Former High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (HSMTMTS) star Joshua Bassett is currently in hot waters for being accused of queerbaiting by his followers.
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The High School Musical: The Musical: The Series alum is continuing the European leg of his The Golden Years Tour, his third headlining tour, after having to postpone and cancel some dates “due to an illness,” as stated by the House of Blues when his Nashville show was canceled in August. During the tour, Joshua performs songs from his album The Golden Years, along with many of his other hits and a surprise song each night.
The tour began at the Arizona Financial Theatre in Phoenix in July and will be concluded in Cologne, Germany in January. While several venues were moved to smaller locations, Bassett still managed to attract large crowds in other venues and even sold out tickets in Nashville and London.
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In Bassett’s Instagram, he posted a video of a skit where he and tour guest Thomas Day pretend to almost kiss. “Do you wanna see this?” he says, referring to the kissing gesture. “You better buy your tickets for Europe, baby,” he continues. “You mean you’re not gonna be there when I lock lips, when that happens? Buy your tickets before it’s too late.” Bassett captioned “DontMissTheKiss.”
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Followers of the singer flocked to his Instagram account and left comments about the video:
- “Is this the same guy that came out, found jesus, went back into the closet, and now queer baiting for views? Falling off is tough.”
- “Bro, I thought you loved Jesus?”
- “why is joshua bassett pretending to kiss his male friend to sell tickets to his tour like didn’t bro go to conversion therapy or something”
On X, people are accusing the “Biting My Tongue” singer of queerbaiting:
Other fans and followers defended Bassett:
- “you can’t queerbait if you’re queer, he never denounced his sexuality”
- “Wait did everyone forget Joshua Bassett was queer like this isn’t new”
While others simply enjoyed the video:
- “this feels like a soft launch”
- “and they were roommates?!??!!”
- “hey thomas i have another promo idea”
- “went from showering together to this. honestly looking forward to the next update”
- “marketing so good i just booked a flight to europe”
- “aw matching jackets”
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Back in February of this year, Bassett was baptized at a Bethel church, which is known for supporting anti-LGBTQIA+ conversion therapy. People were understandably concerned, wondering if he had denounced his sexuality after coming out in 2021. However, Bassett seems to have taken notice of the concerns and soon posted a tweet addressing the situation:
“i visited this church and happened to get baptized here- i was unaware of some of their policies and beliefs, and do not endorse all of them. my heart is for Christ and Christ alone!”
Does it count as queerbaiting if you’re also queer? It’s a little complicated when you think about it. From a marketing perspective, it is likely to be perceived as negative, but if you’re just trying to genuinely connect with your audience, is there really anything wrong with it? Let us know what you think, and maybe we can all learn from each other.
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The Golden Years Tour European leg will have the following dates:
- 13/1 – 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, Ireland
- 15/1 – O2 Academy, Glasgow, United Kingdom
- 18/1 – O2 Academy, Birmingham, United Kingdom
- 19/1 – Eventim Apollo, London, United Kingdom
- 21/1 – La Madeleine, Brussels, Belgium
- 22/1 – Melkweg, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- 23/1 – Melkweg, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- 26/1 – Salle Pleyel, Paris, France
- 27/1 – Carlswerk Victoria, Cologne, Germany
You can get your tickets HERE.