Billy Porter (inset) and Ryan Murphy (Photos: Shutterstock)
Billy Porter revealed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter yesterday that he is HIV positive. He said he was diagnosed 14 years ago and no longer wanted to keep it a secret.
Although he once had a successful stage and screen career behind him, Porter, 51, found worldwide fame for his role as Pray Tell in the FX series, Pose. The show covers the ballroom stage of the late 1980s / early 90s, and Pray Tell is a gay male who is also HIV positive.
Show creator and showrunner Ryan Murphy paid tribute to Porter yesterday on his Instagram account.
Related: Billy Porter Finds HIV Positive After 14 Years: “The Truth Is Healing.”
Sharing the Hollywood Reporter coverage, Murphy wrote, “Today I post an ode of appreciation for my friend – the one and only Billy Porter, who adorns The Hollywood Reporter with historical coverage and a testimonial about his life. , and how he climbed the mountain.
“Once again, Billy Porter refuses to let anyone define him. He’s not just a singer, actor and dancer. Not just an Emmy winner, a Tony winner and a Grammy winner… more than just an activist and trailblazer. It’s a beautiful necklace, made of many pearls… some shiny, others bumpy, but all deserved and for which we fought.
“Today is a big day for him, and I think for so many others who have always been afraid to be themselves because of the societal judgment that can be so hard on members of our community all over the world. .
“I love this continual FIRST which stays authentic, keeps making changes and refuses the limits of definition. It is, as they say, everything.
“I was proud to introduce myself and support him as he dedicated his heart to the always wonderful Lacey Rose. Keep being true, Billy. And thank you for being the light that shows the way. “
Lacey Rose was the Hollywood Reporter writer to whom Porter gave his interview.
In the article, Porter explained that he was diagnosed in 2007. It was a chapter of a particularly bad year for him.
“I was on the verge of darkness for about a decade, but 2007 was the worst. In February, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. In March, I signed bankruptcy papers. And in June, I was diagnosed with HIV. The shame of this time has worsened with the shame that already had [accumulated] in my life silenced me, and I lived with this shame in silence for 14 years.
He said he said “to everyone who needed to know” except his mother, to whom he felt ashamed and embarrassed to tell. He finally told her after the last day of filming the final season of Pose.
Porter is currently working on his directorial debut, will release a memoir later this year and a Netflix documentary about his life, produced in collaboration with Murphy.
RELATED: Zachary Quinto & Billy Porter Voices Same-Sex Couple In New Disney + Show
Among those who praised Murphy’s post was Pose star MJ Rodriguez, who said, “Nice words!”, While Sharon Stone said, “BRAVO👏👏👏👏😍”
Following the Hollywood Reporter story, Porter also took to the Tamron Hall Show to talk about his status and why he thinks he survived in order to do Pose and remind people of both those who died of the HIV and those living with the virus.
