Examining the celebrity closet

Photo: Getty Images

Oh, look: Another obviously gay celebrity refuses to acknowledge being gay to the press. This time around, it's Ugly Betty's Michael Urie who's skirting the issue of his sexuality, using the time-honored excuse that outing himself would limit his ability to be thought of objectively as an actor. In a recent interview with New York Magazine, Urie said, "I'm interested in keeping -- you know, actors have to be able to do lots of different things, and while I'd say there's an ongoing theme [to the parts I play], I'm also not interested in having any real publicity about who I am and what my private life is and things like that. I'm an actor and I don't want to be a [fill-in-the-] blank actor."

While we certainly see Urie's point (and, for the record, we agree that every public figure has the right to conduct his or her career in the manner they see fit), we have to ask: When everyone pretty much already knows the actor is gay, does it do him—or his career—any good to continue denying it, or does it just make him look cowardly? After all, Urie identifies himself as "a member of the LGBT community" on his website, and has played a slew of gay roles outside of his role as uber-gay Mark on Ugly Betty: He starred as an emotionally numb homo in the 9/11 drama WTC View and is currently appearing onstage in The Temperamentals, an Off-Broadway play about gay activist group the Mattachine Society. Is Urie's refusal to publicly admit to being a cocksucker really doing anything to make people think of him as any less gay?

Of course, Urie is hardly the only public figure to find himself in the middle of such a debate. Let's examine a few other notable [alleged] closet cases after the jump and see how they stack up.

CELEBRITY CLOSET CASES

IN:

Zachary Quinto — The sexy star of TV's Heroes and the new Star Trek reboot is known to frequent several of Los Angeles' gay bars and appeared as Tori Spelling's best gay on VH-1's So NoTORIous, but refuses to discuss his sexuality. Though he is reportedly single, he was recently spotted on what appeared to be a man date with celebrity stylist Johnny Wujek. This doesn't prove anything, of course, but it sure does point in the direction of Quinto being a bona fide Friend of Dorothy's. Still, with his career quickly taking off, it's doubtful we'll get an admission of "guilt" from him anytime soon.

Sean Hayes — The Will & Grace star stubbornly refused to say whether he is gay or not throughout the show's run, even though he was a regular at many New York gay clubs and always had a front row seat at any of Sandra Bernhard's shows. Hayes poked fun at the gay rumors when he hosted Saturday Night Live, and today remains a bachelor with no kids. He also remains an out-of-work actor. Hmmm, who knows? Perhaps finally coming out would revive interest in his stalled career?

Anderson Cooper — Often spotted at many gay events and nightclubs, the CNN anchorman is rumored to be dating New York wine importer Julio Cesar Recio, and was named as Out's No. 2 gay person on the magazine's controversial 2007 "Glass Closet" cover. Though Cooper has insinuated that he may not swing straight on CNN, he's never directly admitted to it. Not that it really matters in his case. As a newsman, he doesn't have the same pressure on him to live up to a certain image, which begs the question: "Hey, Andy. WTF?"

Jodie Foster — Although it's widely known that Foster has been in a longterm relationship with film producer Cydney Bernard, the Oscar-winning actress-turned-action heroine (who was also featured in Out's "Glass Closet" story) has never publicly admitted to being gay. It's hard to know for sure just what kind of career repercussions there would be if Foster were to make the announcement, but since most of her recent movies have featured her as a take-no-prisoners ass kicker anyway (aka "one tough dyke"), we're thinking that it would only enhance her newfound career as the female version of Mel Gibson. Minus the anti-Semitism, of course.

John Travolta — Rumors surrounding the Oscar nominated star's sexuality have been persisting for years, though most media outlets shy away from discussing it. In 2007, Travolta was photographed kissing another man, which prompted Travolta's camp to claim that [to paraphase] "John is just very friendly with all his friends." Riiiiight. Because, you know, straight men kiss each other on the lips all the time. The man was later revealed to be wedding photographer Jeff Kathrein, who was also the nanny to Travolta's late son Jet and is believed to be Travolta's longtime boyfriend. Yes, the plot thickens. Anyway, because his church (uh, Scientology—ugh!) categorizes homosexuality as "deviancy"—and because he's such a bankable box office star—it's unlikely that Travolta will come out while his career is still hot. Not that Travolta himself is anymore. Time to lay off those Royals with Cheese, Johnny boy!

Normally we'd say we don't blame Travolta and the others for keeping their sexuality a secret (after all, Hollywood has long demanded that gay actors keep up appearances of heterosexuality to appeal to mass market audiences), but, given the success openly gay actors and performers are now enjoying, we have to wonder if perhaps it isn't time for these guys to just step up to the plate and come clean. Let's take a look at past closet cases to see what happened after they let the cat out of the bag.

OUT:

Neil Patrick Harris — The former child star of Doogie Howser, M.D. admitted to People magazine that he is gay in 2007 after blogger Perez Hilton made several claims about his homosexuality. Harris played the whole thing very cool (telling People, "I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest"), and his announcement had no effect on his believability as relentless womanizer Barney on TV's How I Met Your Mother. In fact, Harris' career seems only to have taken off since he outed himself. He won accolades as a lovestruck evil-doer in Joss Whedon's Internet sensation Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog and recently slayed as host of the Tony Awards. Best of all, it looks like Harris is having the time of his life. Hmmm, could it be that living an honest life has something to do with that???

Ellen Degeneres — After admitting to Time magazine that "Yep, I'm gay!," Ellen made television history on the now-classic "Puppy" episode of Ellen when her character, Ellen Morgan, also came out. One of the highest rated TV episodes of all time (it drew an estimated 42 million viewers), it also drew its share of criticism and controversy, prompting ABC to stop promoting the show. The backlash continued: As Ellen Morgan began to explore her newfound sexuality, audiences stopped watching the show, and ABC cancelled it at the end of the 1996-1997 season. Degeneres took some time off to lick her wounds, eventually rebounding as the voice of Dory the fish in Pixar's Finding Nemo and winning accolades as the host of the post-9/11 Emmy Awards. Today, her popular daytime talk show regularly beats Oprah in ratings, and Degeneres (who is married to Better Off Ted star Porta de Rossi) has morphed into America's Most Lovable Lesbian.

Rupert Everett — After getting notice for his performance as a gay schoolboy opposite Colin Firth in Another Country, the tall, dark and handsome Brit drew raves for roles in Dance with a Stranger and Duet for One before his career stalled following the Bob Dylan bomb Hearts of Fire. After moving to Paris in 1989, he took up writing and came out in the novel Hello, Darling, Are You Working?, then landed a plum role in 1990's The Comfort of Strangers and eventually hit it big as Julia Roberts' gay pal in My Best Friend's Wedding. He continued to get meaty parts, playing (mostly straight) characters in several mainstream films and voicing Prince Charming in the Shrek movies, though he recently claimed that being gay hurt his career. Hmmm. Hey, Rupert, maybe it was doing crappy movies like The Next Best Thing that did that???

Melissa Etheridge — Though everyone knew she was gay, Etheridge didn't make it official until she appeared at Bill Clinton's Inaugural Ball in 1993. How did it effect her career? Her fourth album, Yes I Am, went on to sell more than 6 million copies worldwide, winning her a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance (for "Come to My Window"), while 1995's Your Little Secret also went multi-platinum. She later won an Oscar award for Best Song for "I Need to Wake Up," which she wrote for Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Etheridge (who is married to actress Tammy Lynn Michaels) remains a highly successful touring artist whose albums have sold over 27 million copies.

Indigo Girls — With their homespun harmonies and Home Depot-inspired fashion, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers became a sort of female Simon and Garfunkel for the socially conscious treehuggers of the late '80s and early '90s. Though widely believed by fans to be lesbian, they didn't confirm it until 1993. Their first post-out album, Swamp Ophelia, entered the charts at No. 9 and eventually went platinum. They went on to become icons in the gay rights movement, and in 2006 signed a five-record contract with the Disney-owned Hollywood Records. Though Hollywood abruptly dropped them during their 2007 tour in support of their album Despite Our Differences, they rebounded with the indepedent release of this year's Poseidon and the Bitter Bug. They remain a very successful touring act with a devoted following.

Elton John — The flamboyant performer didn't shock anyone when he finally admitted to being gay in 1984 after years of claiming he was "bisexual." John continued to enjoy much success, composing several songs for Disney's The Lion King and performing a revamped version of his Marilyn Monroe homage, "Candle in the Wind," at Princess Diana's funeral. Though he hasn't had a hit single since the mid-'90s, John continues to release albums and sell out stadiums. Most recently, John's musical version of the hit film Billy Elliot won the Tony for Best Musical, though he has gotten more attention for being a bit of a cantankerous malcontent, often lobbing insults at frienemy Madonna and others in a series of ill-tempered rants that make for good sound bites—proof that, in John's case at least—gay doesn't translate to "happy."

George Michael — The former Wham! singer and '80s poster boy had battled rumors that he was gay for most of his career, but it wasn't until after he was arrested for engaging in lewd conduct in 1998 that he publicy confirmed those rumors. He tried capitalizing on the scandal in the (mostly-hetero) video for his 1998 single "Outside" (which depicted cops kissing each other in rest rooms), but the racy clip did little to propel him back into the Top 10. Another arrest for lewd behavior followed (prompting George to angrily claim something like "That's just what gay men do"), as did citations for drug possession. Though he hasn't had a hit in years, Michael did enjoy success on his 2008 25 Live tour and had a high-profile recurring role (as himself) on TV's Eli Stone. He was even invited to appear on the 2009 finale of American Idol.

Boy George — It took George O'Dowd a long time to acknowledge what millions of fans had already figured out—that the gender-bending Culture Club frontman was a big ol' flaming fruit. But by then it didn't really matter anymore: Culture Club had long since disbanded and O'Dowd's solo career yielded few memorable moments. He started a clothing line (B-Rude), became a highly sought-after DJ and eventually took a stab at musical theater in 2002 with Taboo, which opened big in London but later closed on Broadway after just 100 performances despite having Rosie O'Donnell as a producer. His most recent claim to infamy? Getting arrested for holding a hustler hostage in his apartment. Oh, Boy!

So, as you can see, in most cases coming out of the closet doesn't really seem to have much of an impact on a performer's career, especially when those performers know how to keep themselves out of trouble. In the end, it seems to boil down to what kind of a career a performer wants to have: If you're trying to be the next Tom Cruise, it might not be in your best interests to tell the world you take it up the ass, but if you just want to be a respected and working actor, then there seems to be little reason to stay in the closet. Which brings us back to Michael Urie.

Our advice to the Ugly Betty star? No one's ever gonna mistake you for being a heterosexual romantic lead, fella, so why not just be done with it and step up as a role model for the community? You might even inspire some gay kid in Bumfuck, Kansas to follow in your footsteps. In the end, isn't that worth a lot more than being miscast in a role as a wife-beater in crappy TV-movies?

Comments

[Rnmdacts]

What does it matter to me if Michael Urie is gay or not, it has nothing to do with his abilities as an actor. The only one that interests me is Zachary Quinto, he is hot and I go soft or is that hard for anyone named Zachary. NPH was going to be outed by that scum Perez Hilton, so he took control, but he is also very talented and America loves him. They are actors and newsmen, I really don`t care who they sleep with, its their acting ability I respect. Ellen now that she flaunts her marriage to Portia is as annoying as Oprah, and don`t forget the rumors about her and Gail. And as for Anderson, he has hinted but as a foreign newsman being open about his sexuality can get him killed in a lot of the countries he reports on.

[Reamer]

Not particularly sexy, more like rambling.