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Is 'bottom-shaming' why Fellow Travelers star Jonathan Bailey got snubbed at another award show?!?
The gays are wondering if Bailey’s co-star Matt Bomer’s performance is getting “top privilege” during this awards season.
Top privilege!? Bottom-shaming!?
It’s been an interesting awards season seeing Matt Bomer’s performance on Fellow Travelers getting nominated for prestigious accolades like the 81st Golden Globe Awards and the 30th Screen Actors Guild Awards… but not Jonathan Bailey’s performance as his love interest on the same show.
This has prompted certain fans to wonder if “top privilege” is at play here, considering that Bomer’s character, Hawkins, was the “top” of his relationship with Tim (played by Bailey).
One X user wrote, “Matt Bomer getting all the awards while Jonathan Bailey is ignored? Top privilege rears its ugly head once again smh.”
This X post by @Will_Kellogg is very obviously just a joke, so please take a breather before you start @-ing anybody.
But the post does bring up an interesting question regarding why Bailey’s performance is receiving fewer award nominations than Bomer’s. From the perspective of most viewers, both actors were equally committed to their roles and gave passionate, intense, and strong performances on Fellow Travelers.
When seriously analyzing what could be going on here, a few key points come to the surface. For all intents and purposes, Bomer was the lead actor of Fellow Travelers. He had significantly more screen-time than Bailey, which could’ve very well swayed critics and voters to pay attention to his performance more.
We can also consider that Bomer has starred in many high-profile projects over the years — from 2009’s White Collar to 2011’s In Time to 2012’s Magic Mike to 2016’s The Normal Heart to 2020’s The Boys in the Band — which could make his name much more recognizable than Bailey’s as of 2024.
We think that both Bomer and Bailey, as well as Jelani Alladin and Noah J. Ricketts, all gave stellar performances in what’s going down as one of the best LGBTQ+ television series of all time. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been room for all of their performances to be recognized (though Bailey DID get some love with a nom for Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television at this weekend's upcoming Critics Choice Awards), but the queer community will certainly keep celebrating them all.
Fellow Travelers is streaming on Showtime.
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Bernardo Sim is a writer, content creator, and the deputy editor of Out. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida.
Bernardo Sim is a writer, content creator, and the deputy editor of Out. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida.
