Hairspray director Adam Shankman has hit back at a journalist who is proposing a boycott of the film because its star John Travolta has "no business" playing an iconic gay character.

The Saturday Night Fever actor stars as super-sized woman Edna Turnblad in the latest adaptation of the kitsch musical, angering the editor of gay newspaper Washington Blade, Kevin Naff.

Naff claims Travolta should never have been cast in the role because his religion Scientology is "homophobic."

But Hairspray filmmaker Shankman is astonished by Naff's claims, insisting Travolta has "no problem with people being gay."

He says, "I am stunned this has gotten that far. He (Naff) has made the dumbest claims on the entire planet. Everybody involved in Hairspray - all the creators are gay. So John has no problem with people being gay - me, the writers, composer, John Waters - all gay.John's personal beliefs never walked onto my set. I never heard the word Scientology."

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)