let’s talk about queerbaiting.
the internet has taken to accusing real people of queerbaiting, but what does that mean? the term queerbaiting as we know it came from fandom criticism of tv/film writers, creators, cast, networks, etc. sprinkling in hints of or outright promising queerness, either in the shows/films themselves or in the marketing/promotional material, in order to gain a queer audience, only to never follow through with actually representing that queer audience in the show/film. simply put, queerbaiting is a writing/marketing tactic in fiction.
accusing real people, including celebrities, of queerbaiting boils down to equating certain self-expression to queerness, mspec erasure, entitlement, devaluing closeted people, and policing how friends of the same gender are allowed to interact. no one is owed anything about anyone’s sexuality, nor is it anyone’s place to police who can express themselves in what way or what they can explore in their work. your interpretation of someone’s expression or sexuality does not necessitate explanation. this mindset is not only invasive and restrictive, but it pressures people into coming out.
“we should only accuse real people of queerbaiting when they’re actually lying about being queer for profit” is a slippery slope that leads to trying to figure out who the “fakers” are, which leads to invasive and entitled behavior, which negatively affects queer folks. it ignores the fact that queerbaiting happens with fiction, not real people. never mind that people pretending to be queer for profit doesn’t happen nearly enough for it to be an excuse for obsessive and harmful gatekeeping of behavior and expression.
you’d think after the first dozen celebrities were pressured into coming out or explaining their sexuality in further detail after the internet accused them of “queerbaiting,” people would…i don’t know…stop doing it.
celebrities who have been accused of queerbaiting
celebrities get accused of queerbaiting for their style, use of certain visuals in their work, refusal to label or even discuss their sexuality publicly, discussion of their sexuality in a way people don’t like, or exploration of queerness in their work without a public declaration of their queerness.
harry styles is endlessly accused of queerbaiting because of his clothing and his consistent evasion of questions about his sexuality (which he’s been getting since he was a teenager, mind you). styles has said he isn’t “sprinkling in nuggets of sexual ambiguity to try and be more interesting,” he just likes things to “look a certain way,” because it looks cool, not to make him “look gay, straight, or bisexual.”
the songs “i kissed a girl” by katy perry (2008), “cool for the summer” by demi lovato (2015), and “girls” featuring cardi b, bebe rexha, and charli xcx by rita ora (2018) have all been accused of being queerbait and false/harmful depictions of queer women. however, perry spoke multiple times over the years since the song’s release about her experiences with women, adding that sleazy male journalists made her uncomfortable, so she often played coy. lovato tweeted after their song’s release, in response to being accused of ripping off perry, “i think more than one female artist can kiss a girl and like it” and has since confirmed the song was their way of saying “i’m not ready to come out but…” criticism of ora’s song went viral after hayley kiyoko slammed it (as well as kehlani in since deleted tweets), pressuring ora to come out, “‘girls’ was written to represent my truth and is an accurate experience in my life;” cardi b (who is bisexual) to clarify that she has had experiences with women; and rexha to call out the “automatic negative” reaction to the song (meaning the dismissal of it being their truth, the incorrect assumption that she isn’t queer, and the idea that one has to be “fully lesbian” to sing about kissing girls) as “disrespectful.”
ariana grande got a similar critique of her song “monopoly,” featuring bisexual artist victoria monét, and tweeted about labeling her sexuality, “i haven’t before and still don’t feel the need to now, which is okay.” grande was also accused of queerbaiting for her “break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored” video, which ends as she pushes away a man and leans in toward a woman. cardi b was accused of queerbaiting again for her “wild side” video with normani, in which they embrace each other nude. along with explaining they were hiding a baby bump at the time, cardi b criticized the expectation and pressure accusing celebrities of queerbaiting puts on them to speak about their sexuality to prove they are allowed to depict anything queer in their art.
joshua bassett was accused of queerbaiting for casually saying, “i guess this is my coming out” in a video after saying harry styles is hot. the negative and skeptical response led to him clarifying he wasn’t joking and is indeed part of the lgbtq+ community. some other celebrities who have been accused of queerbaiting due to their self-expression include yungblud (his style; also he is pansexual), charlie puth (literally just horny on instagram), timothée chalamet (wore a harness that one time), taylor swift (likes rainbows, i guess?), kourtney kardashian and megan fox (did a sexy photoshoot together; also megan is bisexual), bad bunny (kissed a man during a performance), måneskin (their style; also vic and ethan are queer), and brendon urie (vaguely/lightheartedly spoke about attraction to men; also he is pansexual).
kit connor on the other hand was accused of queerbaiting for playing a queer character and dating girls, which led to him coming out as bisexual. mspec erasure strikes again! accusing actors of queerbaiting for playing queer characters while not publicly stating their sexuality is often defended with “if you don’t want to come out, don’t tell queer stories.” however, closeted queer folks, folks who haven’t realized their queerness yet, and those who just don’t feel the need to publicly discuss their sexuality are allowed to engage with queerness however they want. you can celebrate openly queer actors and advocate for out queer actors to get opportunities to tell their stories without outing anybody.
actual examples of queerbaiting
most examples of queerbaiting are when creators, writers, cast, etc. play up and tease the possibility of queer representation in interviews or promotional material, often once they become aware of a queer following, or coyly say things like, “who knows what might happen, you’ll just have to keep watching,” when outright asked if there’s queer representation. often the creators, writers, cast, etc. then criticize, mock, or dismiss queer readings, as if they have no idea where it comes from.
co-creator of sherlock (2012–2017) steven moffat dismissed queer readings of sherlock as “fantasies” that “aren’t in the show,” despite the fact that sherlock (benedict cumberbatch) and john (martin freeman) have many scenes with queer tones or framing and are portrayed enough like a couple that other characters interpret them that way, moffat had previously said sherlock and john is a love story, co-creator mark gattis said he finds “flirting with homoeroticism” in sherlock interesting, and freeman described the show as “the gayest story in the history of television.”
supernatural (2005–2020) showrunner jeremy carver gave misha collins a note to play castiel as a “jilted lover” with dean (jensen ackles), who have scenes with queer tones, references, and are interpreted as a couple; producers phil sgriccia and ben edlund described a scene where a man comes onto dean as “almost like a romantic comedy” and suggesting a “potential for love in all places;” and wb executive/script advisor chad kennedy went the coy “who knows what will happen? keep watching” route when discussing dean and castiel after already saying dean and castiel being queer is “not their intention.” (the finale doesn’t cancel any of this out lolol.)
kara (melissa benoist) and lena (katie mcgrath) from supergirl (2015–2021) have scenes with played up queer tones that are often parallels/mirrors of romantic couples, but this didn’t stop benoist and mcgrath, along with other cast members, from mocking fans for shipping kara/lena and acting as if they were just seeing things. writer j. holtham said in a since deleted tweet, “on the show, lena and kara are not lovers. if you feel like the show is promising that and not delivering on it, that is not our intention.” despite that, writer caitlin parrish tweeted a screenshot of a supergirl script that included “lena smiles as supercorp shippers everywhere squeal,” and when outright asked if kara and lena could become “more than friends,” writer/producer jessica queller coyly said she can’t make any promises.
jane rizzoli (angie harmon) and maura isles (sasha alexander) from rizzoli and isles (2010–2016) notably have scenes with played up queer tones and their relationship was teased in promotional material that without context is purposely misleading. while writer jane tamaro said rizzoli and isles have been heterosexual from the beginning so lesbian interpretations are “endlessly amusing” and referred to them as viewers’ “fantasy lives” and alexander said there’s “nothing gay about them,” harmon admitted she and alexander played up the tension between their characters that made fans read them as queer.
teen wolf (2011–2017) showrunner jeff davis and many cast members showed support for shipping stiles (dylan o’brien) and derek (tyler hoechlin), going as far as teasing that it could happen, referring to it as a romance and comparing it to popular fictional romances, playing up their scenes once realizing there was a following, and using the ship in promotion material, but tyler posey called stiles/derek a “bizarre, weird, twisted thing” and said fans who care about the relationship are “watching for the wrong reason” which created a tense, often unwelcoming environment for fans of the ship, to the point where it became taboo to mention it to the cast. the show also teased stiles being queer, with him wanting gay guys to be attracted to him, insisting he could be gay, and the close-up thoughtful look on his face when he was asked if he likes boys.
riverdale (2017–2023) used same gender kisses in promotional material, one between archie (kj apa) and joaquin (rob raco) and another between betty (lili reinhart) and veronica (camila mendes), only for the kisses to not be genuine queer moments between the characters. despite using same gender kisses out of context for promotion, actor shannon purser dismissively tweeted about “angry beronica stans” and reinhart said “our show isn’t fanfiction” when asked if betty and veronica are going to get together. cole sprouse, who plays jughead, a canonically aroace character in the archie comics, said he’d fight for jughead to be asexual (never mentioning him being aromantic), only to later walk it back, saying riverdale is a completely different universe than the comics, while showrunner roberto aguirre-sacasa vaguely said jughead’s asexuality is a “stop on the way.”
the relationship between beca (anna kendrick) and chloe (brittany snow) from the pitch perfect movies (2012–2017) has romanticized and sexualized scenes, such as chloe pushing beca up against a wall by grabbing her breasts then continuing to look at and feel them and chloe telling beca she regrets not doing “enough experimenting in college” while lying down with their faces nearly touching. beca/chloe is teased in promotional material, official social media for the film shared a clip of kendrick and snow almost kissing before kendrick says, “swipe up for more” and beca/chloe videos with hearts and captions such as “will bechloe ever happen?” and “will they? won’t they? there’s only one way to find out!” kendrick has described beca and chloe as “a will they, won’t they thing” and “total lesbians for each other” adding that they’ve “been riding the tension for a while.” director/producer of the second film elizabeth banks laughed at a question about beca/chloe saying they have a “lovely friendship.”
an executive producer of shadowhunters (2016–2019) tweeted ahead of season two all of the ships for simon (alberto rosende), one of them being a same gender relationship, adding “pansexuality here we go,” only for nothing to ever come of it.
related to teasing the possibility of queerness and not delivering is using queer representation as promotion in a way that reeks of patting yourself on the back for daring to represent queer people, when said queer representation is a fleeting moment, usually involving side characters and rarely having any relevance to the plot, easy to miss or remove. headlines claimed history was being made when director of beauty and the beast (2017) bill condon said there would be an “exclusively gay” moment, only for the representation to be a quick, accidental embrace. directors of avengers: endgame (2019) joe and anthony russo promoted the inclusion of an openly gay character, only for the “important representation” to be a blink and you miss it single line from an unnamed character. director of star wars: the rise of skywalker (2019) j.j. abrams said it’s important for the lgbtq community to feel represented by the film, only for the representation to be a blink and you miss it kiss between two women in the background of a scene.
examples of shows that don’t really warrant queerbaiting accusations
not every show accused of queerbaiting warrants it. a season one trailer for dead to me (2019–2022) was described as the “most obscene queerbaiting since rizzoli and isles” for the way jen (christina applegate) and judy’s (linda cardellini) relationship is portrayed, however nothing in the trailer is removed from context to trick people into believing their relationship is romantic. further, creator liz feldman has been direct the whole time about jen and judy’s relationship. she has said it’s based on her closest friendships with women; it’s understandable to interpret it as a romance because there can be intimacy and romance in friendship; it might feel queer because queerness is part of her dna and she is in the show’s dna. cardellini has said the legacy of the show is the “unconditional love of female friendship.” also, judy is queer, which is done in a casual non-labeled way, and she has a relationship with michelle (natalie morales).
crowley (david tennant) and aziraphale (michael sheen) from good omens (2019- ) don’t kiss or have sex, and korra (janet varney) and asami (seychelle gabriel) from legend of korra (2012–2014) don’t kiss, which resulted in accusations of queerbaiting. good omens creator neil gaiman explicitly confirmed it was written and acted as a queer love story for years (and sheen seconded it) and said crowley and aziraphale are not male humans with sexes, and he doesn’t exclude the idea of them being aspec. a lack of sex or kissing does not preclude queerness. legend of korra co-creator bryan konietzko explained the network put limitations on what they could show, so they purposely had a korra/asami scene mirror an earlier wedding scene with romantic music. adding as much queer subtext as you can because you can’t overtly express it is not queerbaiting.
people accuse pretty little liars (2010–2017) of queerbaiting because emily (shay mitchell) and alison (sasha pieterse) don’t get together until nearly the end of the show and they don’t stay together, both of which are unlike the rest of the relationships on the show. we can talk about how emily’s “main” relationship was drawn out far longer than the other girls’ “main” relationships and is the only one that isn’t endgame (they get divorced in the 2019 spinoff show, the perfectionists, while the other main couples remain happily married) without obfuscating the meaning of queerbaiting.
clarke (eliza taylor) and lexa’s (alycia debnam-carey) relationship on the 100 (2014–2020) not being endgame, lexa being killed off, and clarke being bisexual and dating men is not queerbaiting. nola (dewanda wise) from she’s gotta have it (2017–2019) having more involved relationships with men, while saying she’s pansexual on-screen and also having relationships with women, is not queerbaiting.
faking it (2014–2016) is accused of queerbaiting because the relationship between amy (rita volk) and karma (katie stevens) is a will they, won’t they that didn’t happen, and the show used non-genuine kisses out of context in promotional material. however, amy is canonically queer, has relationships with boys and girls, and showrunner carter covington has said the plan was always for amy and karma to get together (not end up together), but the show was canceled before it played out.
what’s amatonormativity got to do with it?
amatonormativity, as coined by elizabeth drake in minimizing marriage (2012), describes the “disproportionate focus on marital and amorous love relationships as special sites of value, and the assumption that romantic love is a universal goal.” a lot more goes into it, but for the sake of this article, i’m summing it up as the normalized, societal assumption of romance. this is relevant to the topic of queerbaiting, because people often assume certain interactions or expressions of intimacy are obviously romantic and it’s unbelievable or unrealistic to interpret it any other way. the reasoning for some accusations of queerbaiting boil down to “friends don’t behave like this” and that is amatonormativity.
celebrity-wise, billie eilish (who is queer) got accused of queerbaiting because of her “lost cause” video, where she’s dancing with a bunch of girls and for captioning a post of photos from the video as “i love girls.” liza koshy was also accused of queerbaiting for captioning a post about her best friend as “i can’t wait to see you at the end of the aisle one day, i just have no idea which role you’ll play.” people interpreted those comments from eilish and koshy as indicating romantic feelings, instantly disregarding the reality of platonic love and intimacy. loving girls is not something exclusive to queer women and wanting to see your best friend at the end of the aisle one day (as officiant or bridesmaid, as koshy explained in an edit to the caption) is pretty standard. you can argue they could’ve expressed themselves differently, so as to not give people the wrong idea, but why should they? why should people have to censor or modify how they naturally express their feelings so people online won’t get mad at them for the conclusions and assumptions they came to on their own?
when it comes to fiction, it’s one thing to have a queer interpretation of media and discuss queerbaiting in a wider context, it’s another to say two characters smiling at or hugging each other for an extended moment, sharing a bed, making a grand gesture or speech, being heartbroken over a falling out, or having any kind of emotionally meaningful moment has “no platonic explanation.” a scene between friends mirroring a scene between a couple (or using a trope/framing that is often used in a romantic context) could be queerbaiting, could be queer coding because they’re restricted from making it explicit, or it could just be showing the depth of platonic love. you can’t draw hard, universal lines between what romantic and platonic relationships look like, because there aren’t any. the response to heteronormativity shouldn’t be amatonormativity. the response to the dismissal of romantic queer interpretations (“obviously they’re just friends, you’re reading too much into it”) shouldn’t be the dismissal of platonic interpretations (“obviously they’re not just friends, you’re not reading enough into it”).
so, to recap
queerbaiting is not when real people (yes, that includes celebrities) are just living their lives, expressing themselves in whatever way they see fit. it also isn’t any time you interpret a character or relationship as queer and they aren’t, or a canon queer character or relationship doesn’t play out or end the way you wanted. again, it’s specifically a writing/marketing tactic in fiction. misusing the term only causes confusion and trivializes the genuine problem of queerbaiting.
