Out actor-singer Jussie Smollett said
in a recent interview that he's willing to talk about his sexual
orientation because there is a lack of LGBT representation in the
media.
During an appearance on Larry King
Now, host Larry King asked Smollett (Empire) whether he's
“averse to being categorized [as a gay celebrity]?''
“It's not that I'm averse to being
characterized,” Smollett answered, “because I feel like, you
know, it's just I don't wake up in the morning, like, I don't turn
over in bed and look at my significant other and say, 'Oh my gosh,
look at my gay lover.'”
“You know, it's who I am.”
“But I understand that there is a
certain level of misrepresentation and lack of representation and for
that I'm willing to kinda put myself out there in a way that
ordinarily I'd say, 'Screw them.' Like, I don't have to talk about
myself, but I do think it's important. Younger people are looking up
to you and it's okay to be able to say, 'This is who I am and you're
good,'” Smollett
added.
During an “If you only knew”
segment, Smollett was asked to name the “most influential working
musician today.”
“For me, the most influential artist
still to this day to me is Janet Jackson,” Smollett
answered.
(Related: Jussie
Smollett on Trump: He's “a pig, a racist, a horrible human being.”)