GAYS IN HOLLYWOOD

Who Will Be The Next Celebrity To Come Out Of The Closet?

As the cover story in last week’s Entertainment Weekly reinforced, it’s a different world out there for gay celebrities: We’ve seen Matt Bomer, Zachary Quinto and Jim Parsons come out to little or no controversy. Heck, even American Idol and The Voice alum Frenchie Davis just came out in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Of course that doesn’t mean that Tinseltown’s closet doors are being flung open en masse. Depending on a star’s place in the Hollywood firmament, coming out could be a risky gambit—or at least they think it would be.

Over the past few months, several stars—well, headline-makers at least—have been identified as gay in various media outlets.  (Gossip Girl‘s Chace Crawford and J-Lo boy toy  Casper Smart were just called out this past weekend.)

Now, none of these people have come forward to acknowledge they’re indeed queer—and to paraphrase Tallulah Bankhead’s comment about Gary Cooper, they never sucked our cock—so we’re not gonna confirm or deny anything.

But we are going to lay out the rumors and speculate the odds of them having a “Yep, I’m Gay” moment in the near future.

Click through to find out who’s been rumored to be a Hollywood gay lately

Chace Crawford

Back story: Aside from the fact that he spells his name “Chace” (puh-leez), Crawford has allegedly been spotted getting comfortable in the steam room at Equinox and was once linked to N’SYNC’s J.C. Chasez. More recently, an article in The New York Observer kinda sorta outed him:

“At a crowded movie premiere in Midtown recently, The Observer witnessed a young movie and TV star—a dashing young man who’s been involved with several starlets despite whispers about his close relationships with other men—sitting for the entire party in close conversation with a well-groomed gent, even as his co-stars circulated. As we passed, the plus-one stared us down, as if to say, “Step off,” or perhaps, “Don’t you dare write about this.”

The piece ended with the line:

“There’s also the simple matter of defusing the knowing laughter of a public that maybe just doesn’t care that much anymore. ‘If you’re in the closet,’ said [Lance] Bass, ‘you get made fun of more than if you just come out!’ If he’s in fact gay, that’s a lesson Chace Crawford—the dashing, engrossed young man at the premiere—may do well to heed.”

Odds Crawford will come out: 1 in 20. At 26, he’s still young enough to make the girls swoon, and score hetero romantic roles in films like What to Expect When You’re Expecting, which means coming out as a man’s man could hurt his career options.

 

Casper Smart

Back story: After breaking up with babydaddy Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez started squiring around much younger backup dancer Beau “Casper” Smart. But fellow hoofer Joshua Lee Ayers has repeatedly tweeted the above photo of Smart, 25, telling J-Lo: “check out Ur boy @caspersmart … and his low key homo ways… Watch ur ass!” He later added: “I know what I know, Not love, a lot of business and public relations.” Lopez’ rep denied the allegation saying “Casper is not gay. These comments are born from envy and jealousy. It must be a slow news day.”

Odds Smart will come out: 1 in 100. A professional dancer posing suggestively with a group of guys isn’t really a smoking gun (though what’s in Smart’s pants might be.) Even if he was gay, Casper copping to being on the DL would make Lopez look like either a sap or a publicity whore, neither of which would endear her to fans. This relationship isn’t gonna last forever, anyway, so we imagine in a few months Smart will go back to obscurity—where he can share war stories with fellow J-Lo ex Ojani Noa.

 

Merida from Brave

Over Pride weekend, EW made the surprising suggestion that Merida, the ginger-haired heroine of Disney/Pixar’s latest fairy tale, Brave, might prefer the company of other girls:

“She bristles at the traditional gender roles that she’s expected to play: the demure daughter, the obedient fiancée. Her love of unprincess-like hobbies, including archery and rock-climbing, is sure to strike a chord with gay viewers who felt similarly “not like the other kids” growing up. And she hates the prospect of marriage — at least, to any of the three oafish clansmen that compete for her hand — enough to run away from home and put her own mother’s life at risk. She’s certainly not a swooning, boy-crazy Disney princess like The Little Mermaid’s Ariel or Snow White.”

Odds of Merida coming out: 1 in 90. As gay-friendly as both Disney and Pixar are, we can’t really see them revealing their latest princess is a baby dyke—especially since Brave topped $66.7 million in its opening weekend. But even as a crypto-lesbian, Merida sends a good message to little gaybies. As EW’s Adam Markowitz writers, “Her strength in the face of opposition and her urge to forge her own identity (or, as she puts it in the film, “to change my fate”) both have the potential to ring true for moviegoers of all stripes, rainbow or otherwise.”

Image: Disney/Pixar

Queen Latifah

Back story: The Queen has long been tagged as a friend of Ellen. She’s been spotted at gay clubs on both coasts and photos of her cavorting with her girlfriend on a yacht surfaced a few years back. Most recently, Latifah headlined Long Beach Pride, where she referred to the assembled queers as “my people.” Of course her publicists quickly followed up with a statement clarifying nothing about her sexuality should be inferred by that.

Odds Latifah will come out: 1 in 4. A number of stars—including Ricky Martin and Clay Aiken—have tested the water with tepid denials and small gestures before making a big announcement that they are indeed a member of the tribe.

 

John Travolta

The back story: Unless you’ve been living under a rock that doesn’t have Wifi, you’ve heard about the recent accusations of sexual misconduct against Travolta by several masseurs at high-end spas. But that’s nothing new: Over the years there’s been rumors of an affair with porn star Paul Barresi, that photo of Travolta kissing a male friend on a airport runway, and other items floated through the tabloids. Add in his Scientology connections and you’ve got… well, a ton of circumstantial evidence.

Odds of Travolta coming out: 1 in 3,000. Unlike Neil Patrick Harris or Matt Bomer, Travolta has long been perceived as a family man, raising three children (including his late son, Jett) with actress-wife Kelly Preston. If he came out now, J-Trav wouldn’t just be a liar, he’d look like a world-class bastard for dragging Preston and the kids into his mess. If the lawsuits bring any substantial evidence of same-sex doings to light (which is unlikely), Travolta would probably just blame drugs, a vague sex addiction or the work of bad thetans.

 

Raven-Symoné

The back story: A former child actress beloved by millions for her roles in The Cosby Show and That’s So Raven, the 27-year-old performer was recently linked to America’s Next Top Model contestant AzMarie Livingston in The National Enquirer:

Sources close to Raven say she’s gay and has shacked up with AzMarie Livingston, the androgynous beauty seen on America’s Next Top Model.

The two are living together in Raven’s luxury $11,00-a-month New York City condo. She’s at a point now where she doesn’t care what her family thinks, and she’s in love with AzMarie. She’s a lesbian and wants to live that way.”

Odds Raven will come out: 1 in 2. This is actually a case where coming out could help a star: Symoné is currently earning some grown-up cred in Broadway’s Sister Act. If she was indeed a lesbian (or bi) sharing it publicly would further help the public see her as an adult, not that adolescent Disney star with the psychic powers and annoying catchphrase.

Photo: Angela George

Barry Manilow

Among the numerous revelations in his new memoir, The Truth Is Bad Enough: What Became of The Happy Hustler?, former escort Michael Kearns outs Manilow by referencing a yearlong affair he had with the “Copacabana” singer in the mid-Seventies. Granted this is not earth-shattering news, but then again neither were Liberace or Johnny Mathis, and our mom refused to believe they were gay.

Odds Manilow will come out: 1 in 10. Barry’s main demographic is women of a certain age who don’t want to think about the sweet man crooning to them being one of “those” people. But if his popularity slacks enough, Manilow may try to get a  late-in-life boost from coming out, a la Richard Chamberlain.

 


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