Jesse Tyler Ferguson says gay fans gave him the harshest heat over his ‘Modern Family’ role, “Guilty as charged”

Jesse Tyler Ferguson is reflecting on some unexpected backlash he received while portraying Mitchell Pritchett on Modern Family, and it didn’t come from conservatives or critics, but from members of the LGBTQ+ community.

On the latest episode of his podcast Dinner’s On Me, Ferguson sat down with British actor Russell Tovey and discussed how some of the ‘loudest’ criticism during his time on the hit ABC sitcom came from gay viewers themselves.

“One of the pressures I’ve always felt… was that I received criticism, as you do with anything,” he shared. “But the criticism that I think I heard the loudest was always from the gay community.”

Ferguson said he was often told he didn’t fully reflect people’s expectations of what a gay man or relationship should look like on screen. “Which I always took with a grain of salt,” he explained. “I’m representing one person. I’m in charge of this one character. How can you be everything for everyone?”

He added that Mitchell was, in many ways, a reflection of himself, “If it’s stereotypical, I’m basically playing myself… so I guess, guilty as charged.”

Ferguson played Mitchell - a mild-mannered lawyer married to the flamboyant Cameron Tucker (Eric Stonestreet) - for all 11 seasons of Modern Family. He earned five Emmy nominations for the role.

In real life, Ferguson has been married to lawyer Justin Mikita since 2013. The couple are parents to two young sons.

Despite the criticism, Ferguson expressed pride in his work on the show and acknowledged the broader impact of the role, “It meant a lot to people, just not everyone.”