Matt Damon is finally speaking out on gay rumors that dogged him and friend Ben Affleck early in his career, saying it was never worth addressing the whispers because he doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with homosexuality.
After Damon and Affleck quickly rose to fame with Good Will Hunting , many tabloids and Hollywood observers speculated that there could be more to their friendship than the actors were letting on. Though he is avowedly straight, Matt Damon didn’t speak on the gay rumors until just recently, the New York Daily News reported .
“I never denied those rumors because I was offended and didn’t want to offend my friends who were gay,” Damon said, “as if being gay were some kind of f–king disease. It put me in a weird position in that sense.”
In an interview with Playboy magazine, Damon said he is happy that the atmosphere in the entertainment world has changed, with less stigma attached to being openly gay.
“(T)he fact that Anderson Cooper and Ellen DeGeneres can come out so beautifully and powerfully, and it’s a big f–king deal that it turns out nobody gives a shit,” Damon said.
Matt Damon opens up on the gay rumors just as he is set to play Scott Thorson, the lover of Liberace, in the upcoming biopic Behind the Candelabra . Damon noted that, if Liberace were alive today, his private life would not have been the issue it was at the time, just as gay performers are left mostly alone today.
Damon’s decision to speak out on gay rumors may have come a little late. He has been married to wife Luciana Barroso for years, and the couple have three daughters together and a step-daughter for Damon.