Billy Crystal says there is too much of ALL sex on TV after storm over comments saying gay scenes had gone 'too far'

• Actor didn't say which shows offend him but said many are 'pushing it'
• Crystal played one of network TV's first openly gay characters in the 1970s
• Shared opinion with audience at Television Critics Association press event
• Did not cite particular shows shows to audience in Pasadena, California audience - then later mentioned HBO series Girls 
• Criticized the show while plugging his own new series, The Comedians
• Following day said he is actually opposed to any gratuitous sex scenes 

 
 
 

Not to his taste: Crystal, pictured above in Pasadena, where he made the comments, has now clarified his stance

Actor Billy Crystal has said he objects to all gratuitous sex on TV after a storm over comments in which he appeared to single out gay scenes for censure.

Crystal, who became one of network television's first gay characters on comedy show Soap in the 1970s, said contemporary programs are 'pushing it a little too far' and need to take care not to 'shove it in our face'.

But after his stance was widely criticized, he rowed back and said any depictions of sex which are 'gratuitous' are not to his taste.   

According to The Wrap, he had told an audience at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, California: 'Sometimes, it’s just pushing it a little too far for my taste and I’m not going to reveal to you which ones they are.

'I hope people don’t abuse it and shove it in our face… to the point where it feels like an every day kind of thing.'

His comments were widely reported but, but on Monday night Crystal gave a statement to The Hollywood Reporter saying he had been misunderstood.

He said: 'What I meant was that whenever sex or graphic nudity of any kind (gay or straight) is gratuitous to the plot or story it becomes a little too much for my taste'. 

In an interview immediately after his first, controversial statements, he also told a reporter perhaps he shouldn't have said anything at all.

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Remarks: Crystal expressed his opinion at a showbiz talk show audience. He is pictured above at the January 18 event

He declined to cite any examples of the too-explicit shows, but implied that intolerant attitudes he struggled with while playing Jodie Dallas from 1977 to 1981 have now swung the other way. 

In the appearance he also described how audiences were slow to accept openly gay moments in Soap while it was being aired on ABC - particularly when he was interacting with on-screen boyfriend Bob Seagren, who played Dennis Phillips.

Explicit: Crystal also said that graphic heterosexual sex is too much for him. Pictured above is a scene from Girls showing Allison WIlliams during a sex act

Back in the day: Crystal, shown above in character as Jodie Dallas, one of network TV's first gay characters

Billy Crystal as openly-gay Jodie on Seventies sit-com Soap

He told the audience: 'It was very difficult at the time - Jodie was really the first recurring [gay] character on network television and it was a different time, it was 1977.

'So, yeah, it was awkward. It was tough.'

'I did it in front of a live audience and there were times when I would say to Bob, "I love you," and the audience would laugh nervously.

'I wanted to stop the taping and go, "What is your problem?"'

However, Crystal later rowed back on his comments and said: 'Maybe I shouldn't have said anything today'.

On-screen: This scene from ABC's Scandal is among those which has displayed intimate gay scenes

In a discussion reported in a blog on Xfinity, Crystal first blasted the today's culture of taking offense, then expressed his regret over speaking out at all.

He said: 'We live in a very scary time in many ways. You can’t say this, you can’t say that, you can’t offend this group, that group.

'People come up to you and ask if you were offended. I don’t understand that. I understand it why everyone is watching out for the other person. That’s offensive to me.'

He also said that his comments apply to heterosexual sex scenes as well as gay ones.

He said: 'When it gets too far either visually…now, that world exists because it does for the hetero world, it exists, and I don’t want to see that either.'

He and fellow star Josh Gad later referenced HBO's Girls as a show which features many graphic sex scenes