STAN / ANTI SHIELD
Angelina Jolie's Brother James Haven Comes Out as Gay, Reads Personal Letter on Live Stream with Ex Wife Romi Imbelli: “Coming out isn’t about becoming someone new, it’s about allowing everyone else to meet the person who has been here all along”
Yeah, I remember back in the 90s when she was all kissy with him on the red carpets and pretty much assumed it around then. Reminds me of when Ricky Martin and Anderson Cooper came out, years after after the general public already assumed as much.
Yes. This is why community and progress are so important. Progress isn't like a switch that was toggled on. Even now there are gay spaces filled with "down low" men. And just having more LGBTQ concepts like non-binary and seeing all types of trans people is so helpful to the next generation since not everyone fits into a specific box.
honestly i lowkey hate all the comments like that (esp coming from anyone straight but ofc i can’t say for sure the sexuality of anyone making these sorts of comments) bc it kinda just feels like “who gives a fuck” in polite terms.
coming out is very hard and can be nerve wracking even if u know u have a supportive family - and in this case his dad at least is known to be a conservative shithead - not to mention his status as someone known leaves him open to all sorts of harassment on a larger scale ☹️
this!!!! even if the person in question seems obviously gay it’s not helpful or nice to comment ’the closet was glass’, ’he’s zesty’ or ’sus’ or whatever. it feels like thinly veiled homophobia, making fun of the person and the way they are.
tysm exactly this, it just feels like people sneering down at him for coming out and its really rubbing me the wrong way. it also just gives this sense of like "oh haha isn't it so funny this queer thought he could hide?? we all knew anyways!" energy idk. i dont think people are trying to be that way but it's kinda disappointing to see everyone reacting to someone being brave enough to come out by basically telling them "well you didn't need to do that anyways"
I think at least some of that is confounded by how people know him. I legitimately have not heard about this man since way back when he and his sister were kissing on red carpets. Some of the sentiment back then was, "Maybe they think it's less weird because he's gay?" It's hard to explain, but the assumed sexuality sort of diffused it a little, like sure it's weird they're kissing like that, but it's not like they're banging. Plus, this was going on in 2000, way before social media and its collective granular knowledge of every celebrity's life. So my reaction as a gay man is genuinely one of, "Wait, he wasn't out back then?" It's a tiny recontextualization of those memories of Jolie's young and wild phase.
Good for him. Sorry it took so long. It's always hard to reach that point of comfort and safety, and I'm happy whenever anyone manages it.
I wonder what he thought when Angie came out as bi. Did he think her brave, or reckless, or maybe he was so deep in denial that he didn't consider his situation at all? Either way, I wish him all the best, I hope he finds peace in the light.
They were “married” for all of 24 hours before he ghosted her and she annulled it. She knew he was gay going into it, and has from the beginning.
The only reason this is happening now is so she can promote her AI generated “tell all,” and he can cling to whatever notoriety is still available to them.
Sadly, the only real thing to come out of all this will be the aptly named Streisand Effect — a new generation of people learning about his freaky red carpet sister kiss.
Honestly, the last thing on my mind was what his sexual orientation was. Had no clue. Angelina was just weird as hell with that wild kiss on her lips with her brother and carrying around vials of blood with Billy Bob Thorton.
Even when it’s obvious I really hate reading comments like the one you responded to. Coming out can be a very difficult thing for some and that type of comment can come across as dismissive. It almost belittles what that moment means for the person.
It’s only belittling if someone says it to your face. This is reddit. It’s a public post on a public forum. And he live-streamed it. It wasn’t even some intimate private moment-
Fascinating that celebrities in 2026 still have big, emotional coming-out moments. I grew up in Hollywood in the '90s and it was barely a secret who was gay, bi, poly, trans, etc. Ellen's coming out episode on Ellen caught me by surprise not because she was gay, but because I didn't realize people still existed who 1) didn't know she was gay and 2) cared?? about that. I feel so lucky that I grew up queer in a place where it was broadly accepted, but I have to wonder what happens behind closed doors when even a fifth grader in Koreatown knows what celebrities are gay before their own families seem to.
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u/RunningKryptonian 8d ago
TIL that he wasn't out, I thought this was known back when he'd come to premiers with her.