‘That’s So Screwed Up!’ CNN’s Chris Wallace Stunned Billy Porter Once Thought ‘Maybe The Gay Will Fade’
CNN anchor Chris Wallace was stunned to learn from Billy Porter’s book that the star entertainer and LGBTQ+ activist once thought “maybe the gay will fade” with the validation of fame.
The latest interviews from Wallace’s series Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace on HBO Max feature filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, journalist Kara Swisher, and Porter.
In an enormously empathetic interview with Porter, Wallace expressed amazement at, and asked the star to comment on, the way he grappled with his identity as he rose to prominence:
ALLACE: Well, this is perfect, because I want to play a clip from your audio book of unprotected where you really described just this. Take a look.
[CLIP] I wanted to be famous because I thought that fame would bring me validation. Understanding perhaps? Love, even? If I were on the top of the charts, a household name, on the cover of magazines? Maybe the gay would fade away.
WALLACE: That is so interesting. And frankly, so screwed up. I mean, did you really think that maybe with fame, maybe by playing the game, the gay would fade away?
PORTER: Yeah.
WALLACE: And you were made of I mean, you you felt the only way I can succeed, as you say playing a role.
PORTER: Yeah. And you know, it’s so interesting because I think about drama school. I think about, you know, this, this trope that we all talk about, we have all these buzzwords now just be yourself. Just be authentic. Just that gag, gag, gag, gag, gag gag. And it’s like, well It’s easy to be who you are, when what you are, is what’s popular. You know, queerness just happened to have broken through in the world in a different way now. And I’m grateful that I’ve lived long enough to see the day. And to live in this world right now.
Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace drops three full episodes each Friday morning, and CNN airs a version recapping highlights of the episodes every Sunday at 7 p.m.
Watch the full exchange above via HBO Max and CNN.
