Hollywood director Joel Schumacher claims he’s had sex with 20,000 men
Director Joel Schumacher attends the 12th Annual Sesame Workshop Benefit Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on May 28, 2014 in New York City. (Mike Pont/FilmMagic)
Hollywood director Joel Schumacher has claimed he has had sex with 20,000 men, and said the number is “not unusual” for gay people.
The 79-year-old Phantom of the Opera director, who has been openly gay for decades, made the claim in an interview with Vulture.
Asked if he knew how many sexual partners he has had, he said: “It would be in the double-digit thousands, but that is not unusual.
“10, or 20 [thousand]. It’s not [amazing] for a gay male, because it’s available… most gay men have many partners because it’s not a very ‘no’ culture.”
He added: “I’ve had sex with famous people, and I’ve had sex with married people, and they go to the grave. I’ve never kissed and told about anybody who gives me the favour of sharing a bed with me.”
It is technically possible that Schumacher has had sex with 20,000 men, which is equivalent to hooking up with a different man every day for 55 years.
Joel Schumacher: Gay people didn’t want a suburban life before the AIDS crisis.
Reflecting on the evolution of gay culture towards stable relationships, he said: “Now, a lot of gay people are getting married, they’re adopting, or they’re having children. There wasn’t any of that when I was young.
“If you went into a gay bar and there were 200 men in there, and you said, ‘OK, who wants to have a little house with a white picket fence, and a dog, and a child, raise your hands,’ or, ‘Who wants to get laid tonight?’
Director Joel Schumacher addresses the audience during the 12th Annual Monte Cristo Awards at The Edison Ballroom on April 16, 2012 in New York City. (Michael Loccisano/Getty)
“The concept of a lovely suburban life or raising children was not a high concept.
“I think AIDS changed a lot. We all had to look at sex, not only as it could kill you, but how reckless we had become as a culture.”
Batman and Robin weren’t gay, director says.
Elsewhere in the interview, the director denied putting winks-and-nods to gay culture into 1997 superhero film Batman and Robin.
He responded: “No [I didn’t]. Nor do I ever think Batman and Robin are gay. ”
He added: “This all started way before me. Long before I came along, someone wrote a whole thing about what the real message of fairy tales and children’s stories are. Snow White was all about having bad stepmothers.
“And Batman and Robin are two homosexual men, living in a cave, living together. There’s always been this thing about Batman and Robin being gay.”
