The controversy around her involvement in the voguing TV competition series Legendary made for a legendarily bad week for Jameela Jamil, it seems. The Good Place actress came out as queer on Twitter on February 5 amid criticism that the Legendary producers had enlisted an ostensibly straight, cisgender person for the judging panel. And in a February 10 Instagram post, she reflected on the fracas:
Well. Last week was a perfect clusterf*ck. It was completely overwhelming. The sequence of events was insane, a misunderstanding was left uncorrected for too long, and misinformation spread too far, too fast, then my timing was bad, and in a moment of distress and pain, personal things were blurted out because when you have a secret for decades and you’re traumatized, it always feels like it might just f*cking burst out of you at any given moment, even the most inappropriate and unfortunate ones. I thankfully chose the *most* inappropriate and unfortunate time, maybe ever, for mine. So now you don’t have to feel embarrassed about yours. I PEAKED FOR ALL OF US!
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After Deadline reported that she would be a judge on the upcoming HBO Max series, Jamil tweeted a coming-out statement, which began with the assertion that Twitter is “brutal.”
“This is why I never officially came out as queer,” she wrote at the time. “I added a rainbow to my name when I felt ready a few years ago. … It’s also scary as an actor to openly admit your sexuality, especially when you’re already a brown female in your thirties. This is absolutely not how I wanted it to come out.”
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In her Instagram post on February 10, she urged her LGBTQ+ fans to come out on their terms:
But timing aside. Better out than in, and thank you for the thousands of messages of kindness and deeply personal letters from strangers and people I know, coming out to me privately. I don’t take it lightly and am happy for you that you felt ready to tell even one person. Do it whenever you feel the time is right, as long as you think you’ll be safe. Don’t feel bad for hiding it for as long as you need, and move at your own pace. But feel no shame about getting it off your chest and know you aren’t alone. There is a huge community of people who understand you, respect you and stand with you.
She ended her post by “hoping this week will be calmer than the last, and sending everyone the most love.”
Related: Actor DJ Qualls comes out live on stage
Deadline reports that Legendary will also feature Megan Thee Stallion, Law Roach, and Leiomy Maldonado on the judging panel. “Divas will battle on voguing teams called ‘houses,’ with the chance to win a cash prize in ballsy fashion and dance challenges to ultimately achieve ‘Legendary’ status,” the site reveals. “Legendary will feature 10 voguing ‘houses,’ each comprised of five performers and a leader – the house ‘parent.’ The teams rotate in a round-robin format, and each episode documents a themed ball from start to finish.”
The 10-episode series does not yet have a premiere date.
Cam
She didn’t come out randomley. She came out because this show is supposedly based upon the Paris is Burning style houses and people were complaining that a straight woman was judging. So then she came out as “Queer” although it seems like she has only dated men and the coming out was kind of a defensive move to backup her judging on the show she is also producing.
She’s been a great ally etc… but coming out as “Queer” only after you got backlash, and seeming to only have dated men seems like just another in a long long LONG line of actresses that “come out” when they are in heterosexual relationships.
Donston
No matter your internal struggles, what identities you embrace, where you fit within the spectrum- life is still ultimately about the choices you have and the decisions you make. A lot of people just don’t seem to get that. However, I do respect every individual’s desire to express their struggles and express their sense of self. Yet, “coming out” as a defense mechanism is never going to go over well, especially when you’re a conventionally pretty cis woman in a hetero marriage.
Trying to create this “community” out of everyone who isn’t thoroughly inherently heterosexual throughout their lives and out of people who don’t feel entirely cis gender throughout their lives is starting to become problematic. Between both men and women probably 40% of people do not always feel like their bio gender. Or they are are not entirely on the hetero end of the romantic, sexual, affection, emotional investment, relationship contentment spectrum for a lifetime. Merely being something other than “basic” isn’t really enough to form some type of “community”. We need to get to a place of people just being self-comfortable and being real about their dimensions and their struggles rather than continuously focusing on “communities” and identities. Because really, damn near everyone could present themselves as “queer” if they wanted to. And many people continue using identities and/or behaviors mostly for sociological, political and defensive purposes.
Cam
@Donston
Well said.