I was pondering this the other day, and I don’t really know where these things come from. Tom Cruise, Anderson Cooper, and now apparently Jake Gyllenhaal, amongst numerous others that I can’t think of at the moment, are commonly considered to be possibly gay and closeted. Other stars are not targeted this way, and it makes me wonder why. Do these rumours start from people who have, say, had gay sex with the famous closeted person, and went around announcing it to anyone who would listen? Are they completely unfounded, and just people being mean? Does every celebrity have a gay rumour eventually, like a rite of passage of making it big?
I was wondering this myself. I can’t for the life of me understand the constant Tom Cruise gay rumors. I felt the same way about John Travolta but come to find out in the entertainment industry, he’s famous for being in the closet, much like Rock Hudson. Don’t know if it’s true, but I wouldn’t doubt it.
I’ve lived in L.A. for over 10 years now and worked in post-production for the entire time. The one thing that I learned since moving and working in Hollywood - the chances of rumors being true seem to be much higher here than elsewhere.
If a rumors persists in Hollywood, I’d say it’s likely to be true. I say this from personal experience with all the wackos I’ve dealt with out here.
Well Tom did some poses for a Gay mag wearing tighty-whities in the ‘80s. It’s nothing new, people were gossiping about movie stars’ sexuality for as long as there’s been movies.
Anderson Cooper made no real secret about being gay before he landed his big gig. No cite that I can immediately find online that wouldn’t be considered a “persistent rumor” but I have some old gay magazines squirreled away somewhere where he’s pretty open about his sexuality.
Jake G has been hanging around a lot lately with Matthew McCoghnehay (that’s spelled wrong) and Lance Armstrong and none of them wear shirts very often. Combine that with Matthew M’s arrest a few years back while he was naked and playing bongos while another naked man danced and it makes for a titilating story which, amongst a certain segment of the community, is as good as fact.
Because people today are obsessed with discovering people are gay. It makes good copy, sells tabloids, and gives everyone something to gossip about.
People in the public eye (and in high school and college) are always being scrutinized. If they do anything that stereotypically gay (or avoid doing things that are stereotypically macho), then sooner or later, someone will make a comment about it. Enough comments and rumors start.
It’s a function of gays coming out of the closet. When no one thought about homosexuality, then no one tried to figure out which public figure was gay or not (the assumption was they weren’t). Now, anything at all that can possibly construed as being gay immediately becomes basis for rumors (“He loves Broadway musicals.”). Any actor who isn’t in a relationship with a woman (preferably an actress) is suspect.
I think a person’s sexuality is his own business, but for most people, it’s titillating information.
Just a WAG based on my limited experience, but when a friend of mine came out of th e closet to me she made a point of saying to me that a number of named certain celebrities were also gay. The way she said it was almost like a commercial celebrity endorsement, to convince either me or herself that what she was doing was correct.
Me, mostly. At least, oh, 75 percent anyway. The rest is up to Hollywood’s ‘Gay Mafia’ (or maybe they’re the ones keeping things under wraps).
Anderson Cooper is pretty open. He’s not bringing up his boyfriends in interviews, but he never really has cause to.
Kevin Spacey is pretty much assumed to be gay and openly hits on men, at least while in London, but no, he’s never said the words “I am gay” on record, to my knowledge.
Jake Gyllenhaal and Matthew McConaughey… well… let’s just say I hope Doogie’s rather bland ‘outing’ (he, too, was always open about being gay before making his official statement-- he just wasn’t screaming it from the rooftops) has started a trend. When being gay (in or out of Hollywood) is both accepted and even boring, it’ll stop selling tabloids.
Tom Cruise is so rich and warped I’m not sure he can be labeled gay or straight.
The thing with being gay in Hollywood… if you’re not gay, then there’s usually nothing to discuss or defend. Any statement about it being a ‘private matter’ or not wanting to ‘define oneself by sexuality’, which may seem perfectly reasonable, is ‘code’ for being a flaming 'mo.
What is Scientology’s take on homosexuality? I wonder if Cruise and Travolta joined to get their sexuality straightened out. That would also provide blackmail material from their auditing sessions to keep them in the church.
Heh - like that “Friends” episode where Phoebe’s “gay” ice dancer husband came out as straight.
I don’t really care who’s gay or straight (Jake Gyllenhaal is gay?!? That means he’ll never date me! Yeah, that’s the reason he’ll never date me. :rolleyes: ), I’m just curious about where the rumours come from.
Another mostly-related question - is it still a big deal in Hollywood to be openly gay? I read an article on some gay website a little while ago talking about how gay actors still don’t feel free to come out, and I was surprised - I thought it didn’t matter in Hollywood any more. Was that just naive of me, to think that? Any ideas what the real attitude towards gay actors is in the entertainment industry?
No big deal in Hollywood, perhaps – but most movie tickets are sold in other parts of the country, where there continues to be a fair amount of stigma to being gay.
As for Cruise, he once raised a HUGE stink when someone accused him of being gay. So much so, that it made it hard to believe that there was nothing to the rumors.
