WEARING the iconic Playboy bunny outfit, the social media influencer Bretman Rock made history as Playboy Magazine’s first gay man to be on the cover.
Bretman, 23, first found fame with his short-form videos on Vine and later with make-up tutorials on YouTube. The cover, unveiled today, had Bretman wearing he black bunny suit, bowtie, and matching bunny ears.
Men have graced the cover before, namely Hugh Heffner and rapper Bad Bunny.
A queer actor posed for Playboy in 2018 while a number of transgender women have graced various editions.
Bretman is the first openly gay man to wear the full Playboy bunny suit on the digital cover after Playboy switched to all-digital content last year.
“For Playboy to have a male on the cover is a huge deal for the LGBT community, for my brown people community and it’s all so surreal,” said Bretman. “And I’m so pretty.”
Bretman calls 2021 Bretman Rock’s Year and rightly so.
Among his more recent achievements include his upcoming guesting in Disney’s The Proud Family, launching his own MTV series and later his YouTube series, he was also named MTV’s 2021 Breakthrough Social Star.
"When I say I came from nothing, I really came from nothing," he told People, referring to his upbringing in the Philippines before moving to Hawaii. "All of this was literally just a dream."
While Playboy’s latest cover is generally being supported by Bretman’s fans, the LGBTQ community, as well as long-time readers of the magazine, there are a few who are against it.
“There are appropriate magazines for this homie to be featured”
“Did Playboy forget who their customers were?” “Target audience for playboy is straight dudes who prob won’t take to kindly to seeing a man on the cover of playboy”
Of course, Playboy replied by saying that the magazine has always stood for representation and freedom of expression.
“If a gay man feels sexy in a bunny costume, an iconic symbol of sexiness, why shouldn’t he be able to wear it proudly?” wrote Playboy on Twitter after critics lashed after Bretman Rock.
Tags: #Playboy, #inclusivity, #historymaking, #gay