Jameela Jamil comes out as queer, clarifies her involvement in Legendary
✌🏽 pic.twitter.com/YcB6H7YCT0
- Jameela Jamil 🌈 (@jameelajamil) February 5, 2020
Twitter is brutal
This is why I never officially came out as queer. I added a rainbow to my name when I felt ready a few yearsago, as it's not easy within the south Asian community to be accepted, and I always answered honestly if ever straight-up asked about it on Twitter. But I kept it low because I was scared of the pain of being accused of performative bandwagon jumping, over something that caused me a lot of confusion, fear and turmoil when I was a kid. I didn't come from a family with *anyone* openly out. It's also scary as an actor to openly admit your sexuality, especially when you're already a brown female in your thirties. This is absolutely not how I wanted it to come out. I'm jumping off this hell app for a while because I don't want to read mean comments dismissing this. You can keep your thoughts.
I know that my being queer doesn't qualify me as ballroom. But I have privilege and power and a large following to bring to this show, (as does the absolutely iconic Megan Thee Stallion,) and it's beautiful contestants and ballroom hosts. Sometimes it takes those with more power to help a show get off the ground so we can elevate marginalized stars that deserve the limelight and give them a chance. I'm not the MC. I'm not the main host. I'm just a lead judge due to my 11 years of hosting experience, being fully impartial, a newcomer to ballroom (like much of the audience will be) and therefore a window in for people who are just discovering it now, and being a long time ally of the lgbtq community.
We start shooting tomorrow and I'm really excited to watch these stars shine and be celebrated. I'm excited to work with Leiomy, Dashaun and Mike Q. As I am with my friend Law Roach and Megan. It's fucking hard to be asked to continue to be patient after so long of waiting for what you want. I know that. South Asian stories are almost never told without white stars. But I hope you don't let a few castings designed to help the show get off the ground, stop you from supporting the talent from Ballroom on this show. They really are fucking amazing and I'm really honoured to work with them.
To the press, I really really don't want to talk about it. Let's just focus on the contestants of the show until it's out.
Best,
J
Reading an inaccurate press release about our new show yesterday was upsetting, and it triggered a lot of incorrect news articles about it. To be very clear, it’s @DashaunWesley who has worked on this show for 2 years is (and always has been) the MC of #Legendary. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/agcQhZbgS4
- Jameela Jamil 🌈 (@jameelajamil) February 5, 2020
I’m so excited for you to meet the contestants from best houses from the ballroom world, their extraordinary stories, talent, grace, humor and beauty. It’s a huge honour to be invited in by @leiomy @DashaunWesley and @TheOnlyMikeQ ❤️ #legendary pic.twitter.com/T8SSHfiDe7
- Jameela Jamil 🌈 (@jameelajamil) February 5, 2020
Sources: 1, 2, 3