy was released. The film featured Ben Affleck as Holden McNeil, a comic-book writer and artist who falls in love with fellow comic-book writer Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams).
Despite being a lesbian Alyssa reciprocates Holden’s feelings but things go south when the latter learns that the former has had relationships with other men before him. Given that the film was released in the late 90s, it had many insensitive and problematic jokes.
The story told through Holden’s lens featured “harsh terminology” from characters like the homophobic Banky (Jason Lee). In the recent documentary, Smith reflects on the film’s controversial nature and says he understands why people from that community might not like the film to this day.
"Absolutely. Believe me, I've had 22 years to get used to that. I got used to that on the f---ing first week it came out. There were some people ... who were upset,” Smith said. However, negative ratings aside, this film is one of Smith's most beloved films with an 87% Rotten Tomato rating.
The film also gave a much-needed boost to Smith’s career at the time. "So you got me needing to do something to stay in this business, or else we were out. That's a big part of where [Chasing Amy] comes from,” the actor added.
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