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Beauty and the Beast's Josh Gad says Disney movie didn't 'do justice' for gay representation

Photo credit: Disney
Photo credit: Disney

Josh Gad, who played LeFou in the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast, has criticised the movie for the gay representation it supposedly had.

Gad spoke to The Independent about his regret over the film, as he was supposed to be part of Disney's first "exclusively gay moment," according to director Bill Condon.

The moment in question was when Gad's character LeFou danced in a crowd with Gaston (Luke Evans), which was supposed to confirm that LeFou was really in love with the "brute".

Gad said: "My regret in what happened is that it became 'Disney's first explicitly gay moment' and it was never intended to be that. It was never intended to be a moment that should laud ourselves for, because frankly, I don't think we did justice to what a real gay character in a Disney film should be."

Photo credit: Disney
Photo credit: Disney

Related: Beauty and the Beast gets prequel series on Disney+ from Once Upon a Time creators

"That was not LeFou. If we're going to pat ourselves on the back, then damn it we should have gone further with that."

"We didn't go far enough to warrant accolades," Gad said, referring to news articles praising Disney for improving gay representation after 90 years of ignoring LGBTQ+ characters. "We didn't go far enough to say, 'Look how brave we are.'"

He added: "Everybody deserves an opportunity to see themselves on screen, and I don't think we've done enough – and I certainly haven't done enough to do that."

Photo credit: Disney
Photo credit: Disney

Related: Beauty and the Beast star says LeFou's sexuality could be addressed in Disney+ series

Digital Spy previously wrote that the scene was "hardly the 'watershed' moment it could have been."

Gad also voices the character of Olaf in Disney's Frozen and recently apologised to parents for the song 'Let It Go' being played on repeat by their Frozen-obsessed children.

He is also starring in Wolf Like Me, a six-part series set in Australia, playing a single dad who gets dumped while at a restaurant and then later connects with advice columnist Mary (Isla Fisher).

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