Empire's Jsie Smollett Com Out as Gay: Watch His Ellen Interview - Variety

Contents:

• 'EMPIRE' CREATOR LEE DANIELS SAID HE'S BEEN STGGLG TO MAKE A GAY SUPERHERO MOVIE FOR YEARS BUT 'MAYBE THEY'LL GIVE TO A WHE GUY'
• EMPIRE'S GAY SON IS THE SHOW'S GREATT ASSET
• AM I GAY?
• IS HAKEEM FROM EMPIRE GAY?
• HADRIAN — THE GAY ROMAN EMPERORHADRIAN WAS EPLY LOVE WH BETIFUL ANTOPETER PRKAR·FOLLOWPUBLISHED LSONS OM HISTORY·4 M READ·FEB 13, 2021--1SHAREHADRIAN IS NSIRED ONE OF THE FIVE GOOD ROMAN EMPERORS BY HISTORIANS. IN ROMAN HISTORY, HE BELONGS TO THE GROUP OF ELE EMPERORS SUCH AS TRAJAN AND AUGT.HE WAS A GOOD LER WHO DITED HIS LIFE TO THE STRENGTHENG OF THE ENORMO ROMAN EMPIRE. HE BUILT WALLS AND HE FORTIFIED BORRS WH STRONGHOLDS. YOU’VE PROBABLY HEARD ABOUT THE FAMO HADRIAN’S WALL ENGLAND.HADRIAN WAS KNOWN FOR HIS LOVE OF GREEK CULTURE AND TIRELS TRAVELS ALL AROUND THE EMPIRE. HE HAPPENED TO BE HOMOSEXUAL AS WELL.ALTHOUGH MON FOR THE ROMAN EMPERORS TO HAVE MALE LOVERS, HADRIAN WAS UNIQUE MAKG CLEAR HE WAS GAY.HADRIAN (LED 117–138 AD) MARRIED VIBIA SABA 100 AD FOR POLIL REASONS. AFTER ALL, SABA WAS A NIECE OF ROMAN EMPEROR TRAJAN.AS WAS MON AMONG THE IMPERIAL FAY, THE RELATNSHIP WAS CTUO. HADRIAN AND SABA WERE SEND S ONCE REMOVED. BUT THERE WAS NO BREEDG. HADRIAN NEVER NSUMMATED THE MARRIAGE AND THE UPLE DIDN’T HAVE ANY CHILDREN.CONTEMPORARI CLAIMED HADRIAN TREATED HIS WIFE SABA A LTLE BETTER THAN A SLAVE. HE MARRIED SABA OUT OF OFFICIAL DUTY AND NOT BEE OF ROMANTIC TERTS.HADRIAN WAS MUCH MORE TERTED HIS MALE LOVERS. NO WONR THAT POOR SABA LOOKED FOR SOLACE THE ARMS OF OTHER MEN!ONE OF SABA’S LOVERS WAS ROMAN HISTORIAN SUETONI. HADRIAN EXPELLED HIM OM THE URT FOR ‘SOLACG’ HIS WIFE. TODAY, SUETONI’S WRGS ARE A SOURCE OF RMATN ABOUT THE ROMAN EMPERORS.AS ALREADY MENTNED, HADRIAN PREFERRED SEX WH MEN. HE EVEN WROTE EROTIC POETRY ABOUT HIS YOUNG LOVERS. NO EVINCE POTS TOWARDS HADRIAN BEG ATTRACTED TO WOMEN. A WELL-KNOWN LOVE STORY BETWEEN HADRIAN AND ANTO IS A STRONG PROOF OF HADRIAN’S LOVE FOR YOUNG MEN.HADRIAN’S GAY LOVER ANTO BEME A GOD
• A CHURCH OFFICIAL SAID THERE'S A "GAY EMPIRE" IN MEXI AND THE INTER FOUGHT BACK
• EMPIRE 'S GAY SON IS THE SHOW'S GREATT ASSET

'EMPIRE' CREATOR LEE DANIELS SAID HE'S BEEN STGGLG TO MAKE A GAY SUPERHERO MOVIE FOR YEARS BUT 'MAYBE THEY'LL GIVE TO A WHE GUY'

In an terview wh Insir, Osr-nomated director Lee Daniels told Insir that he has been tryg to make a gay superhero movie for "que a while. "There have been no gay characters superhero movi as of yet, but the MCU revealed Valkyrie to be bisexual, and will reportedly feature a gay uple "The Eternals. "Daniels told Insir that he isn't terred by knockbacks: "That's the journey that I've had as a gay Black filmmaker.

Lee Daniels, the Osr-nomated director of "Prec, " said that he has been tryg to make a superhero movie wh gay characters for a long time, but has so far stggled to get off the an terview wh Insir, the creator of Emmy-nomated TV show "Empire" said: "I have been tryg to get a superhero movie gog for que a while.

At the height of 'Empire, ' I was tryg to get a superhero movie gog — a gay superhero movie gog. "Daniels, who earned two Osr nomatns for 2009's "Prec" (for bt director and bt picture), didn't specify what sort of superhero movie he wanted to make, or which stud or people he has spoken have been no gay superhero movie yet, nor has there been proment characters who are out as gay or queer any superhero film. Valkryie, as played by Tsa Thompson, is reportedly bisexual, while Brian Tyree Henry will play a gay character "The Eternals.

EMPIRE'S GAY SON IS THE SHOW'S GREATT ASSET

The characters will also be the first gay characters to kiss a major superhero there has been a small crease studs hirg people of lour directg major Hollywood anchis, there is still a clear disproportn between the number of Black and POC directors hired to helm stud movi and the number of whe directors hired, as Daniels two of the MCU's 23 films so far were directed by people of lor: Ryan Coogler's "Black Panther" and Taika Wai's "Thor: Ragnarok. "That's the journey that I've had as a gay Black filmmaker. Rather than jt flailg agast his father's homophobia and retreatg to the fort of his keyboard, Jamal summoned his anger to a missn statement: He pledged to take over his father's pany.

First, and I fear we've unrsold this our last two reps, how spectacular is that a work TV show picts not only a gay man of lor, but a gay man of lor the hetero-domated world of hip-hop?

AM I GAY?

Lee Daniels and his team may have unrled Luc's homophobia too hard so far, havg him nsistently refer to Jamal as female and sist homosexualy is a choice egregly bluntly, but 's probably (and sadly) realistic—and mak Jamal's assertn that he is a gay man, emphasis on both of those scriptors, all the more valuable. Earlier this week, “Empire” actor Jsie Smollett nfirmed that he’s gay a backstage terview wh Ellen DeGener, sayg, “There’s never been a closet that I’ve been .

Smollett’s character on “Empire, ” Jamal Lyon, who is also gay, explor the issu associated wh beg homosexual, cludg his tense relatnship wh his father. Throughout the history of cema, there have been grippg and groundbreakg LGBTQ+ films – stori takg the liv, history, and experienc of people who intify as gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr, pansexual and beyond. A key shkicker the early '90s New Queer Cema movement, Araki took a baseball bat to hetero-normative culture and explored gay life on the margs durg Bh's admistratn films by turns funny, ank and anguished.

The Livg End is his bt picture, a so-lled 'gay Thelma & Louise', as film cric Jon (Craig Gilmore) and drifter Le (Mike Dytri), both diagnosed as HIV-posive ("the Neo-Nazi Republin fal solutn, " says Jon about AIDS), kill a homophobic p and go on the lam, offg any bigot who stand their way. It's a rare early '90s gay film which no-one di or trmatilly out.

IS HAKEEM FROM EMPIRE GAY?

Buy on Amazon UK3 of 5048) Beach Rats (2017)Eliza Htman's send film is an timate portra of ternalised homophobia and toxic masculy, the bed force of which sends Frankie (a brilliant breakout om future star Harris Dickson) to a tailsp. Pched very much as an antihero, Woodroof is shown as toxilly homophobic before his illns, velopg empathy for fellow gay and trans patients across the film.

All that, and am Dive as a pneer who preced the trends of punk, dis and techno before they h big, and reveals the very human vulnerabily behd the sndalo on Amazon UK7 of 5044) The Mistn Of Cameron Post (2018)Conversn therapy isn't new ground for LGBTQ+ cema, but Diree Akhavan's take on one of the most sid forms of homophobia blends drama, edy, and an timate die sensibily a film that wtily rais a cked eyebrow at their ridiculo practic, whout unrmg the pa and harm they e to those forced to enter them. They don't know she's gay.

It's the b, fact, that is the Priscilla of the tle – a vehicle which needs regular repatg (most strikgly an all-pk makeover) to ver up the homophobic abe scrawled on s si, as the gang enunter iendly Aborigals and some ls-iendly townsfolk as they travel om Sydney to Alice Sprgs. If you wouldn't st Terence Stamp as trans woman Bernatte today, Priscilla boasts great performanc om Stamp, Hugo Weavg and Guy Pearce – the tr absolutely turng out their inic lip sync performance of CeCe Peniston's 'Fally', and htg all the dramatic beats as the story unvers revelatns about their personal liv and on Amazon UK10 of 5041) Stranger By The Lake (2013)The wner of the Queer Palm award 2014, Ala Guirdie's elegant, credibly watchable film is a provotive batn of Hchck thriller, doomed love story, and perhaps the bt-acted gay porn flick ever ma.

HADRIAN — THE GAY ROMAN EMPERORHADRIAN WAS EPLY LOVE WH BETIFUL ANTOPETER PRKAR·FOLLOWPUBLISHED LSONS OM HISTORY·4 M READ·FEB 13, 2021--1SHAREHADRIAN IS NSIRED ONE OF THE FIVE GOOD ROMAN EMPERORS BY HISTORIANS. IN ROMAN HISTORY, HE BELONGS TO THE GROUP OF ELE EMPERORS SUCH AS TRAJAN AND AUGT.HE WAS A GOOD LER WHO DITED HIS LIFE TO THE STRENGTHENG OF THE ENORMO ROMAN EMPIRE. HE BUILT WALLS AND HE FORTIFIED BORRS WH STRONGHOLDS. YOU’VE PROBABLY HEARD ABOUT THE FAMO HADRIAN’S WALL ENGLAND.HADRIAN WAS KNOWN FOR HIS LOVE OF GREEK CULTURE AND TIRELS TRAVELS ALL AROUND THE EMPIRE. HE HAPPENED TO BE HOMOSEXUAL AS WELL.ALTHOUGH MON FOR THE ROMAN EMPERORS TO HAVE MALE LOVERS, HADRIAN WAS UNIQUE MAKG CLEAR HE WAS GAY.HADRIAN (LED 117–138 AD) MARRIED VIBIA SABA 100 AD FOR POLIL REASONS. AFTER ALL, SABA WAS A NIECE OF ROMAN EMPEROR TRAJAN.AS WAS MON AMONG THE IMPERIAL FAY, THE RELATNSHIP WAS CTUO. HADRIAN AND SABA WERE SEND S ONCE REMOVED. BUT THERE WAS NO BREEDG. HADRIAN NEVER NSUMMATED THE MARRIAGE AND THE UPLE DIDN’T HAVE ANY CHILDREN.CONTEMPORARI CLAIMED HADRIAN TREATED HIS WIFE SABA A LTLE BETTER THAN A SLAVE. HE MARRIED SABA OUT OF OFFICIAL DUTY AND NOT BEE OF ROMANTIC TERTS.HADRIAN WAS MUCH MORE TERTED HIS MALE LOVERS. NO WONR THAT POOR SABA LOOKED FOR SOLACE THE ARMS OF OTHER MEN!ONE OF SABA’S LOVERS WAS ROMAN HISTORIAN SUETONI. HADRIAN EXPELLED HIM OM THE URT FOR ‘SOLACG’ HIS WIFE. TODAY, SUETONI’S WRGS ARE A SOURCE OF RMATN ABOUT THE ROMAN EMPERORS.AS ALREADY MENTNED, HADRIAN PREFERRED SEX WH MEN. HE EVEN WROTE EROTIC POETRY ABOUT HIS YOUNG LOVERS. NO EVINCE POTS TOWARDS HADRIAN BEG ATTRACTED TO WOMEN. A WELL-KNOWN LOVE STORY BETWEEN HADRIAN AND ANTO IS A STRONG PROOF OF HADRIAN’S LOVE FOR YOUNG MEN.HADRIAN’S GAY LOVER ANTO BEME A GOD

Directed by William Friedk, who later directed a more qutnable pictn of gay life Cisg, the film's place history is ensured as the first major stud picture to tackle homosexualy head on.

If subsequently divid the muny for s characters' sense of self-loathg and reprsn, sails by on top flight bchery, fluid filmmakg and serv as an important time psule pturg what meant to be gay late '60s Ameri. It's an even more powerful statement nsirg homosexualy is still currently illegal Kenya, and Rafiki was banned there due to s "clear tent to promote lbianism". Tom Hanks livers an Osr-wng turn as Andrew Beckett, a high-flyg gay lawyer who's abptly disrd om his law firm when the senr partners disver he has AIDS.

A CHURCH OFFICIAL SAID THERE'S A "GAY EMPIRE" IN MEXI AND THE INTER FOUGHT BACK

He teams up wh Denzel Washgton's homophobic attorney Joe Miller to fight back, takg the firm to urt over his dismissal. Screenwrer Ron Nyswaner is himself a gay rights activist, which permeat through his work – and Philalphia, he livers a eply affectg story that at the time served to put a human face (and, Hanks, a major hoehold name at that) to the harrowg headl. Watchg today, 's hard to stomach Miller's unpalatable homophobia, but Demme's film also offers a betiful portrayal of Beckett's extend fay who love and support him on Amazon UK17 of 5034) The Death And Life Of Marsha P.

As s tle suggts, David France's documentary is partly a celebratn of Marsha's life – beg one of the key lears of the origal Gay Rights movement and the foundatn of Pri the wake of the Stonewall rts – and also an vtigatn of her ath, as activist Victoria Cz sets out the prent day on a renewed missn to dig further to the circumstanc of her passg. Tom Cullen is Rsell, an troverted gay man stgglg to be open about his sexualy. Filmed long tak, subjective close ups, and guerilla style on trams and crowds, Weekend is an credibly timate look at the polics of gay relatnships, and how even the most brief teractns n change your life for the on Amazon UK19 of 5032) Orlando (1992)There are few pictns of genr fluidy on screen both as somewhat abstract and pletely leral as Sally Potter's Orlando.

On Amazon UK20 of 5031) Milk (2008)If bears all the hallmarks of Osr-iendly awards-ba, G Van Sant's bpic of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official California, is still a highly effective piece of work.

EMPIRE 'S GAY SON IS THE SHOW'S GREATT ASSET

Protts and activism appear often gay cema, but the stak feel particularly big here as Harvey challeng the relig fervour and overt homophobia of the 1970s to protect LGBTQ+ people their hom and jobs. She spends her nights out at gay clubs wh her iend Lra (Pernell Walker) wearg mascule clothg and tryg out strap-ons. Brazen s rampant male nudy and wh no homophobia sight, Fox And His Friends feels ahead of s time s sharp dissectn of social mobily and plex gay characters, whose sexualy is important to the story some ways, but don't fe them or the film.

Nick Robson is Simon, a closeted teen who out as gay via email to anonymo fellow stunt 'Blue'. There are still signifint leaps to be taken – cludg havg an openly LGBTQ+ actor take on a lead role a gay love story. A challengg watch at tim, still feels rare to see the dark si of women's ternal experienc given such room to be on Amazon UK32 of 5019) Betiful Thg (1996)As the ial vastatg wave of the AIDS crisis began to subsi, Hettie MacDonald's warm-hearted Br-flick showed a more open and posive si to gay life London that didn't end ath or tears.