Culture

Hugh Jackman speaks out over gay rumours

Nov 23 2018
Written by Josh Jackman

Hugh Jackman accepts the Hollywood Actor Award for "The Front Runner" onstage during the 22nd Annual Hollywood Film Awards

Hugh Jackman has opened up about speculation that he’s gay (Tommaso Boddi/Getty)

Hugh Jackman has revealed that he doesn’t mind being called gay.

The Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony Award-winning Australian actor has long been the target of rumours about his sexuality.

But in an interview with an American radio station, he said that unlike some actors, it doesn’t bother him.

Hugh Jackman in hit film The Greatest Showman

Hugh Jackman is one award short of winning an EGOT (the greatest showman)

“Some dudes do get upset, some dudes say: ‘Don’t say I’m gay,'” Jackman said, explaining that when it came to him, “I am good,” according to the Metro.

The Logan and Greatest Showman actor, who has been married to his wife Deborra-Lee Furness for more than two decades and has two children with her, said the persistent misunderstanding was down to a lengthy on-stage kiss in 2003, during his role as Australian gay singer-songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz.

“Some dudes do get upset, some dudes say: ‘Don’t say I’m gay'”

— Hugh Jackman

“I was literally just locking lips… I started to laugh so hard,” Jackman remembered.

“So I stayed kissing him, because I thought: ‘I’m just going to laugh. I’m going to stay here until it subsides.'”

Hugh Jackman and Deborra-lee Furness attend the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 10th annual Governors Awards

Hugh Jackman has been married to his wife Deborra-Lee Furness for more than two decades (Kevin Winter/Getty)

Hilariously, he added that his giggles “never subsided, and the whole audience could see my body shaking, so they started.”

Hugh Jackman has opened up about his sexuality before

In 2013, the Wolverine star told TV show 60 Minutes that the rumours were “silly,” explaining that “if I was [gay], I would be.

“I don’t think—to me—it’s not the most interesting thing about a person anyway, but I do get frustrated for Deb, because I see Deb go: ‘Ah, this is crazy.’”

His wife said that the gossip was “offensive” to their adopted children Oscar and Ava, adding: “It is just wrong… it’s a lie.”

Furness also spoke out on the subject in 2011, saying: “The line I heard was: ‘Wolverine? Who would have thought?’ Hugh and I don’t pay much heed.

“It’s kind of tragic that these people have nothing better to do than to gossip about people they don’t know.”

Hugh Jackman has previously said that “if I was [gay], I would be” (The Wolverine)

All the way back in 2009, Jackman responded to speculation by explaining: “I’d be happy to go and deny being gay, because I’m not.

“But by denying it, I’m saying there is something shameful about it, and there isn’t anything shameful.

“The questions about sexuality I find more in America than anywhere else, because it’s a big hang-up and defines what people think about themselves and others.

“It’s not a big issue in Australia.”