The scene in question was from the “Gilmore Girls” episode “Keg! Max!” from April 2003. Patterson said the script called for Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) and her co-worker Sookie St. James (Melissa McCarthy) to discuss Luke’s butt.
“I realized it wasn’t OK, and it didn’t make me feel comfortable at all. It made me feel really embarrassed, actually. It is infuriating to be treated that way — it is infuriating — because you’re being treated like an object,” Patterson said.
He added that they shot multiple takes.
“It’s disturbing, and it’s disgusting, and I had to endure that through that entire scene and many takes,” he said. “It was all about the butt, the butt, the butt, the butt. When we weren’t filming, we were sitting down — people were still talking about the butt, the butt, the butt. It was the most disturbing time I have ever spent on that set, and I couldn’t wait for that day to be over.”
Patterson said in retrospect he wishes he had spoken up about how he felt at the time.
“It’s as disgusting for women to objectify men as it is for men to objectify women, and it’s as harmful,” he added. “Just because it was 2003 doesn’t mean it was OK. It’s never OK, and I didn’t feel comfortable doing it, and it pissed me off. And I never said anything, so I was angry at myself for never saying anything. But I had this job, and I didn’t want to make waves.”
