Zoolander 2 Trailer Still - H 2015
Screengrab/Paramount PicturesFollowing the release of its first full length trailer, Zoolander 2 is receiving pushback from LGBTQ activists.
The controversy surrounds an androgynous supermodel played by British actor Benedict Cumberbatch, named All.
In the trailer, Ben Stiller questions, “Are you like, a male model or a female model?” Owen Wilson’s character then asks the model, “Do you have a hot dog or a bun?”
Activist Sarah Rose has started on online petition that has garnered more than 5,800 signatures.
“Cumberbatch’s character is clearly portrayed as an over-the-top, cartoonish mockery of androgyne/trans/non-binary individuals,” writes Rose. “This is the modern equivalent of using blackface to represent a minority.”
Rose continues: “Like any rational person, I think there’s a place for discourse and humor in society, but the last thing the transgender community needs at this moment is another harmful, cartoonish portrayal of our lives.”
THR has reached out for comment from Paramount regarding the petition.
Watch the trailer for Zoolander 2, with Cumberbatch’s character, below.
