She’s been in the spotlight for 47 years, but Jodie Foster proved we don’t know everything about her yesterday, coming out as gay at the Golden Globes.
The 50-year-old actress revealed her sexuality in an emotional speech after she won the Cecil B DeMille Award for lifetime achievement, leaving the audience in tears.
An obviously nervous Jodie started her speech predictably, thanking colleagues, friends and family before moving on to an altogether more unexpected topic.
“While I’m here being all confessional, I guess I just have just a sudden urge to say something that I’ve never really been able to air in public,” she said.
“[It’s] a declaration that I’m a little nervous about — but maybe not quite as nervous as my publicist right now. I’m just going to put it out there — loud and proud.
“This is not going to be a big coming out speech tonight because I already did my coming out about a thousand years ago back in the stone age.
“But seriously, if you had been a public figure from the time that you were a toddler, if you’d had to fight for a life that felt real and honest and normal against all odds, then maybe you too might value privacy above all else.
“Privacy. Some day, in the future, people will look back and remember how beautiful it once was. I have given everything up there from the time that I was three years old.”
Jodie’s remarks earned her thunderous applause from the audience, many of whom shed tears as she spoke.
She went on to pay tribute to her former partner Cydney Bernard, and her two children Charles, 14, and Kit, 12.
“There is no way I could ever stand here without acknowledging one of the deepest loves of my life, my heroic co-parent, my ex-partner in love but righteous soul sister in life, my confessor, ski buddy, most beloved BFF of 20 years, Cydney Bernard,” she said.
“Thank you, Cyd. I am so proud of our modern family. Our amazing sons, Charlie and Kit, who are my reason to breathe and to evolve, my blood and soul. And boys, in case you didn’t know it, this song, all of this, this song is for you.”
Jodie also spoke about her mother Evelyn, 84, who is suffering from dementia.
“This brings me to the greatest influence of my life, my amazing mother, Evelyn,” she said. “Mum, I know you’re inside those blue eyes somewhere and that there are so many things that you won’t understand tonight.
“But this is the only important one to take in: I love you, I love you, I love you. And I hope that if I say this three times, it will magically and perfectly enter into your soul, fill you with grace and the joy of knowing that you did good in this life. You’re a great mom. Please take that with you when you’re finally okay to go.”
