Companies and brands Disney has been accused of queerbaiting on several occasions, with Kodi Maier of the
University of Hull arguing that "
Disney is willing to create animated films and television shows that suggest queer content, but only so long as it doesn’t damage its conservative image." The directors of
Avengers: Endgame had spoken in interviews about believing it was "a perfect time" to include queer representation in the franchise, however, it turned out to be a single line said by an unnamed secondary character in the film.
The Wrap cited the close friendship between
Poe Dameron and
Finn in
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker as one example of queerbaiting.
The Rise of Skywalker also faced criticism after director
J.J. Abrams stated in the promotional press tour for the film that he had included queer representation in the film, but it turned out to be a single shot of a kiss in the background of one scene. A number of other Disney films, including the
Beauty and the Beast in 2017 and
Cruella in 2021 were described by critics for
Screen Rant and
USA Today as having queer characters but portraying queerness in a way that was either hinted at or a brief background that could easily be missed, asserting that this portrayal indicated that these films were queerbaiting audiences.
Fiction There have been various characters, or relationships between characters of the same sex, which have also been interpreted as examples of queerbaiting by at least some reliable media sources and commentators. This interpretation is not necessarily shared by all critics or fans considering the sensitive nature of the topic. Characters in some
films and series falling within the
superhero genre have been noted as examples of queerbaiting. Josh Engel of the
New York Times and scholar Michael McDermott in the chapter of a 2019 book entitled
Queerbaiting and Fandom: Teasing Fans through Homoerotic Possibilities described the relationship between
Kara Danvers and
Lena Luthor in
Supergirl as one example.
Okoye and Ayo in
Black Panther and
Bucky Barnes and
Steve Rogers in
Captain America: Civil War were cited by reviewers for Full Circle Cinema and
CBR as other examples. Certain
procedural,
crime,
police,
teen, and
comedy dramas were described as having character relationships that could be considered queerbaiting.
Screen Rant and
PinkNews cited Evan "Buck" Buckley and Eddie Diaz in
9-1-1 as one example, while
AfterEllen and scholar Mélanie Bourdaa said the same about Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles in
Rizzoli & Isles. Reviewers for
The Daily Dot,
Autostraddle, and The Next asserted that the relationship
between Sherlock Holmes and
John Watson in
Sherlock was another example, even though the cast and crew denied this was the case. Critics for
The Advocate,
Teen Vogue, and
Georgia Voice asserted the same was the case for relationship between Derek Hale and Stiles Stilinski in
Teen Wolf. Some critics described specific
musical,
romantic, and
black comedy films and series with queerbaiting between characters. Beca and Chloe in
Pitch Perfect were described as one example by
Them and Film Inquiry.
AfterEllen cited Max Black and Caroline Channing in
2 Broke Girls as another example.
The Spectator said the same about
Rachel Berry and
Quinn Fabray in
Glee. Viewers and critics for
PinkNews and
Junkee alleged the same between
Wednesday Addams and Enid Sinclair in
Wednesday. Others described certain
fantasy films, and other media, as queerbaiting. Critics for
Den of Geek,
Capital FM, and
The Guardian pointed to possible queerbaiting in two media within the
Harry Potter franchise. This included
Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald in
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and between
Albus Severus Potter and
Scorpius Malfoy in
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
CBR asserted the same between Qing Ming and Bo Ya in
The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity. Reviewers pointed to some animated series as having queerbaiting.
Polygon noted that queerbaiting controversy over
Voltron: Legendary Defender, between Shiro and Adam, and Keith and Lance was addressed by the series co-creator
Joaquim Dos Santos. Other critics for TheGWW and
CBR asserted the series
Naruto queerbaited between Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki,
Anime News Network asserted the same between Izetta and Princess Finé in
Izetta: The Last Witch. The relationship between Kumiko Ōmae and Reina Kōsaka in
Sound! Euphonium was described as queerbaiting by
Fotogramas and
Anime News Network. In contrast, Christopher Farris and Steve Jones of Anime News Network disputed that the series was queerbaiting was misguided and erased "the concept of bisexuality" and Misty Schultz stated in
Anime Feminist the series had "queer subtext". This contrasted to those series that did portray a same-sex relationship after being criticized for queerbaiting.
Killing Eve was criticized by
The Independent,
Cosmopolitan,
The Guardian,
CBR, and Meaww for queerbaiting with main characters Eve and Villanelle's relationship during seasons 1 and 2. The two characters then kissed one another in season 3. In the series
Supernatural, the relationship between
Castiel and
Dean Winchester, sometimes referred to under the shipping name "
Destiel", was seen as queerbaiting by fans as noted in
The Advocate. In the fifteenth season, Castiel confesses his love to Dean immediately before dying, prompting criticism that the show was playing into the
"bury your gays" trope as noted in
Polygon and
BuzzFeed News..
Social media On
April Fool's Day 2020, content creators, who were mostly straight men, started to post short videos and
challenges on social media, mostly TikTok and
Instagram, lip-syncing to
will.i.am's "
Boys & Girls" and pretending to come out as
bisexual. In 2021, Alpha House influencers were accused of queerbaiting, while other straight web personalities received the same accusations. Some influencers came out after being accused of queerbaiting.
Noah Beck was also accused of queerbaiting while he kept confirming his identity as straight. Many "challenges" or "trends" on TikTok or Instagram were accused of queerbaiting. This includes kissing others of the same gender, posting false
coming out narratives, or falsely claiming to be in a
same-sex relationship. Many celebrities, including
Billie Eilish and
Normani, were accused of queerbaiting for their posts on Instagram. Although this has been criticised, others have argued that the popularity of this trend is an example of the growing acceptance of LGBT people and (among males) a
homosocial embrace of a "softer" form of
masculinity. == See also ==