Al Pacino donated earnings from role in ‘exploitative’ gay film to charity

Oscar-winning actor Al Pacino donated the money he earned from gay film Cruising to charities after realising that it was “exploitative” of the queer community.

The 1980 film, loosely based on a novel by Gerald Walker, stars Pacino as a police officer who goes undercover in the hope of tracking a serial killer targeting gay men in New York.

Writing about the film in his new memoir, Sonny Boy, Pacino recognised that Cruising “became very controversial during its production,” with protestors worried it could harm the LGBTQ+ community “almost every day”.

The film largely depicts gay men as living double lives and anonymously “cruising” for sex in public places and seedy motels. According to People, Pacino did not realise it was “exploitative” until shooting had finished.

He wrote that he

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