Why Vanessa Hudgens Starring in ‘The Notebook’ Musical Is Problematic

“High School Musical” star Vanessa Hudgens is set to star in the upcoming “The Notebook” musical adaptation, and many of her fans are definitely not happy about it. While Hudgens is excited to undertake the project, her fans are not too hot on it, thanks to the recent homophobic allegations against “The Notebook” author Nicholas Sparks.

Reports about Hudgens starring in the musical adaptation of the romantic drama surfaced last week, after it was confirmed that a one-off reading of “The Notebook” would take place this month at Vassar College in New York. The original film, which starred Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, is set to get its Broadway musical adaptation with Hudgens playing Allison “Allie” Hamilton, the female lead.

Considering her musical background, Hudgens seems perfectly fit for the role. Having starred in “Grease: Live,” “Rent: Live” and the “High School Musical” trilogy, the actress is no stranger to musicals. However, her fans hate the fact that she is involving herself in a project that was penned by a homophobic like Sparks.

The announcement of Hudgens’ involvement in the project came Thursday last week, the very same day Sparks was widely accused of homophobia. That day, email exchanges between Sparks and the former headmaster and CEO of his Christian academy, Saul Benjamin, made the rounds online, detailing the discriminatory practices at the Epiphany School of Global Studies.

The emails revealed that Sparks was trying to push back against Benjamin’s attempts to make the school more diverse and inclusive. He chastised him for making homosexuality open and accepted and for secretly establishing a gay club in the school.

The exchanges spread like wildfire on Twitter, and the issue was still hot when Hudgen’s involvement in “The Notebook” musical was confirmed later that day. “No, sweetie, we don’t do Nicholas Sparks stuff anymore,” one fan wrote, tagging Hudgens.

“There’s something hypocritical about simultaneously having pride colors on your Twitter icon while sharing this homophobe’s (Nicholas Sparks) new musical adaptation,” another wrote. Hudgens has yet to respond to fans asking her to boycott the project.

“The Notebook” narrates the story of Noah Calhoun and Allie Hamilton, two young lovers separated by classist southern convention. The book was first adapted into a film in 2004.