Last night wasn't James Franco's first on-screen kiss with a man, though it may be his most controversial.
The actor who recently played Sean Penn's lover in "Milk," hosted "Saturday Night Live" yesterday and topped off his performance with an x-rated man-on-man smooch.
Franco's public display of affection may ruffle feathers as it comes less than a month after Adam Lambert's controversial same-sex kiss on the American Music Awards.
In the SNL sketch, Franco plays a college student who has brought home his new girlfriend to meet his family for the first time. As it turns out, his family is one big PDA, peppering each conversation with numerous kisses.
The audience went wild when Bill Hader, who plays Franco's brother, greeted the "Freaks and Geeks" alum with a face-smashing wet one. But it was the lesser known Will Forte, playing Franco's grandpa, who got real carnal knowledge of the "Spiderman" star. At the end of the 4-minute skit, Franco bestowed an unadulterated "9 1/2 Weeks"-style french kiss on the SNl cast member.
That Franco's kiss was administered on late night TV, no doubt means it will not offend as many as Lambert's prime time smooch did.
In November, Lambert sang his hit song "For Your Entertainment" on ABC's American Music Awards. During his live performance, the "American Idol" runner up planted an "in the moment" kiss on a male keyboardist and grinded his pelvis against a dancer's head.
ABC reportedly received thousands of telephone complaints after the show and ended up cancelling the flamboyant star's scheduled appearances on other ABC programs such as "Good Morning America."
"Female performers have been doing this for years -— pushing the envelope about sexuality —- and the minute a man does it, everybody freaks out," Lambert said toRolling Stone magazine. "We're in 2009 -- it's time to take risks, be a little more brave, time to open people's eyes and if it offends them, then maybe I'm not for them. My goal was not to piss people off, it was to promote freedom of expression and artistic freedom."
CBS subsequently invited Lambert to appear on "The Early Show." But gay rights activists shouted double standard when the network's news channel blurred footage of the kiss but played an unedited version ofthe 2003 Britney-Madonna make-out session at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Franco rose to fame asHarry Osborn in the "Spiderman" trilogy and earned critical acclaim for his performance as Scott Smith in "Milk."
Fans were surprised when it was confirmed in October of this year that Franco would be joining the cast of soap opera "General Hospital."
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