Matt Bomer looks back on being outed by tabloids: 'It felt kind of unfair... that was stolen'
On Monday's episode of the Dinner's on Me podcast with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Bomer recalled a time "when folks could kind of take over your own personal narrative before you even had a chance to." He specifically referenced "outlets like Perez Hilton," which appeared to relish in "talking about my personal life before I had ever had a chance to even do it myself. And it wasn't because I didn't want to; I didn't even have an opportunity to."
Bomer publicly came out as gay during a 2012 awards speech, calling his husband, the publicist Simon Halls, and their three children "my proudest accomplishment." But by that time, the rising actor had been the subject of numerous items in celebrity news sites and gossip blogs that speculated on his sexuality. In 2024 he revealed he was told being outed this way cost him the role of Superman in a film to be directed by Brett Ratner.
Though there was rampant and damaging speculation, Bomer told Ferguson that "no media outlet was ever going like, 'Hey!'" - as in, they were happy to print rumors, but not inclined to give Bomer the platform to tell his story on his own terms. "I just didn't have a career that warranted that," he explained. "And so it felt kind of unfair to me, that that was stolen by people who did have a microphone at the time."
"It was a weird time," Bomer reflected, because he never hid his sexuality in public. "Even when we were walking around in the streets, you know, there'd be pictures of Simon and our kids and I," he explained. Leading up to a planned speech at the 2012 Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards in Palm Springs, Calif., Bomer began thinking that he didn't want his family "to feel like they were some kind of shameful secret or, something I was sweeping under the rug so I could have a great career."Though he lost the role of Superman in 2013's Superman: Man of Steel to Henry Cavill, Bomer's career began to flourish in the early 2010s, with a plum role in the USA Network series White Collar and a big-screen break in the form of Magic Mike. But both characters had begun to cast him in the mold of "a straight leading man."
"I didn't have anything to fall back on," Bomer continued. "But what I had was a loving family. That was my safety net. And I was like, you know what? If the worst that happens is that I don't work again and I have this beautiful family who I love and who loves me, then so be it."The actor has gone on to star in series like Fellow Travelers, a historical series set in the world of politics in the 1950s, which explores the deleterious psychic effect that being forced to live in the closet can have on LGBTQ people.
Speaking about his character Hawk to Entertainment Weekly in 2023, Bomer noted, "Hawk does have a public persona that he needs to survive and maneuver in the world that he's in, but underneath it all is a real 'f--- you.'" The actor called that, "So refreshing to get to play, but it was also really refreshing to see — not that every intimate gay relationship is like that, but to see an aspect of gay sex brought to life in such an authentic and unflinching way."
You can listen to the rest of Bomer's interview with Ferguson on the Dinner's On Me podcast above.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
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CNN
16 minutes ago
- CNN
The director of ‘Superman' calls his hero an immigrant. Critics call him ‘Superwoke'
A baby arrives in America from a home in turmoil. A family in Kansas raises him. And he struggles to balance two identities. Comic books, TV shows and films have repeatedly recounted these details from Superman's backstory over the past 87 years. But the director of the latest big-screen adaptation drew backlash recently when he stated something that's been said many times before: Superman is an immigrant. 'I mean, Superman is the story of America,' director James Gunn told The Times of London. 'An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.' Coming as the Trump administration steps up its immigration crackdowns, the comments quickly sparked criticism from right-wing media personalities. A Fox News banner blasted the new movie as 'Superwoke' as pundits offered their takes. 'We don't go to the movie theater to be lectured to and to have somebody throw their ideology on to us,' said former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway. Dean Cain, an actor who starred for years on TV in 'Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman' and is now a conservative commentator, told TMZ he didn't like Gunn's comments and speculated that the director's decision to invoke immigration while promoting the film could be a costly mistake. So far, it hasn't been. The movie, released by CNN's parent company Warner Brothers Discovery, finished No. 1 on its opening weekend with $122 million in domestic ticket sales and continues to draw large audiences. And longtime fans and historians of the comic books note that Gunn's comments weren't superimposing a new storyline on the beloved hero. 'The idea of Superman being an immigrant, or maybe a refugee, has been part of the character's mythos since the very beginning. It's not something he invented or tried to shoehorn in,' says Danny Fingeroth, author of 'Superman on the Couch: What Comic Book Heroes Really Tell Us About Ourselves and Our Society.' The first Superman story, published in 1938, stated he was sent to Earth from Krypton, a fictional doomed planet. 'It makes him not an immigrant of choice. It makes him an immigrant of necessity…a refugee,' Fingeroth says. 'He's someone who comes to Earth and to America, to then blend in and become as American as mom, the flag and apple pie.' And, Fingeroth says, there are a lot of good reasons why these details are such a key part of Superman's story. Take the comic's creators, for example. Artist Joe Shuster and writer Jerry Siegel were both the children of Jewish immigrants who'd fled rising antisemitism in Europe. 'Just given their backgrounds and their sympathies, I think it's always been important that Superman comes from somewhere else,' Fingeroth says. The Cleveland-based duo wrote Superman's story as World War II loomed. The first page of his story describes him as 'champion of the oppressed.' 'The clouds of fascism are rolling through Europe. There's echoes of it here in America … and Superman's early adventure are fighting for the little guy, fighting for abused women, fighting for exploited mine workers, fighting against corrupt politicians,' Fingeroth says. Even before America was fighting Nazis in World War II, Superman was fighting them on comic book pages, he says. Through it all, 'Superman is the immigrant embodying the best of American qualities, even though he's from somewhere else.' It's a connection historians and immigrant rights advocates have made, too. More than a decade ago, comic book historian Craig This organized a panel at Wright State University highlighting the immigrant backgrounds of Superman and Wonder Woman. The idea resonated with the college students he was teaching at the time, he says. 'People were coming to this large public research university, maybe thinking that they were an outsider, and then said, 'Oh, wow, look, I can see these individuals as role models. I want to try and fit in. But really, it's going to be my differences that make me survive and be successful, not just here on a college campus, but also here in the United States.'' In 2013, the organizations Define American and the Harry Potter Alliance launched a social media campaign inviting people to share selfies and their family's immigration stories with the hashtag #SupermanIsAnImmigrant. Last week that campaign's creators pushed back against critics who've been accusing Gunn of politicizing his take on Superman. 'You can't politicize the truth,' Define American founder Jose Antonio Vargas and narrative strategist Andrew Slack wrote in The Hollywood Reporter. 'Superman has been an 'illegal alien' for 87 years.' A one-time undocumented immigrant himself, Vargas says today he sees an even more important message in the superhero's story. 'I think for the first time, because of this movie, because of what's happening in the country … I have people who have never talked to me about immigration talking to me about immigration,' he says. 'So we have people's attention. Now I think the question is, what are they going to do?' Of course, Superman's origin is just one part of his story. And in the initial comic, it was also a convenient plot device, Fingeroth says, allowing the authors to explain his powers. In some versions, Fingeroth says, 'Superman's immigrant status is not mentioned.' The hero could be from Metropolis or Kansas or anywhere, 'depending on the era, depending on the creators.' Each version of Superman comes with its own plot twists. In the new film, for example, the backstory of the superhero's parents takes an unexpected turn. Superman sometimes changes with the times. And sometimes different audiences perceive him differently. Many superheroes are outsiders. And one common thread that gives them such staying power is that people from many different walks of life connect with the characters, says Fingeroth, a longtime editor of Spiderman comics. 'Their mythos and storylines and origins speak to various aspects of the human condition, and that makes them appealing. Their adventures are enjoyed by people from a wide variety of political and social and religious backgrounds,' he says. 'And yet, the myths are so powerful that they all take it as their own.' In other words, all of us can see ourselves in Superman. And that may be a reason why so many people have such strong opinions about the character even today. Last week the White House's social media accounts shared an AI-generated image based on the new movie's poster, depicting President Trump in the title role. A few days later, though, it wasn't the Man of Steel that the Trump administration referenced on social media when it drew a connection between a beloved sci-fi character and today's undocumented immigrants. Instead, the Department of Homeland Security shared the iconic image of ET's bicycling silhouette. The text superimposed over the moon: 'GO HOME.'
CNN
29 minutes ago
- CNN
The director of ‘Superman' calls his hero an immigrant. Critics call him ‘Superwoke'
A baby arrives in America from a home in turmoil. A family in Kansas raises him. And he struggles to balance two identities. Comic books, TV shows and films have repeatedly recounted these details from Superman's backstory over the past 87 years. But the director of the latest big-screen adaptation drew backlash recently when he stated something that's been said many times before: Superman is an immigrant. 'I mean, Superman is the story of America,' director James Gunn told The Times of London. 'An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.' Coming as the Trump administration steps up its immigration crackdowns, the comments quickly sparked criticism from right-wing media personalities. A Fox News banner blasted the new movie as 'Superwoke' as pundits offered their takes. 'We don't go to the movie theater to be lectured to and to have somebody throw their ideology on to us,' said former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway. Dean Cain, an actor who starred for years on TV in 'Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman' and is now a conservative commentator, told TMZ he didn't like Gunn's comments and speculated that the director's decision to invoke immigration while promoting the film could be a costly mistake. So far, it hasn't been. The movie, released by CNN's parent company Warner Brothers Discovery, finished No. 1 on its opening weekend with $122 million in domestic ticket sales and continues to draw large audiences. And longtime fans and historians of the comic books note that Gunn's comments weren't superimposing a new storyline on the beloved hero. 'The idea of Superman being an immigrant, or maybe a refugee, has been part of the character's mythos since the very beginning. It's not something he invented or tried to shoehorn in,' says Danny Fingeroth, author of 'Superman on the Couch: What Comic Book Heroes Really Tell Us About Ourselves and Our Society.' The first Superman story, published in 1938, stated he was sent to Earth from Krypton, a fictional doomed planet. 'It makes him not an immigrant of choice. It makes him an immigrant of necessity…a refugee,' Fingeroth says. 'He's someone who comes to Earth and to America, to then blend in and become as American as mom, the flag and apple pie.' And, Fingeroth says, there are a lot of good reasons why these details are such a key part of Superman's story. Take the comic's creators, for example. Artist Joe Shuster and writer Jerry Siegel were both the children of Jewish immigrants who'd fled rising antisemitism in Europe. 'Just given their backgrounds and their sympathies, I think it's always been important that Superman comes from somewhere else,' Fingeroth says. The Cleveland-based duo wrote Superman's story as World War II loomed. The first page of his story describes him as 'champion of the oppressed.' 'The clouds of fascism are rolling through Europe. There's echoes of it here in America … and Superman's early adventure are fighting for the little guy, fighting for abused women, fighting for exploited mine workers, fighting against corrupt politicians,' Fingeroth says. Even before America was fighting Nazis in World War II, Superman was fighting them on comic book pages, he says. Through it all, 'Superman is the immigrant embodying the best of American qualities, even though he's from somewhere else.' It's a connection historians and immigrant rights advocates have made, too. More than a decade ago, comic book historian Craig This organized a panel at Wright State University highlighting the immigrant backgrounds of Superman and Wonder Woman. The idea resonated with the college students he was teaching at the time, he says. 'People were coming to this large public research university, maybe thinking that they were an outsider, and then said, 'Oh, wow, look, I can see these individuals as role models. I want to try and fit in. But really, it's going to be my differences that make me survive and be successful, not just here on a college campus, but also here in the United States.'' In 2013, the organizations Define American and the Harry Potter Alliance launched a social media campaign inviting people to share selfies and their family's immigration stories with the hashtag #SupermanIsAnImmigrant. Last week that campaign's creators pushed back against critics who've been accusing Gunn of politicizing his take on Superman. 'You can't politicize the truth,' Define American founder Jose Antonio Vargas and narrative strategist Andrew Slack wrote in The Hollywood Reporter. 'Superman has been an 'illegal alien' for 87 years.' A one-time undocumented immigrant himself, Vargas says today he sees an even more important message in the superhero's story. 'I think for the first time, because of this movie, because of what's happening in the country … I have people who have never talked to me about immigration talking to me about immigration,' he says. 'So we have people's attention. Now I think the question is, what are they going to do?' Of course, Superman's origin is just one part of his story. And in the initial comic, it was also a convenient plot device, Fingeroth says, allowing the authors to explain his powers. In some versions, Fingeroth says, 'Superman's immigrant status is not mentioned.' The hero could be from Metropolis or Kansas or anywhere, 'depending on the era, depending on the creators.' Each version of Superman comes with its own plot twists. In the new film, for example, the backstory of the superhero's parents takes an unexpected turn. Superman sometimes changes with the times. And sometimes different audiences perceive him differently. Many superheroes are outsiders. And one common thread that gives them such staying power is that people from many different walks of life connect with the characters, says Fingeroth, a longtime editor of Spiderman comics. 'Their mythos and storylines and origins speak to various aspects of the human condition, and that makes them appealing. Their adventures are enjoyed by people from a wide variety of political and social and religious backgrounds,' he says. 'And yet, the myths are so powerful that they all take it as their own.' In other words, all of us can see ourselves in Superman. And that may be a reason why so many people have such strong opinions about the character even today. Last week the White House's social media accounts shared an AI-generated image based on the new movie's poster, depicting President Trump in the title role. A few days later, though, it wasn't the Man of Steel that the Trump administration referenced on social media when it drew a connection between a beloved sci-fi character and today's undocumented immigrants. Instead, the Department of Homeland Security shared the iconic image of ET's bicycling silhouette. The text superimposed over the moon: 'GO HOME.'
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
James Gunn Recalls Telling Henry Cavill He Wasn't Returning as Superman: 'It Was Really Unfair to Him'
James Gunn is shedding light on the moment he had to tell Henry Cavill he was not returning to play Superman. During a recent appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz, the DC Studios boss briefly broke down the confusing timeline that saw Cavill announce he was set to reprise the character before announcing roughly two months later that he was not moving forward in Gunn's superhero universe. More from The Hollywood Reporter Box Office: 'Superman' Crosses $200M Domestically, Targets $56M-$57M Second Weekend James Gunn Says Casting for New Wonder Woman Hasn't Started Yet But Film Is a "Priority" When Did Superman Become So Controversial? 'We were dealing with trying to figure out if we could take the job at DC Studios, and we're talking to David Zaslav and all the legal people there, and figuring out what our deals would be,' he recalled. 'And the day our deal closed, all of a sudden they were announcing that Henry was back.' Gunn admitted that he was taken aback by the news. 'I'm like, what is going on? Like, we know what the plan is, the plan was to come in and do Superman,' he said, referring to the new 2025 film that sees David Corenswet take on the titular role. 'That was really unfortunate, I'm like, this poor guy. And so Peter [Safran] and I [knew] the right thing to do is to sit down with [Cavill] and talk to him,' he said. 'And we sat down, we talked to him, he was an absolute gentleman, a great guy about it. He said, 'The only thing I ask is that I'm able to reveal it myself as opposed to it coming from you guys.'' Of breaking the news to Cavill, the Guardians of the Galaxy writer-director said 'it was really unfair to him and was a total bummer,' but there were outside influences who 'wanted to take on what they wanted to do at DC and were trying to force their way and it just was never a part of the equation.' Despite not returning to lead Gunn's Superman, Cavill and Corenswet were in communication before the latter Man of Steel took on the iconic role. 'I had the pleasure of exchanging letters with two previous Supermans, Henry Cavill and Tyler Hoechlin. Both of them, interestingly, sort of said in their own words, 'I'm not gonna try to give you any tips,'' Corenswet said at the film's London premiere. 'They were very encouraging and we had a lovely exchange. … I'm excited to meet them one day, it'll be great when we can all get in a room together.' At the tailend of their conversation about Cavill, host Horowitz asked if it'd be 'too confusing' to recast the actor in Gunn's DC Universe, to which he responded, 'No, as another character? Absolutely not. I talked to him about it on that day. I would love to put Henry in something.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter The 40 Greatest Needle Drops in Film History The 40 Best Films About the Immigrant Experience Wes Anderson's Movies Ranked From Worst to Best
