Steven Soderbergh's Liberace biopic was deemed "too gay" for theaters, even though it's just about piano-playing bro Liberace

Though the upcoming Behind The Candelabra boasts the A-list acting duo of Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, in addition to marking Steven Soderbergh's possible retirement from filmmaking, Soderbergh has revealed that "everybody" passed on releasing this seeming big-ticket draw theatrically because it was "too gay"—this despite it's being a biopic of Liberace, the celebrated pianist who was just your average, straight-shooting kinda dude who just so happened to like really nice things. "They said it was too gay. Everybody," Soderbergh explained at the film's recent TCA presentation. "This was after Brokeback Mountain, by the way. Which is not as funny as this movie. I was stunned. It made no sense to any of us"—particularly as the movie explores the life of Liberace who, as your grandmother will tell you, was always just waiting for the right woman. However, seeing as Candelabra also gets into the purely speculative, never-confirmed fantasy that Liberace might have had a less-than-platonic relationship with the young companion (played by Damon) on whom he lavished gifts and plastic surgery, it's perhaps self-evident why it ended up at HBO, where the words "too gay" are definitely never uttered. Even though your grandma will also say you could just tell when Liberace sang, "I'll Be Seeing You," he was talking to a beautiful lady.