Elliot Page says famous actor threatened to rape him after coming out
In his memoir Pageboy, Elliot Page described how a famous actor told him that being gay “doesn’t exist” and threatened to ‘f**k him’ at a birthday party in 2014. (Getty)
Elliot Page has opened up about a horrific experience with a famous actor who threatened to “f**k” him to convince him he wasn’t gay.
The trans icon and Umbrella Academy star – who uses he/him and they/them pronouns – revealed the disgusting encounter in a chapter aptly titled aptly titled “Famous A*****e at Party” from their new memoir, Pageboy.
In it, Page recalled a harrowing encounter with an unnamed actor at a birthday party in Los Angeles in 2014 just a couple months after the Inception actor came out as part of the LGBTQ+ community – before he came out as trans in 2020.
Page said that the actor, who they considered an “acquaintance”, approached them at the party before lobbing homophobic hate and threatened to sexually assault the queer star.
“You aren’t gay. That doesn’t exist. You are just afraid of men,” Page recalled the actor saying. “I’m going to f**k you to make you realise you aren’t gay.”
When Page saw the actor at the gym a few days later, the unidentified celebrity tried to backtrack on his bigoted statements and threats by saying: “I don’t have a problem with gay people, I swear.”
“I think you might,” Page responded.
Elliot Page said he’s had “some version of that happen many times throughout [his] life” and that many queer and trans people “deal with it incessantly”, People reported.
“These moments that we often like don’t talk about or we’re supposed to just brush off, when actually it’s very awful,” Page said. “I put that story in the book because it’s about highlighting the reality, the s**t we deal with and what gets sent to us constantly, particularly in environments that are predominantly cis and heterosexual.”
They continued: “How we navigate that world where you either have more extreme, overt moments like that. Or you have the more, like, subtle jokes.
“[In Hollywood] these are very powerful people. They’re the ones choosing what stories are being told and creating content for people to see all around the world.”
Elliot Page also explained that he’d purposely not shared the actor’s name, noting that several people at the 2014 party saw and heard what happened that night. He added: “But he will hear about this and know it’s him.”
Pageboy releases in bookstores on 6 June.
Rape Crisis England and Wales works towards the elimination of sexual violence. If you’ve been affected by the issues raised in this story, you can access more information on their website or by calling the National Rape Crisis Helpline on 0808 802 9999. Rape Crisis Scotland’s helpline number is 08088 01 03 02.
Readers in the US are encouraged to contact RAINN, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800-656-4673.
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