Hur spurning Messalah. Wyler was initially hesitant to implement  the subtext, but agreed on the conditions that no direct reference  ever be made to the characters sexuality in the script, that Vidal  personally discuss the idea with Stephen Boyd (I) (qv), and not  mention the subtext to Charlton Heston (qv) who, Wyler feared,  would panic at the idea. After Vidal admitted to adding the  homosexual subtext in public, Heston denied the claim, going so far  as to suggest Vidal had little input into the final script, and his  lack of screen credit was a result of his being fired for trying to  add gay innuendo. Vidal rebutted by citing passages from Hestons  1978 autobiography, where the actor admitted that Vidal had authored  much of the final shooting script.