Nick Offerman Shuts Down Homophobic Hate Over The Last Of Us
TLOU Bill Nick Offerman
HBO’s The Last of Us took the world by storm when it aired on HBO last year, with the show being called by many the best video game adaptation of all time. One episode in particular, though, was praised by just about everyone who watched it — episode 3, entitled Long, Long Time.
The episode expanded on the story of Bill and his partner Frank, and was nominated for dozens of awards for its portrayal of the relationship. Now, the star of the episode, Nick Offerman, has hit out at “homophobic hate” that was thrown at the episode following its airing.
HBO
Offerman was awarded the best supporting performance in a new scripted series award at the 2024 Independent Spirit Awards, an awards show for independent film and TV. How, exactly, an HBO series based on a massively popular video game franchise and funded by Sony can be called independent is anyone’s guess, but that’s another story altogether.
In his acceptance speech for the award, as reported by Variety, Offerman thanked HBO for having the guts to tell a story so heavily focused on gay love, and hit out at homophobic hate he received for playing the role.
“Thanks to HBO for having the guts to participate in this storytelling tradition that is truly independent,” Offerman said in his speech,” Stories with guts that when homophobic hate comes my way and says, ‘Why did you have to make it a gay story?’ We say, ‘Because you ask questions like that. It’s not a gay story it’s a love story, you a*****e!”
Season 2 of The Last of Us was confirmed for 2025 late last year, with the series expected by many to launch in the first half of the year. The series will feature Isebela Merced as Dina, Ellie’s partner, Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, and Young Mazino as Jesse.
It’s also said to be including elements cut from the game, with showrunner and The Last of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann revealing that “at least one element from a cut level” will be appearing in the show.
