NSYNC reunited on Monday to receive
their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Ellen DeGeneres presented NSYNC –
Justin Timberlake, Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick and Joey
Fatone – with their star.
Bass, who came out gay in 2006, was
closeted as the boy band racked up hit after hit in the late 1990s.
Bass told the thousands of people who
gathered at the event that he feared coming out would jeopardize the
group's success.
“[The] thing I want to say here today
is something I’ve been trying to put into words maybe my whole
life,” Bass said. “Growing up in Mississippi and in a Southern
Baptist church, in a town where everyone knows your business, I had a
secret. I was gay. Yes guys, I’m gay! I am! And at the time, I
thought that I would never be able to tell anyone because not only
was I terrified of the lasting rejection...I was certain that that
would happen…but more than that I didn’t want to jeopardize the
careers of these guys up here, much less the hundreds of amazing
people who worked tirelessly to bring NSYNC to the world.”
“I thought if I had come out, NSYNC
would be over. So I kept my secret,” he added. “And our wildest
dreams were coming true and we were so incredibly thankful. And I
still am. But so many nights on stage, I’d see so many young, gay
fans singing their hearts out and I wanted so badly to let you know,
I was you. I just didn’t have the strength then. But I do today and
so let me say loud and proud to all my LGBT brothers and sisters, who
embrace me and show me the way to be who I am, thank you so much.”
Bass married Michael Turchin in 2014 in
Los Angeles.