Terrence Howard Says He Turned Down Marvin Gaye Biopic Role Over Singer’s Alleged Sexuality

In an appearance on Bill Maher's Club Random podcast, Terrence Howard said he would rather cut off his lips than kiss another man for a role.

At around the 1:18:50 mark of the almost two-hour podcast episode, seen below, Maher suggested that Howard is "this generation's Billy Dee Williams" and that he should play his son in a movie. This prompted Howard to open up about "the biggest mistake" in his career: turning down the opportunity to portray Smokey Robinson in a biopic.

"He wanted me to play his life, and I just had conversations with Lee Daniels about playing Marvin Gaye," he shared. "I was being faithful to Lee Daniels because I had given my word... So when Smokey, I had to tell them at the table, and it broke his heart. And Billy Dee would have been one of the other people [involved]."

Maher suggested that Gaye's life story was "much more interesting" than Robinson's, and Howard let him know why the proposed biopic with Daniels fell through.

"I was over at Quincy Jones' house, and I'm not dropping names, I'm just giving credibility to what I'm about to say... I'm asking Quincy, 'I'm hearing rumors that Marvin was was gay,'" he said. "Quincy was like, 'Yes.' ... They would have wanted to do that and I wouldn't have been able to do that." Maher asked if that was part of why Howard passed, which he confirmed.

"No," he said. "I don't fake it. ... That would fuck me, I would cut my lips off. ... If I kiss some man, I would cut my lips off." Howard stressed that he's "fine" with homosexuality; he just doesn't want to portray a gay character. "I can't play that character 100 percent," he said. "I can't surrender myself to a place that I don't understand."

Howard's latest podcast appearance comes not long after he was interviewed on The PBD Podcast and alleged that Diddy wanted to have sex with him. He said that the two met after Diddy wanted advice on how to be an actor, but when he arrived for the meeting, he felt something was off. When he described the scene to his assistant, they told him, "I think he's trying to fuck you." He cut all contact with Diddy after the incident.