Arts & Entertainment

Fox News’ Shepard Smith talks fear of coming out

news anchor says working for ‘craziest conservative network on Earth’ kept him closeted

Published

7 years ago

May 9, 2017

Mariah Cooper

(Screenshot via YouTube.)

Fox News anchor Shepard Smith opened up about his sexuality during a speech at the University of Mississippi’s Meek School of Journalism’s conference on April 21.

The Clarion-Ledger reports Smith, 53, told the crowd that he had “nothing to hide” about his sexuality. Until the conference, the closest Smith had come to publicly admitting he was gay was in an interview with the Huffington Post in October. When asked if former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes had ever made homophobic comments and prevented him from coming out the anchor replied, “No. He was always good to me.”

“And when I told the truth, I guess it was considered that I outed myself. I didn’t even think about it, because I didn’t think I was in,” Smith said in reference to the interview.

Smith, who married Virginia Donald in 1987 before divorcing in 1993, explained why he chose to be closeted for so long.

“A. You’re going to hell for it. B. You’ll never have any friends again. C. What are you going to tell your family? And by the way, you’re on television on the craziest conservative network on Earth,” Smith says. “That will probably put you in front of a brick wall. Of course, none of that was true, but that’s how it felt.”

Now Smith says he focuses on work and confirmed he is in a relationship.

“I don’t think about it. It’s not a thing. I go to work. I manage a lot of people. I cover the news. I deal with holy hell around me. I go home to the man I’m in love with,” Smith says.

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Celebrity News

More than 1 million people attend Madonna concert in Rio

Free event took place on Copacabana Beach on Saturday

Published

21 hours ago

May 6, 2024

Michael K. Lavers

Madonna performs on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach on May 4, 2024. (Screen capture via Reuters YouTube)

An estimated 1.6 million people on Saturday attended Madonna’s free concert on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach.

The concert, which was the last one as part of Madonna’s Celebration Tour, included a tribute to people lost to AIDS.

Bob the Drag Queen introduced Madonna before the concert began. Pabllo Vittar, a Brazilian drag queen and singer, and Anitta, a bisexual pop star who was born in Rio’s Honório Gurgel neighborhood, also joined Madonna on stage.

Congresswoman Erika Hilton, a Black travesti and former sex worker, and Rio Municipal Councilwoman Mônica Benício, the widow of Marielle Franco, a bisexual Rio Municipal Councilwoman who was assassinated in 2018, are among those who attended the concert.

“Madonna showed that we fight important fights for the human rights of Black (people), young (people), women and LGBTQIA+ people, and against all injustice, discrimination, and violence,” said Associaçao Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais (National Association of Travestis and Transsexuals), a Brazilian trans rights group known by the acronym ANTRA, on its X account. “What they call identitarianism’ is our subversion to the retrograde and conservative tackiness that plagues the country.”

The Associated Press reported the concert was Madonna’s biggest ever.

Photos

PHOTOS: Gay Day at the Zoo

Smithsonian observs International Family Equality Day

Published

2 days ago

May 5, 2024

Michael Key

Gay Day at the Zoo (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The DC Center for the LGBTQ Community, SMYAL and Rainbow Families sponsored Gay Day at the Zoo on Sunday at the Smithsonian National Zoo. The Smithsonian observed International Family Equality Day with special exhibits and an event space.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)