Billy Eichner Drags Clarence Thomas & SCOTUS Homophobes at MTV VMAs

Billy Eichner served Billy on the Street energy to deliver a passionate and important political statement at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards.

Before presenting Panic! At The Disco as one of the performers of the night, the comedian delivered a powerful speech where he promoted his upcoming film, Bros, and called out the Supreme Court on the VMAs stage. Eichner started, "Bros is making history as the first gay rom-com ever made by a major studio and the first where every role is played by an openly LGBTQ actor."

He continued:

"And I need you all there in theaters on Sep. 30, 'cause we need to show all the homophobes like Clarence Thomas and all the homophobes on the Supreme Court that we want gay love stories and we support LGBTQ people and we are not letting them drag us back into the last century because they are [the] past and Bros is the future."

Eichner's passionate statement comes on the heels of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and the threat of gay marriage being next on the hitlist for conservative Justices like Thomas. Given the inclusivity of queer people at the VMAs and the popularity Eichner has amassed over the years, this felt like a very important statement to be delivered on Sunday night.

Bros is being billed as the first gay rom-com ever made by a major studio (though Fox's Love, Simon and Searchlight Picture's Fire Island did precede the film). Alas, a huge selling point in the Bros promotional cycle is that it includes an all-LGBTQ+ cast of actors - something that Hollywood has been historically behind on.

Eichner has never been afraid of speaking his mind, and he once again came through for the LGBTQ+ community.

Bros opens September 30 only in theaters.

RELATED | 7 Iconic Billy on the Street Episodes We Laugh at Every Time