Amber Heard opens up about coming out as bisexual in Hollywood
When Amber Heard publicly came out as bisexual in 2010, she was told the label would cause problems for her acting career. Speaking at The Economist‘s second annual Pride & Prejudice event in New York City on Thursday, Heard explained that she had always been out to her family, but revealing her sexual identity to the world caused an immediate reaction from others in Hollywood.
"As a leading lady, there's a certain amount of wish fulfillment," she told the crowd. "I was asked 'How is anyone going to invest in you romantically if they think you're unavailable?' I said, 'Watch me do it.'"
Amber Heard reveals she was told that coming out ‘would end my career' https://t.co/VhWRDmM25h pic.twitter.com/RXpcs8ejea
— People (@people) March 24, 2017
The actress explained that she was never never “in” the closet, saying, “I was in a relationship and I never hid it and then my career and my life started to change.” When asked about her sexuality on TV in 2010, Heard decided to answer honestly.
"I could tell by the look on this person's face it was a big deal," she said. "My poor publicist. Then I realized the gravity of what I had done and why so many people — studio execs, agents, advisors — did not want this coming before my name."
She went on to say that although she never defined herself by who she was with, she “became attached to a label.” She saw her position as a unique responsibility, “So, I bit the bullet,” she said.
That was seven years ago, but the actress thinks Hollywood still has a long way to go. “If we’re meant to reflect the world around us, the whole point of telling stories and reaching audiences is to challenge the status quo, to push the envelope. Not just to meet the status quo,” she said. “We’re in a unique position to do this. We need to be actively pushing.”
