Eddie Deezen, who played Eugene Felsnic in the 1978 film Grease, wrote a now-deleted social media post describing an encounter in which he approached a 16-year-old girl at a Starbucks and asked her on a date. After facing criticism online, the 69-year-old actor compared the backlash to homophobia.
According to a report by the Mirror, Deezen wrote: “Ok, I was very nervous, but I made myself go over and talk to her. I clenched my fists and walked over to her table. This just happened.”
Deezen described the girl as “absolutely gorgeous” and said the quotes he shared from their conversation were “verbatim.” He recalled approaching her table and saying, “Hi. Can I sit down?” to which he said she replied “Sure” with a smile.
He said he then told her: “My name is Eddie. You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve seen in a long time. I’m in the movie Grease. I wondered if I could take you out sometime. If you have a boyfriend, I understand.”
Deezen wrote that the girl responded, “I can’t, I’m underage,” prompting him to ask, “What? What do you mean?” He said she repeated that she was 16. He said he then told her, “Oh. I see. Ok. Well, think of me when you watch Grease.” The girl, he wrote, was 53 years younger than him. He said she shook his hand before leaving.
“I saw her and yes, I was attracted to her. I thought she was a college girl, maybe about 23,” Deezen wrote, adding that being “handsome or a ladies’ man or being confident with beautiful girls” were not qualities he had been “blessed” with. He added, “I just wrote spontaneously what was going on. I know this may seem odd or unusual to some, but these people obviously do not know me, I am a very open poster on Facebook.”
Comparison to homophobia
Deezen said he found it “Interesting” that people were “offended” by his account, and went on to compare the reaction to homophobia.
“I was a guy attracted to a girl, I had no idea of her age, and I asked her out. I know this makes certain kinds of people clutch their pearls and get their bowels in an uproar. What if it was a man, a grown man, I asked out?”
He continued: “In certain places I would be killed for this, in other places, In other minds, I would be looked upon as sick or almost not human. Same as if I were an adult woman and I thought another woman was hot and did the same. And others would see this and hear this and hate them for homophobia. And what of men who want to be women and vice-versa? More pearl-clutching. Aren’t we selectively offended.”
In a follow-up post, Deezen said he had blocked three social media users over what he called “very cruel comments” made in reaction to an “honest mistake.”
“Look, I get it. There are many sad and lonely people out there, and many lonely people who crave attention. Believe it or not, I have great, great compassion for them. But not to the point where they can insult me and call me names.”
He added: “One or two I blocked, then I looked at their Facebook page-each had exactly one friend. So these poor, pathetic people actually got blocked, and got a new page, just so they could insult me — I honestly pity them, they are in a dark place.”
Deezen said he would not take the post down despite suggestions from some fans, saying doing so would “let evil and hate win.” He eventually deleted the post.
Backlash online
Social media users criticized Deezen’s comparison. One commenter wrote, “Ok just this once I’m fairly confident I can speak for LGBT+ people everywhere when I say ‘leave us the hell out of it you giant weirdo?!?'”
Another wrote, “Exactly. Like are you comparing an elderly man being attracted to a child to being queer? Like no thank you! You’re not some oppressed minority.”
A third commenter wrote, “Like being a predator (even if he thought she was 23, he is still 70) is equivalent to being queer. So sick of these guys trying to say they’re a part of our community. Not only are you not under our umbrella, you are in the rain on the opposite side of town.”
Deezen was arrested in 2022 for the second time in seven months after forcing his way into a nursing home and refusing to leave. He has also previously faced charges including second-degree assault, disorderly conduct, and trespassing after refusing to leave a restaurant and throwing items at police.
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