David Furnish condemns ‘homophobia’ in Schofield cover and hints at husband Elton John’s latest UK show | UK News

David Furnish is well known as a gay rights activist, AIDS campaigner and of course the husband of Sir Elton John.

In conversation with Sky’s Beth Rigby, he covered a range of topics from homophobia, trans rights and Prince Harry to Sir Elton playing Glastonbury on Sunday, surprisingly for the first time in his 50-year music career.

As a staunch supporter of gay rights, he denounced the tone of the media coverage of the disgraced TV presenter Philip Schofield as “horrifying to watch”.

He said: “Without a doubt, Phillip Schofield, and Elton agrees, behaved inappropriately. It could be seen as an abuse of power.

“What was horrific to watch was what I would call a disproportionate response at certain levels of the media, where it was written over and over and over again, where they piled on for days, then weeks, continually writing negative and highly critical articles.”

Read more: Backlash over Phillip Schofield case was ‘totally homophobic’, says Sir Elton John

He claimed responsibility for the Schofield scandal – where the presenter left ITV last month after admitting to having an affair with a younger colleague this morning – unfairly got more coverage than Boris Johnson did it for misleading Parliament on partygate.

“If you weigh the column inches they gave Phillip Schofield…and what happened with Boris Johnson…You’ll find a big, big difference. And that, to me, points to homophobia.”

He added that Schofield’s actions were a “colossal error in judgement” but the media response “similar to homophobia”.

“I don’t think we would have had the same response if it had been between a man and a woman. They wouldn’t take it.”

Glastonbury ‘collaborators’

Furnish has revealed all he can about her husband’s final UK set this weekend, on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury, claiming Sir Elton will be bringing “four collaborators of his choice”.

When asked who the mysterious foursome were, Furnish said, “Sorry. I’ve sworn to secrecy.”

But he hinted that the legendary singer’s final performance would contain “a different setlist” with “a lot of changes”.

He added that Sir Elton would continue his musical endeavors after his farewell tour, which will end next month.

“I don’t think he’ll be sitting on the couch with a remote,” Furnish joked. “He’s going back to the studio in October and starting his next album. Which will be awesome. He hasn’t done a studio album in a long time.”

‘Admiration’ for JK Rowling but ‘bringing people together’ crucial

With transgender issues in sport, education and politics, Furnish diplomatically addressed JK Rowling’s stance on transgender.

Furnish said: “I have tremendous admiration for what JK has done with Harry Potter and how she has rediscovered the joy of reading for so many children and brought families together in a way no one else has. for a very, very long time.

“I don’t like to see a community singled out or stigmatized, and I think when you have a platform like that, if I was in their shoes, I would steer them towards what I do best, c is to bring people together through my work and through my art and culture.”

Prince Harry is ‘doing very well’

As the conversation shifted to the headline-grabbing phone hack, Furnish, who previously revealed he and Sir Elton felt ‘paternal and protective’ of Prince Harry said he was doing “very well” after testifying in court.

Furniture said:[Harry’s] taken a lot of criticism in the media, and you have to remember that he attacks the media.

“But we are in fairly regular contact, and he was very happy with the way things went in court. And he is doing very well.”

Provide confident about ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030

As a gay man, Furnish recalled his personal struggles at a time when the stigma around HIV/AIDS was high.

“It was terrifying because initially there wasn’t even a test to find out if you had AIDS or not. Gay men were dying these very horrific and heavily stigmatized deaths.”

Furnish did not reveal his sexuality during his twenties due to his fear of stigma and lack of treatment for the virus.

He said: “It was awful. I saw so many friends wither away, and it was heartbreaking. It was a scary time”.

The Canadian filmmaker is the chairman of the Elton John Aids Foundation and spoke of his ambition to help reduce the spread of infection over the next six years.

He said: “The great thing is that we know where the problem is and the science is so good that we have the tools to effect the change that we need to affect. We can stop and create a world without new HIV infections. need funds and resources.

“It doesn’t mean there will be a complete end to AIDS. But as far as the point where we define it as an epidemic…we won’t be in that area anymore.

“We went from a disease that came in the 80s, for which there was no hope in our lifetime [to one] we think we can finish – finish completely”.

You can watch David Furnish’s full interview on BETH RIGBY INTERVIEWS at 9pm tonight on Sky News.