Al Pacino thought Cruising was ‘exploitative’ of LGBTQ+ people, so he donated his paycheck

After decades of silence on the subject, Al Pacino says he is aware of the criticism levied against the 1980 film “Cruising” — and he agrees with it. Pacino revealed in his recent memoir, Sonny Boy, that he was so uncomfortable with how the final cut of the movie portrayed LGBTQ+ people that he ended up anonymously donating his entire paycheck to various charities. Pacino never accepted the paycheck for “Cruising”.

Pacino took the money, it was a lot, and put it in an irrevocable trust fund, meaning once he gave it, there was no taking it back. Pacino did not know if it eased his conscience, but at least the money did some good. “Cruising”, loosely adapted from Gerald Walker’s 1970 novel of the same name, follows Pacino’s character of a young police officer in New York City as he goes undercover at several LGBTQ+ nightclubs to catch a serial killer who has been targeting gay men.

Al Pacino said that he signed onto the production because he wanted to be part of a project that was pushing the envelope.

However, Pacino recalled that “Cruising” became very controversial during its production for its condemning portrayal of the queer community. The film drew protests from LGBTQ+ locals in New York City almost every day, even facing calls for a mass boycott among LGBTQ+ people at the time. Pacino said that he remained quiet on the controversy despite believing the final product was exploitative of the LGBTQ+ community, after all it paid him a lot of money.

Instead, Pacino quietly made his donations instead. Pacino did not want to make it a public relations stunt, he just wanted one positive thing to come out of that whole experience.