If Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman) was hiding he was gay, that was the worst kept secret in modern times.
‘Pee-wee Herman’ star Paul Reubens comes out as gay in posthumous documentary: ‘I was secretive about my sexuality’ https://t.co/NNDlEETWOl pic.twitter.com/BnavG6M0lT
— Page Six (@PageSix) January 24, 2025
ate actor Paul Reubens, known for portraying the character Pee-wee Herman, came out as gay in his posthumous HBO documentary.
The two-part HBO special, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival Thursday night, features Reubens’ final interviews before he died of cancer in July 2023 at age 70.
Sitting down with director Matt Wolf for 40 hours worth of interviews, Reubens revealed that he was “secretive about [his] sexuality even to [his] friends.”
“[It was] self-hatred or self-preservation,” he said. “I was conflicted about sexuality. But fame was way more complicated.”
Despite never having come out of the closet while he was alive, he had a boyfriend named Guy before his Hollywood career skyrocketed.
When Reubens’ Pee-wee Herman character started gaining traction, he decided to keep his sexual orientation private.
Maybe, he thought it was a secret, but he was very wrong.
https://t.co/TebNzGL7TJ pic.twitter.com/Y89JX1Vphr
— Artist_Angie: Sensei of Sarcasm (@Artist_Angie) January 25, 2025
Wait. It was a secret? https://t.co/RrtU8UrkLY
— Phineas Fahrquar (@irishspy) January 25, 2025
Recommended
omgosh…I was young during his stardom,, but I was not stupid
— bornstanding (@dc65512824) January 25, 2025
Literal Elementary school students knew.
Narrator: Everybody knew anyway. Nobody cared. https://t.co/ERhVy7wb2Q
— Stephen Green (@VodkaPundit) January 25, 2025
People just found him funny and didn’t care about who he slept with. What a concept.
I am so surprised I have never been this surprised ever before in my whole life I think I might have a heart attack and die from this surprise https://t.co/cqHiu5r3ou
— Stevie J. West (@StevieWestAgain) January 25, 2025
Wait, Pee Wee was ghey?!
Next you’ll tell me Freddy Mercury was ghey. https://t.co/RXeHWgFbKo
— Coder CoderDyne (@CCoderDyne) January 25, 2025
Let’s hold your hand while we tell you this. Heh.
Worst.
Secret.
Ever. https://t.co/vgqIi3LKvN— LibertyJ (@LibertyJen) January 25, 2025
Millions of young men who grew up looking to Pee-wee Herman as their model of masculinity are devastated by this news https://t.co/Vhibh43Z3x
— Enguerrand VII de Coucy (@ingelramdecoucy) January 25, 2025
Where will they look for a hero now?
We never saw him coming https://t.co/J2W2AIIoYI
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) January 25, 2025
It’s just never who you’d expect https://t.co/3abtSfNHdm
— Oilfield Rando (@Oilfield_Rando) January 25, 2025
Next you’re going to tell me about Liberace https://t.co/88QO44wKUs
— FilmLadd (@FilmLadd) January 25, 2025
Nobody tell him.
Bruh we KNEW WE KNEW like when Elton John and Lance Bass came out as Gay WE KNOW https://t.co/unJT7iLTPP pic.twitter.com/YsRHt0iVrU
— blonde little Phoenix (@NotABotBlonde) January 25, 2025
The most shocking part to me is that I didn’t know he was dead. https://t.co/KAGbQXYqwn
— Burt Macklin (@BurtMaclin_FBI) January 25, 2025
Sorry for your loss.
