LOS ANGELES, March 9 (UPI) — Jussie Smollett confirmed to Ellen DeGeneres on Monday that he is gay.
The 31-year-old actor appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to promote Fox series Empire, and later sought out the host backstage. Rumors have been swirling about Smollett’s sexuality, and the star took the opportunity to set the record straight.
“It was really important to me to make sure that it got across that here is no closet,” he shared. “There’s never been a closet that I’ve been in. I don’t own a closet. I got a dresser, but I don’t have a closet. But I have a home. And that is my responsibility, to protect that home.”
“That’s why I choose not to talk about my personal life,” he related. “But there is, without a doubt, no closet that I’ve ever been in, and I just wanted to make that clear. But it was most important for me to make that clear to you, on your show, at this time in the world. And that’s where I’m at.”
Smollett expressed admiration for DeGeneres’ contributions to the LGBT community and said he is “so inspired” by her work. The actor told the host his mother “knows,” and asserted he never meant “to hide or deny who God made me.”
Smollett currently portrays Jamal Lyon on Empire. The character is the middle son of Lucious (Terrence Howard) and Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson), and came out as gay in episode eight. The Lee Daniels-created musical drama airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
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