Str8 Soap Actor Blames Gay TV Role For Sexual Assault Of 2 Women At Party

Straight soap opera star Bruno Langley cited the stress of playing a gay character for accusations of sexual assaults against him.
Langley, who plays Todd Grimshaw on British soap Coronation Street, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting two women.
He made his debut on the show in 2001 and his character is the first to come out as gay on the show.
But on 30 September, two women claim he groped them.
‘It was completely out of character,’ Langley’s lawyer, Simon Hancock told the Manchester Magistrates’ Court. ‘Something happened that night, most possibly in relation to the character he was playing.

‘These two offences happened within one evening but are linked to alcohol. The result was despicable behavior,’ Hancock said.
A friend of Langely told The Sun: ‘Bruno played a high-profile gay character for 16 years. People often think he’s gay in real-life.
‘He sometimes feels he needs to act more of a lad than he is to stop assumptions about his sexuality.’
A statement issued after his court hearing read: ‘I have absolutely no memory of what happened because of excessive alcohol consumption and it was for this reason that I behaved completely out of character.

‘However, I take full responsibility for my actions that night,’ the statement read.

As a result of the accusations, Coronation Street terminated Langley’s employment with the show.
District Judge Mark Hadfield said: ‘On that evening your conduct was quite disgraceful, indeed degrading.’
‘You have lost your good name and employment and it may well be difficult to gain employment in the entertainment in future, he said.
Langley escaped jail time but was sentenced with a 12-month community order and will sign the sex offenders register for five years. He also has to pay each victim $337.
Fans felt betrayed by the soap star and took to Twitter to vent their frustrations.
One tweeted: ‘I have zero respect for him. He knew exactly what he was doing. How dare he blame it on playing a gay character.’

Another said: ‘I remember being a gay teen, and his storyline was a huge thing to me. And now he throws us under the bus…’
Some people are coming to Bruno Langley’s defence in light of the allegations. In fact, there is a petition calling on ITV to review their decision to sack the star.
Karen Cochrane, who started the change.org petition wrote: ‘He is a fabulous actor and a major part of Corrie, and it won’t be the same without him, so please please give him his job back.’
Over the course of Langley’s career, he starred in several same-sex kissing scenes.

As a result, many anti-gay fans of the show made complaints to ITV and Ofcom. One particular half-naked kissing scene garnered over 100 complaints.
One complaint, for example, read: ‘Fucking fags on television. Kids could be watching this!’
Another read: ‘My mum made such a fuss about the “disgusting gay sex scene” on Friday’s Corrie.’