Gay producer Harvey Fierstein is getting a ton of abuse from people who have the wrong Harvey

Theatre legend Harvey Fierstein has been forced to clarify that he has definitely not sexually assaulted any women – amid a tidal wave of mistaken abuse.

The actor won a Tony for originating the role as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray, while he has gone from success to success as a producer, creating a string of camp musicals including La Cage aux Folles and Kinky Boots.

But despite being very gay, the theatre legend has received a tidal wave of abuse this month – from people wrongly accusing him of sexually assaulting women.

The gravelly-voiced actor was forced to make a public statement due to the tidal wave of people who had apparently confused him with Harvey Weinstein, the Miramax film exec who has been plagued with sexual assault allegations this month.

You can see how the confusion happened. Both men are called Harvey, have similar names, work in the media and are big-time Democrats.

Harvey Fierstein as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Apparently many people simply hadn’t realised that Harvey Fierstein and Harvey Weinstein are two different guys.

One Twitter user confessed: “these headlines were very confusing until i remembered Harvey Weinstein and Harvey Fierstein are different people”.

Another wrote: “I just can’t believe all these accusations of sexual harassment about Harvey Fierstein. I always thought he was gay. ”

Fortunately, Fierstein had an absolutely perfect reply to all the confusion.