Hiding In The Closet No More! 13 Hollywood Stars Who Were Outed

They are the celebrities who opened up about their sexuality either reluctantly or just to stop the rumor mill from churning. Here is our list of gay stars who were outed.

They are the celebrities who opened up about their sexuality either reluctantly or just to stop the rumor mill from churning. Here is our list of gay stars who were outed.

There is nothing like being busted by a male cop for engaging in a “lewd act” in a Beverly Hills public toilet to announce to the world that you’re gay. That’s how British pop star George Michael was outed in 1998. Lusted by women in the 1980s and 1990s the public had no clue that the I Want Your Sex singer was gay.

“She forced me to come out to my family, she forced me to live a more honest and more open life.” That’s what Portia de Rossi told ABC News about the female paparazzo who got pictures of the former Ally McBeal star snuggling with her secret girlfriend Francesca Gregorini in 2001.

Before Raven-Symoné came out in summer 2013, The Cosby Show actress slapped down persistent rumors that she prefers girls to guys. After the National Enquirer ran a story that she was dating America’s Next Top Model contestant AzMarie Livingston in 2012, the former child star took to Twitter to say: “My sexual orientation is mine, and the person I’m datings sic to know.”

Addressing “speculation and interest in his private life and relationships,” in 2006 Neil Patrick Harris officially came out to People magazine. The How I Met Your Mother star said that, “rather than ignore those who…publish their opinions without actually talking to me” he was proudly declaring that, “I am a very content gay man…”

Former Grey’s Anatomy actor T.R. Knight came out in 2007 after his then co-star Isaiah Washington allegedly called him a “f****t” in an on-the-set argument that erupted into a media storm. Then 33, the actor told Ellen DeGeneres on her talk show: “I’ve never actually been called that to my face. So I think when that happened, something shifted, and it became bigger than myself.”

Matt Bomer is another gay celebrity who opened up about his sexuality after rumors swirled that he was in relationship with a man and had dated men in the past. In 2009 old photos surfaced of him passionately kissing his ex-boyfriend Mike White. But the Magic Mike actor only officially came out in 2012 while being honored at the Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards.

A year before Jodie Foster came out at the 2013 Golden Globes, the 2012 host Ricky Gervais poked fun at the open secret that the actress is a lesbian. Talking about “Jodie Foster’s Beaver” (a reference to her 2011 flop film), the cheeky Brit said: “I haven’t seen it myself. I’ve spoken to a lot of guys here, they haven’t seen it either.”

If your ex-girlfriend says you’re gay then it must be true, right? In 2011 former teen idol Tiffany blurted out on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live that New Kids on the Block singer Jonathan Knight “became gay.” A week later the singer officially acknowledged his sexuality in a blog post claiming that he has “never hidden the fact that” he is homosexual.

Not only did Perez Hilton out Lance Bass, in 2006, the gossip blogger made no apologies for doing so. Speaking of the former *NSYNC singer, Hiltons told Access Hollywood: “If I have to drag some people screaming out of the closet, then I will.” He also said: “It upsets me that people think what I’m doing is a bad thing.”

Two years before he came out of the closet in 2008, Rosie O’Donnell outed Clay Aiken on national TV. The View star accused Kelly Ripa of being a homophobe because she refused to let the former American Idol singer put his hand over her mouth during a taping of Live With Regis and Kelly by saying: “I don’t know where that hand’s been honey.” O’Donnell, who is openly gay, said: “To me that’s a homophobic remark.”

In a 2012 article for TheGuardian.com, Brian Moylan applauded CNN anchor Anderson Cooper for “finally coming out” years after his “personal crusade to nudge” the journalist “slowly out of the closet.” In 2009 the Gawker contributor published a post on the website entitled: “Anderson Cooper is a Giant Homosexual and Everyone Knows It.”

Anderson Cooper is not the only celebrity that Gawker writer Brian Moylan has outed. In 2010, a year before Star Trek actor Zachary Quinto officially came out, Moylan wrote: “Come on Zachary Quinto, we need a gay action hero.” The quote was part of an article that had the headline: “10 People Who Need to Finally Come Out of the Closet.”

In a 2013 interview with Entertainment Weekly Michelle Rodriguez said: “I don’t talk about what I do with my vagina, and they’re all intrigued.” But, before the actress was openly bisexual, there was a lot of speculation about the gender of the people she likes to date. In 2010 Gawker.com said it was “inevitable” that Rodriguez – who has recently split from British model Cara Delevingne – The Fast and the Furious star would come out.