The man behind the self-outings of Chaz
Bono, Chely Wright and Meredith Baxter, publicist Howard Bragman, is
developing a television series about coming out gay.
According to
Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood, the Barack Obama of
coming out gay in Hollywood is developing the series with JUMA
Entertainment and A&E. The series is appropriately titled Coming
Out.
“The concept will feature multiple
public figures coming out of the closet,” the website reported.
Bragman is considered the go-to PR man
on coming out gay for celebrities. His first client was actor Dick
Sergeant in 1991. Bragman is also behind the recent self-outing of
Chaz Bono as transgender. And he helped country singer Chely Wright
and actress Meredith Baxter come out gay.
During a recent panel on the subject at
Outfest, Los Angeles' gay & lesbian film festival, Bragman called
a multi-million-dollar closeted celebrity “sad.”
“If there are superstar male actors
who are in the closet and they are worth $100 million and they have
this whole fake life, there's just nothing sadder,” he told the
crowd.
Bragman, who's openly gay and married
to Chuck O'Donnell in California, runs the Los Angeles-based PR firm
Fifteen Minutes.