Hugh Jackman is once again addressing those pesky rumors that he’s secretly gay.
During a recent radio interview, 50-year-old Jackman says he’s never been bothered by the rumors which, we regret to report, are totally, 100% untrue.
“Some dudes do get upset, some dudes say, ‘Don’t say I’m gay,'” he says, “but I am good.”
The beefy Australian and father of two pins the rumors on an incident that happened during his role as Peter Allen, a gay singer-songwriter, in the stage production of The Boy From Oz.
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In the musical, which premiered on Broadway in 2003, Jackman shared a longer-than-expected lip-lock with a hunky male co-star.
Related: Find someone who looks at you the way Taron Egerton looks at Hugh Jackman
He explains: “I was literally just locking lips. I started to laugh so hard. So I stay kissing him, because I thought, ‘I’m just going to laugh. I’m going to stay here until it subsides’ and it never subsided and the whole audience could see my body shaking, so they started.”
And the rest, they say, is history.
While Jackman couldn’t care less about the gay rumors, he did once admit that they annoyed his wife, actress Deborra-Lee Furness, t0 whom he has been married since 1996. “Just recently, it bugs her,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2013. “She goes: ’It’s big. It’s everywhere!'”
In his latest film role, Jackman plays disgraced senator and presidential candidate Gary Hart in The Front Runner, which was released earlier this month.
Related: Hugh Jackman received an absurdly naughty wrap gift from the “Wolverine” crew
QueerTruth
Yeah… that’s why. LMAO. Eye roll.
Billy Budd
I have no doubt in my mind that he is at least BI.
Catholicslutbox
wasn’t he banging Taron Egerton?
Donston
Yeah, that’s not really what started the rumors. And there are many other things after that play ended that sustained the rumors. If you’re going to address the rumors (including the rumors of him being another Hollywood figure who hooks up with underage dudes and is a bit… aggressive) then actually confront them instead of pinning it all on a decade old play. Nonetheless, I do appreciate that they don’t make him uncomfortable or at least that what he says publicly. And no matter his sex life or the dimensions of the romantic/sexual/emotional/relationship contentment sides of his orientation, it’s apparent that he’s settled into his marriage and isn’t interested in legitimately being with a guy. So, unless the more sinister rumors are true I just don’t care.
thisisnotreal
Personally I think this is sad. Gays and lesbians have tried to teach people for SO many years that being effeminate as a man or butch as a woman doesn’t mean your lesser then someone who isn’t and it also doesn’t mean your automatically gay or bisexual or even questioning. So many straight men have their masculinity hanging by a thread in a society that tells them they have to to be macho and show no emotions and like “boy things” even when they may not. and now things are finally starting to take turns for men and masculinity with the whole metrosexual movement and now boys in makeup and media catering to men who take an interest in their personal appearance etc. but then on this side we have gays shooting themselves in the proverbial foot by making it their obsession to fanatically monitor celebs and other public figures for anything even remotely effeminate or “non masculine”, and the moment they catch even a whiff of anything like that they churn up the endless debates of “is he gay?” “Is he hiding?” “Is he lying?”. You can’t try and drill it into people that it’s ok to be effeminate or butch and that it doesn’t make you less of a man or woman, and then turn around and the moment someone starts to believe you and lets out some of their effeminate or butch side the gays come out in full force and start up with the sexuality questioning. Is it any wonder some men and women are still afraid to be effeminate or butch if they know it leads to constant questions about their personal interests and sex life? Smh
Donston
Most of Hollywood is “queer” in some way or another. The industry is anti-gay, not anti-queer. They have issues with actors who have unabashed passion and relationships and preferences towards the same gender, particularly males. No one really cares about anyone admitting to having some attractions or experiences beyond their opposite cis gender nowadays (Tom Hardy and Ezra Miller continuing to get big roles in block-busters makes that clear). They don’t really care about whether you want to play up the masculine or feminine aspects of yourself. They don’t really care if you say you don’t feel 100% cis gender. They only care that you are not unabashedly homo-leaning, that you avoid the word “gay” and avoid having legitimate same-sex relationships. Hugh has continued to have huge success and get high-profiles gigs throughout many years. So, it’s hard for me to feel bad for him, though I can see how the rumors would be uncomfortable.
There have been many others things that have nothing to do with him playing an effeminate man in a musical that have kept these rumors going. Almost all actors have had gay rumors circling around them at one point. But they rarely persists for many, many years (and even gets amplified throughout the years) without something being there. But more people just need to get to a point of not caring. Then it’d be easier for everyone to be their authentic self. People wouldn’t feel the need to “butch up” or wouldn’t feel the need to manipulate or hide behind identity or “prove” something to the general public. However, the Hollywood machine isn’t going anywhere. And that’s the real enemy here, not a few obsessed people on social media. And unless the more problematic rumors about him are true I just don’t really care all that much about who he’s having sex with or the dimensions of his orientation.
thisisnotreal
@Donston I’m not sure how much of that I agree with. On one hand I feel like it’s eaiser than ever for someone to come out as gender nonconformist or queer or whatever the flavor of the month word is like keiynan lonsdale who came out (as bi I think?) and now he freely talks about not being one particular gender or gender role which is great, but how much screen time does he seem to get since love Simon? He didn’t come out as unabashedly homosexual (sorry but I’m not using your terms like homo Leaning or whatever) but yet he still seems to have at least for the current moment faded away. Meanwhile you have gays like Matt bomer, Neil Patrick Harris, sir Ian McKellan, who are all unabashedly homosexual and yet they seem to have thrived (probably because they aren’t overly effeminate and Hollywood finds that more palatable in my opinion).
The only part of your response I actively disagree with is when you say people need to get to a place where they just don’t care about gay or bisexual or whatever other rumors. If I remember correctly you have stated before that your bisexual and married to a man, how would you feel if someone tried to say that because your married to a man your not bisexual, your gay? And how long would you be able to listen to that argument thrown at you before you could no longer “not care”? Months? Years? I feel like no matter what a persons sexuality or gender identity or any of that other stuff, that they could only realistically handle it being called into question or devalued or picked part for so long before that attack on their core identity would get a rise out of them. When people continue the stories and narratives about someone being gay or lesbian or bisexual etc when they have explicitly stated they are not, what those people are basically saying is that the answer that was given to them is not believable and is therefore false and that person is now a liar. I don’t know about you but I could only stand being called a liar or disingenuous for so long before i would get angry.
Donston
I’m not seeing how Matt Bomer is “thriving”. Before being out he was supposed to be one of the next Hollywood leading males and was rumored to be up for many high-profile roles, but he is now merely getting supporting roles in Ryan Murphy schlock, had a leading role in a misbegotten and quickly canceled Amazon show and has starred in a couple of small, barely seen, barely buzzed about movies. Neil Patrick Harris was a part of a big sitcom before he came out. He’s seemingly still everywhere because of commercials and his hosting gigs, but he now mostly does stage work and is the go-to dude to host award shows. Luke Evans also quickly went from being the next big thing in Hollywood to just another person in Hollywood. Zachery Quinto has also struggled to get much of anything since nabbing Star Trek (a role he got when he was still in the glass closet). None of the them are getting substantial roles in big projects and none of them are getting leading roles in almost anything, despite the buzz for the careers being fairly high not too long ago. They’re all still a part of the Hollywood system. But they’re hardly thriving. McKellen was already a legend before he was fully known. It also helps that he is long past heartthrob status. The dude from “Love, Simon” had a small role in that movie and was never a high profile or much buzzed about actor. If anything, sorta coming out as whatever gave his career a minor boost. The fact that neither of us can remember the dude’s name lets you know he was never on anyone’s radar. Comparing him to people who already have established careers or big breaks or had big roles in big projects before “coming out” doesn’t make much sense. There have been plenty of actors throughout the decades who have admitted to not being 100% heterosexual and who have embraced non-conformist gender mentalities when they got to A or B lost status, and their careers were not affected whatsoever. The same cannot be said of any guy who says he’s “gay” and/or enters substantial and unabashed same-sex relationships. Almost everybody who comes out still says the industry is homophobic, hetero-worshiping and anti-gay and has issues with actors saying that they’re “gay” and being in public same-sex relationships. So, it’s not like I’m just making this stuff up.
Also, I never said I was bi. I said I was a gay-pansexul. You need to learn to respect people’s identities, whether you see it their way or not. I personally don’t care much about representation. I don’t really care about labels or what someone calls themselves. I just want people to feel comfortable being themselves and being with whoever they really want to be with and not be scared of others knowing that. Furthermore, Neil Patrick Harris is likely not “homosexual”. He identifies as “gay”, but both him and his husband have talked about sex and relationships with females and have hinted that they’re not completely homosexual. In fact, the larger percentage of gay-identifying famous men have directly or indirectly talked about sex, relationships and/or attractions towards females, which is why I tend to separate “gay” from the likes of homosexual, bisexual, pan-sexual, etc.
Ultimately, you can’t control what people think of you. And you can’t control what people on the internet is going to talk about. Hollywood is full of a ton of manipulation and image control and secrets. So, there’s always intrigue there. And people are always gossiping. That’s human nature. But really, only a tiny fracture of people persistently engage in that stuff. You’re trying to turn this into a masculine vs feminine argument. There is a time and place for that discussion, but this isn’t really the time nor place, especially since the main reasons rumors about Jackman have persistent throughout the years have nothing to do with demeanor or mannerisms.
thisisnotreal
I guess you and me have different definitions of successful. I tend to think of any out gay man that still has a career and gets roles or spotlight time after coming out as gay as being fairly successful in my book. Yeah we don’t exactly have A Listers on our team I won’t argue that but to be fair the whole A lister page has always been a very small and select few regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. and I won’t argue that Hollywood is still homophobic and encourages people to either hide it or tone it down and put a cap on it cuz I know they do. When it comes to Neil Patrick Harris being into women or whatever it is you said I have my doubts on that but if he is then more power to him. As for what you said about respecting people’s orientations or stuff like that we’re gonna have to agree to disagree on that one. To respect something or someone means to have a deep admiration for it and for me that isn’t always the case, and I also believe respect is earned not just given. Don’t get me wrong I would never try and stop someone from expressing their identity or orientation or whatever else or tell them it’s wrong, but I’m allowed to find something confusing or annoying or too complicated to want to deal with it. In cases like that I just have a you do you attitude and I’ll do my thing and you do yours, Doesn’t mean I have to like it or agree.
And me And you differ greatly when it comes to our outlooks on identity and expression. I label myself a gay man but in the past I have had strong romantic feelings for a few females so technically if I wanted to hop on board the special snowflake train I could tell people I’m sexually gay and romantically pansexual just like you do. But unlike you I may fall in love with women but I would never sleep with one or see myself marrying or dating one so I just default to labeling myself as gay. I believe that a label doesn’t need to fit someone or something with 100% accuracy for it to be true or be used and I am not a fan of creating this extensive list to describe every one of my individual layers of sexuality or gender or anything else to the point where I could end up giving a dissertation to the person who asks me if I’m gay or straight. Sometimes people just want simple clear cut and easy to understand answers so they can go about the rest of their day without all of the fluff which is why I always cringe when I see you post stuff about “homo leaning or hetero leaning or homo dominant vs hetero dominant” because to me that just makes it sound overly complicated and complex when it could be boiled down to bisexual. If I ask someone their sexual orientation and they say bisexual I’m completely fine with that and I don’t need to know where exactly to the decimal they fall on the Kinsey scale because bisexual tells me all I need to know about their sexual interests. I don’t need to respect anyone’s chosen Identity or core expression or even agree with it if I just don’t, and I don’t care if anyone respects my homosexuality or doesn’t or even if they accept it. As long as no one is going out of their way to impede my sexuality and sexual expression or my identity and actively fighting against it, then I don’t care what they feel about it and that is the attitude I have towards other people. I may not understand or agree with their expressions or identities but I would never actively stop them from expressing them, like I said it’s just you do you and I’ll do me.
Donston
It frankly is more about priorities than anything else. I don’t place as much weight on sexual attractions or behaviors as you and some other people do. And I assume that most people, or at least most people who are not 100% hetero and feel 100% cis gender, are on some type of romantic, sexual, emotional, relationship, gender spectrum. Romantic passions and relationship comfort and sustainability is ultimately what most matters if you’re actually looking to have a legit relationship with someone. Hell, you can have romantic feelings for someone, but that doesn’t equate to long-term relationship comfort or contentment. Just as you can have sexual attractions to someone but it doesn’t equate to long-term romantic and relationship fulfillment and contentment. Sexual attractions or even sexual enjoyment don’t even automatically equate to sexual interests or sexual fulfillment. While many people don’t care about having a relationship with anyone, especially when they’re young and rich and good-looking and everyone is trying to have sex with them. So, it’s whatever to them. Ultimately, everyone is different. Everyone has their own quirks and nuances and sense of self and motivations for doing whatever or identifying as whatever. It’s not about “respect” so much as not taking offense that people don’t want to identify as what you want them to or trying to shame them into identifying as what you feel they are. If they’re being honest about their dimensions, ambitions and struggles then it just doesn’t matter to me what anyone calls themselves. And I have kept that mentality with my friends, family, co-workers.
Almost every famous “gay-identifying” entertainer has talked in-depth, talked briefly or hinted towards sex, relationships and/or attractions towards females (Neil Patrick Harris, Ricky Martin, Colton Haynes, Ian McKellan, Elton John, even Adam Rippon and so on and so forth). So, perhaps we need to start seeing “gay” as merely a representation of overall preference and leanings and contentment, like it used to be seen, instead of something specific and “scientific” and 100% homosexual. Seeing “gay” as something so one-dimensional and limiting is partly why so many are dismissing it and quite a few public figures throughout the years have flat-out said people shouldn’t say they’re “gay”. BTW, I don’t typically identify as a “gay-pansexual” unless I have a legit, in-depth convo with people. Otherwise, I just say I’m gay.
As far as the “anyone who’s out and still getting work…” thing. There are too many gay actors and too many have established careers before they come out. There’s a ton of connections and networking in the industry, a ton of movies being made every year, tons of channels on television and now the internet and a handful of people who purposely look for out actors to work with. The fact that most at least C-list out actors can still find work isn’t saying all that much. Almost everyone who comes out as “gay” say that they were advised by multiple industry people to stay closeted, a few hinting that they were pushed by people who appear to be in hetero relationships, (yes, a few saying that they were told to “butch up” or if a female be more feminine), many saying that they are having a difficult time finding roles and especially decent roles in non basement level projects now that they’re out, etc. That lets you know that despite there being so many out actors the ceiling is very much still there.
JamJewel
Doesn’t help that his latest movie has the same title as the famous gay romance novel by Patricia Nell Warren. ROTFL
cynicalsteve
Wow… some people sure do love to hear themselves talk or in this case post long ass diatribes. Sheesh…
Donston
Sorry about that. This site isn’t really designed for those types of long-winded back and forths. But ay, our conversation is certainly more interesting than most Queerty articles. Also, get less cynical Steve.
thisisnotreal
@donston exactly. Me and you realize that we don’t have to agree on everything but your prolly the commenter I see most often on certain articles and your the one I wanted to pick the brain of but just cuz we have a lot to say to each other doesn’t mean we can’t stay civil or just agree or disagree. These younger queens could learn from us lol
inbama
He really needs to stop talking about this.
At 50, he’s no longer the golden boy, and nobody really cares.
Billy Budd
He still has a terrific, fabulous butt. He shows it on one of those Wolverine movies.