# Predict the next celebrity who'll come out of the closet (and when) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 26, 2008, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296 "2008-09-26T06:02:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/41 "2008-09-30T19:55:33Z")
> [@ArizonaTeach](#): > > Kevin Spacey, who dated Helen Hunt, April Winchell, and Dianne Dreyer and said about women who think he’s gay: “They want to be the one to turn me around. I let them.” Yes, because clearly the string of short-term relationships negates the fact that he was photographed caressing a young man’s bare buttocks and looking at that bare ass with the same combo of longing and lust that I reserve for Brad Pitt. If that’s not gay, I don’t know what is. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/42 "2008-09-30T20:01:57Z")
_The National Enquirer_ also published telephoto lens pics of Spacey making out with some younger guy in the great outdoors (I have a feeling the younger guy tipped off the _Enquirer_ for the right price). ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/43 "2008-09-30T20:15:20Z")
> [@Mahna\_Mahna](#): > > Yes, because clearly the string of short-term relationships negates the fact that he was photographed caressing a young man’s bare buttocks and looking at that bare ass with the same combo of longing and lust that I reserve for Brad Pitt. > > If that’s not gay, I don’t know what is. That’s pretty gay, yeah. Although I point out that the relationship with April Winchell was eight years. That ain’t short-term. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/44 "2008-09-30T21:04:26Z")
> [@ArizonaTeach](#): > > Hm what? Uh oh, did I just trigger a tell or something? Jeez. “He thinks that just because someone says that he or she is not gay, is involved with people of the opposite sex, and has children, he thinks they’re straight! Fuhhhhh-laaaaaaming!” > > :rolleyes: Have you never watched one of those Oprah episodes about all the married with children “straight” guys cruising the M4M chatrooms? How about this [about.com article.](http://marriage.about.com/cs/straightspouses/a/straightspouse.htm) > [@](#): > > Statistics Concerning Mixed Orientation Couples > > Mixed orientation couples means that one spouse is either gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered. > According to the Straight Spouse Network, it is estimated that there are up to 2 million mixed orientation couples. According to Amity Buxton of the Straight Spouse Network, “When the gay, lesbian, or bisexual spouse comes out, a third of the couples break up immediately; another third stay together for one to two years, sorting out what to do and then divorce; the remaining third try to make their marriages work. A half of these couples divorce, while half of them (17% of the total) stay together for three or more years.” > > The Family Pride Coalition compiled the following statistics: > > 20 percent of all gay men in America are in a heterosexual marriage. > 50 percent of all gay men in America have fathered children. > 40 percent of all lesbians in America are married to a male partner. > 75 percent of all lesbians have children. Oh yeah, if they’re in a straight marriage and have kids it is insaaaaaaaaane to wonder about that vibe you’re getting. Perhaps you wouldn’t be upset if we only picked ugly people you don’t like for our “wishful thinking.” ---
**Author:** ![vintageloveletter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@vintageloveletter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vintageloveletter)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/45 "2008-09-30T21:28:27Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > Has Sam Champion come out or been outed? About 5 years ago I used to work at a popular (now defunct) nightclub in New York City that had a gay night. I saw him there once. ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/46 "2008-09-30T21:50:11Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Have you never watched one of those Oprah episodes about all the married with children “straight” guys cruising the M4M chatrooms? No, I don’t watch Oprah. That would be gay. > [@levdrakon](#): > > How about this [about.com article.](http://marriage.about.com/cs/straightspouses/a/straightspouse.htm) > > Oh yeah, if they’re in a straight marriage and have kids it is insaaaaaaaaane to wonder about that vibe you’re getting. > > Perhaps you wouldn’t be upset if we only picked ugly people you don’t like for our “wishful thinking.” Wow, that’s amazing! You took something that I absolutely didn’t say and attempted to disprove it - using statistics that actually don’t even prove what you’re claiming (the numbers actually show there’s more statistical probability of them being heterosexual)! There’s a word for that, something about straw, but I’m totally drawing a blank. What I **am** saying is why are you making the claim that a “vibe” is more proof than what the people actually say or do! How come someone saying, “I’m not gay,” has a wife and children, and has been nothing but heterosexual publically is getting trumped by, “I just get a vibe.” **That** is why I wonder if there’s wish fulfillment here. I didn’t know about the Vin Diesel stuff (although to my ear that doesn’t sound like he’s hinting anything, but whatever). The Kevin Spacey stuff is…compelling. I’m not getting the Clooney, DiCaprio, or Seth MacFarlane stuff **at all**. It’s strictly “I’ve gotta feeling,” and that’s not good enough. Not when they’re banging models and being, you know, straight. But by all means, go ahead with the assumption that that must mean they’re gay ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/47 "2008-09-30T21:53:46Z")
> [@ArizonaTeach](#): > > That’s pretty gay, yeah. Although I point out that the relationship with April Winchell was eight years. That ain’t short-term. That’s about the same length as Alan Cumming was married to his wife, Hilary Lyon. And much longer than he’s been married to his husband, Grant Shaffer ([wedding pic](http://images.eonline.com/eol_images/Planet_Gossip/20070111/285.shaffer.cummings.011207.jpg)- don’t worry, no smooching). 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/48 "2008-09-30T22:12:57Z")
PS- Celebrities whose bisexuality or homosexuality is not in dispute but who have married or been seriously involved with members of the opposite gender: Will “Grandpa Walton” Geer (married-divorced, 3 children) Alan Cumming Robert “Mike Brady” Reed (married-divorced, 1 child) Rock Hudson (studio arranged marriage, but consummated) Cole Porter (married for 36 years to Linda Lee Thomas, by all accounts the love of his life- no children [but consummated]) Elton John (married-divorced, no children) Malcolm Forbes (married-divorced, several children, boys on the side) Luther Vandross (never married but frequently said to be involved with this or that woman) Richard Chamberlain (never married but lots of studio “front” women) Peter Allen (one of Liza’s matched set of gay husbands) Tony Richardson (director/producer, father with Vanessa Redgrave of Natasha & Joely Richardson) Michael Redgrave (father of Vanessa, Lynn & Corin Redgrave and grandfather of Natasha & Joely Richardson [if it _is_ genetic then Liam Neeson may wanna hold off on buying his sons a football just yet]) Raymond Burr (married at least once and dated several starlets; faked additional marriages and even a non-existent dead son; lived with lover Robert Benevides for more than 30 years) Liberace (had at least one official marriage engagement and dated Sonia Henie) Dick Sargent (bka Darrin on _Bewitched_: went on “dates” with Fannie Flagg and [the woman who played Zelda on _Dobie Gillis_] to appease studio bosses [both women are lesbians]) Chad Allen (bka star of _Dr. Quinn: Politically Correct Medical Squaw_ and as the autistic kid who imagined St. Eligius; was rumored to be involved with a couple of starlets and to live with one [which he did, as roommates] before being outed by an opportunistic date) Many more of course, but that’s enough for the whole “married or involved ain’t neccessarily straight” thing. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/49 "2008-10-01T21:16:39Z")
Although it’s probably a long ways off (likely on his deathbed), Burt Reynolds. Something about him has always pinged my gaydar. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/50 "2008-10-01T21:23:29Z")
Ellen DeGeneres. Call me crazy, I just have a feeling. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/51 "2008-10-01T22:20:42Z")
> [@missred](#): > > Although it’s probably a long ways off (likely on his deathbed), Burt Reynolds. Something about him has always pinged my gaydar. He’s pinged a lot of people’s. His long-term relationship with “fag hag” Dinah Shore didn’t help and was rumored in tabloids to be “a boy and his beard” more than “a boy and his sugar mama”. England seems way ahead of America in terms of actors’ sexuality not making a lot of difference. John Gielgud’s sexuality was an open secret before his arrest in the 1940s but even afterwards he played heterosexual characters frequently, Stephen Boyd made no great secret of his gayitation and was even one of the first stars to play an openly gay character in a movie but could also get heteroles\*, Nigel Hawthorne played George III (a man deeply in love with his wife with whom he had 15 children) after coming out, and Ian McKellen’s lusty scenes with Annette Bening in RICHARD III (which admittedly he produced and directed) didn’t suffer from knowing he more likely wanted to hook up with Robert Downey Jr.\*\*. However, I seriously doubt TR Knight or the quite macho Robert Gant or David Hyde Pierce will ever be cast as the hetero lead of a major studio production. (Of course otoh Rupert Everett is British, openly gay, and rarely gets offered straight characters, but then he’s not the world’s greatest actor either.) Johnny Depp has admitted to having fooled around with guys in his stoner youth but claims he was bicurious rather than gay and that his orientation is straight. Many rumors that he was a rent-boy during his early days in Hollywood, when he admits he was living mostly in his car and willing to do pretty much anything for food and drug money and an occasional music [ahem] gig (he moved to Hollywood to be a musician rather than an actor). \*Boyd was married twice, the first time for three weeks to an Italian actress and the second time for even longer to a longtime friend he wanted to inherit his estate (though only in his 40s he knew he had a serious heart condition by the time and needed a caregiver/beneficiary). \*\*Lots of rumors about Downey as well. He admits to having had sex with a male friend in his youth but says he was just experimenting. He got more rumors when during his unfortunate incarceration days he asked to be transferred to a rehab center that specifically [but not exclusively] catered to LGBT patients, but soon after became engaged and remarried [picking up yet more rumors when he changed the wedding location at the last minute when a billionaire friend who was hosting it at his mansion made an insulting comment that the Downeys would not reveal] so who knows. Keep 'em guessing. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/52 "2008-10-02T00:26:30Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Is it really “coming out” when it’s a hot young party girl? Dan Savage had a scathing column many years ago about college girls who come out - then ten years later having put their families through hell are married Target shopping, minivan driving suburban soccer moms. As someone whose girlfriends were over 70% Lesbian or Bi in college - and now twenty years later we are all minivan driving, Target shopping ‘straight’ suburban (sometimes urban) wives (and usually mothers) - I can see a lot of truth to that. I hope Lohan spends her life partnered with people who are meaningful to her - male or female. But it would not shock me if twenty years from now that meaningful person is male. ---
**Author:** ![Ellef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8dc957/32.png) [@Ellef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellef)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/53 "2008-10-02T11:04:26Z")
> [@AngelicGemma](#): > > Yep! > > My bet is Robbie Williams coming out as bi before this time next year. I think Robbie Williams already claimed to be gay some years ago, and most of the media just shrugged it off as a publicity stunt. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/54 "2008-10-02T17:17:42Z")
Tom Cruise, but he will be forced out…not sure when. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/55 "2008-10-02T17:24:39Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > Tom Cruise, but he will be forced out…not sure when. Tom Cruise is nuts, and missed his opportunity to come out gracefully years ago. John Travolta has maintained his dignity, and could do it, I think. But, he’d have to turn away from Scientology to do it, which might be dangerous, depending on what you believe about Scientology. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/56 "2008-10-02T20:12:28Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > PS- Celebrities whose bisexuality or homosexuality is not in dispute but who have married or been seriously involved with members of the opposite gender: > Cole Porter (married for 36 years to Linda Lee Thomas, by all accounts the love of his life- no children [but consummated]) A minor point, and not critical to the discussion at hand but . . . Cole Porter and Linda Thomas had a marriage of convenience that was by all accounts _not_ consummated. The “love of his live” nonsense was written for the film only. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/57 "2008-10-02T20:15:06Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > …Chad Allen (bka star of _Dr. Quinn: Politically Correct Medical Squaw_ … I love this, this is almost exactly how I used to refer to this show to myself (the wife was fond of it back in the day). Re: Burt Reynolds, I distinctly remember thinking he seemed a little TOO friendly with the far-from-butch Dom DeLuise back in the late 70s/early 80s. Not that there is anything wrong with that but for two guys who were supposed to be nothing more than good heterosexual pals I remember some of their interactions on talk shows and TV specials or whatever made me go :dubious:. I mean, get a room already guys. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/58 "2008-10-02T20:22:32Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > I hope Lohan spends her life partnered with people who are meaningful to her - male or female. But it would not shock me if twenty years from now that meaningful person is male. It would not shock me if six months from now that meaningful person is male :). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/59 "2008-10-02T20:29:04Z")
I’ve long suspected that Teller (the magician) is gay. No smoking gun but just certain things that have been said or not said. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/60 "2008-10-02T20:59:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’ve long suspected that Teller (the magician) is gay. No smoking gun but just certain things that have been said or not said. If it’s a secret, it’s an open one – yes, he’s gay. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296.md?page=4)