Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

'Glee' Star Chris Colfer Reveals He Was Warned His Career Would Be 'Ruined' If He Came Out

Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel on 'Glee'; screenshot of Chris Colfer from 'The View'
Glee/Fox; The View/ABC

During a recent appearance on 'The View,' the Golden Globe winner reflected on his decision to come out in 2009 despite repeated warnings that it would destroy his career.

The TV show Glee was something of a cultural touchstone for millennial and Gen Z queer kids and a landmark in LGBTQ+ representation on TV when it premiered in 2009.

Even so, Chris Colfer, who played the gay character Kurt Hummel on the show, says he was repeatedly warned to stay in the closet after the show rocketed him to fame.


During an appearance on The View to promote his new book Roswell Johnson Saves the World, Colfer said he was told his career would be "ruined" if he came out.

Chris Colfer Talks Releasing 20th Book, Coming Out While Starring in 'Glee' | The Viewyoutu.be

That may seem a bit ridiculous by today's standards, especially given that Colfer is, as he described it to The View's cohosts, "more effeminate."

But it's all too easy to forget the climate in which Glee arrived when it debuted in 2009. Just five years prior, George W. Bush had won reelection in part because of ballot measures against marriage equality driving voters to the polls in key states.

Just one year prior to that, Colfer's home state of California passed Prop 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state.

The legal and political fights that ensued began a snowball effect that ultimately resulted in marriage equality being passed on the federal level in 2015—the year Glee went off the air.

Even in supposedly accepting, liberal Hollywood, Colfer has spoken about routinely being called a "f*ggot" in auditions as a teen.

Unsurprisingly then, Colfer said that joining Glee at this time "terrified" him. He told the co-hosts:

"I grew up in a very conservative town where being openly gay was dangerous."
"I remember when I got on the show, the role was written for me, and I did not know what the role was gonna be."
"So I opened the script, and when I read the script for the first time was when I saw that it was an openly gay character, and I was terrified."

His anxiety over the situation only increased once the show got off the ground.

“When I started filming the show, I had a lot of people tell me: ‘Do not come out whatever you do because it will ruin your career.’ So I hid for a little bit."
"But I also told them: ‘I can’t hide it with my voice, I’m more effeminate than most people, I can’t hide it.’ And they said: ‘Don’t worry. As long as you never address it, you’ll be rewarded for it in the end.’”

Colfer ultimately decided it was "more important" that he refuse to play by those rules and be a role model instead, and he came out publicly during a 2009 appearance on Chelsea Lately.

Given Colfer's effeminate presentation and Glee's gay content, most people on social media, clearly too young to remember how wildly homophobic the 2000s were, mocked Colfer for telling his story.



Those who remember, however, applauded Colfer for coming out then and sharing his story now, especially in a time of resurgent, virulent homophobia and transphobia.



In a world and country as queerphobic as ours, coming out is always important and brave, even if it's not a surprise to others. And in a time when the progress we made just 10 years ago is being unraveled before our eyes, that shouldn't need to be said.

More from News/lgbtq

Screenshot of Nick Fuentes
America First

White Nationalist Admits That Liberals Were Right About Trump Being A 'Demagogue'

Far-right pundit and white nationalist Nick Fuentes admitted on his show that "liberals were right, fundamentally" about President Donald Trump, acknowledging Trump's brand of authoritarian populism by referring to him as a "populist demagogue."

In its modern sense, a demagogue is a political agitator who seeks to advance their political goals or personal power by appealing to people’s emotions, prejudices, and hardships.

Keep ReadingShow less
scene from Disney's Pocahontas
Disney

'Based On A True Story' Movies That Aren't True At All

The entertainment industry has long been criticized for their creative license when it comes to retelling history or anything "based on a true story."

Going back to the silent film era and D.W. Griffith's ridiculously inaccurate White supremacist propaganda Birth Of A Nation to Mel Gibson's Braveheart to Disney's Pocahontas, some films go way beyond creative license and careen into total malarkey.

Keep ReadingShow less
A person holding a fan of cash.
person holding fan of U.S. dollars banknote

People Describe The Moment They Realized They Were Privileged

There is little more off-putting than when people flaunt their wealth and privilege in other people's faces.

On the flip side, not everyone takes kindly to wealthy people who act like they're "one of us".

Keep ReadingShow less
Elon Musk
Kevin Lamarque/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Musk's AI Chatbot Throws Republicans Under The Bus After Being Asked About Economy

Grok, billionaire Elon Musk's very own chatbot, threw Republicans under the bus after software engineer Alex Coke asked it if Democrats or Republicans have been better for the economy in the past 30 years, only for it to answer that yes, in fact, Democrats are the winners when it comes to economic policy.

Economic policy is certainly on everyone's minds these days. A new CNN poll conducted by SSRS shows that Americans are not pleased with President Donald Trump’s management of the economy, leaving him with unfavorable ratings on what is considered the nation’s most important issue.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Donald Trump
Fox 5 Washington D.C./YouTube

CNN Airs Brutal Reminder Of Trump's Previous Economic Predictions—And They Did Not Age Well

CNN came with the receipts, airing a supercut of clips from 2020 and 2024 of President Donald Trump making hilariously wrong economic predictions—a damning reel of evidence as financial markets decline and investor concerns grow over Trump’s trade policies.

In fact, Trump’s escalating trade war pushed the S&P 500 more than 10% below its record high set just last month. A drop of this size is significant enough that professional investors call it a “correction,” and the S&P 500’s 1.4% decline on Thursday marked its first since 2023.

Keep ReadingShow less