Adam Lambert Tells Out Editor To 'Chill'

'Idol' runner-up tweets response to accusation that his management wants him back in the closet.

Adam Lambert had a simple response to the impassioned open letter penned by the editor in chief of the gay magazine Out alleging that the flamboyant "American Idol" runner-up's management team is attempting to push him back into the closet: Chill out.

Lambert took to his Twitter account on Tuesday to respond to Aaron Hicklin's tirade. "Dear Aaron, it's def not that deep. Chill! Guess ya gotta get attention for the magazine," Lambert wrote. "U too are at the mercy of the marketing machine. ... Until we have a meaningful conversation, perhaps you should refrain from projecting your publication's agenda onto my career."

The tweet came after Hicklin published a letter in which he said he was proud to have the singer in the Out 100 list of influential gay and lesbian icons but upset that Lambert's label and management appear to be trying to tone down talk of his homosexuality.

"You're a pioneer, an out gay pop idol at the start of his career," Hicklin wrote. "Someone has to be first, and we're all counting on you not to mess this up. You have to find your own path and then others can follow. We just hope it's a path that's honest and true and that you choose to surround yourself with people who celebrate your individuality."

A spokesperson for Lambert's management company did not return MTV News' requests for comment on the controversy.

The author of the Out interview, Shana Naomi Krochmal, also posted a letter in the magazine's Popnography blog in which she addresses the thousands of comments the magazine got about the interview and Hicklin's letter. In the missive, she claims that when she went to the offices of Lambert's management, 19 Entertainment, for the interview, she was ushered out onto a balcony where she was cautioned by a publicist not to make the interview "too gay" or "you know, gay-gay." She claims she was also discouraged from asking about the March on Washington by gay activists that was to take place the next weekend or other "political" topics.

In his letter, Hicklin also referred to the warning from 19, writing, "We're curious whether you know that we made cover offers for you before 'American Idol' was even halfway through its run. Apparently, Out was too gay, even for you. There was the issue of what it would do to your record sales, we were told. Imagine! A gay musician on the cover of a gay magazine. What might the parents think! It's only because this cover is a group shot that includes a straight woman that your team would allow you to be photographed at all — albeit with the caveat that we must avoid making you look 'too gay.' "

Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.