Tom Hardy Talks About That Probing Sexuality Question: ‘That’s Nobody’s Business But My Own’

Socialite Life debuted back in 2003. SL Flashback showcases some of our favorite content from years past.

It feels like every time we turn around, there’s another celebrity talking about their lack of privacy.

This time it’s Tom Hardy, talking to The Daily Beast about that probing sexuality question from a reporter earlier this week at the Toronto International Film Festival. Click here for a full refresher, but basically, he did not feel that he needs to open up about his sexuality.

Which is something he reiterated again in his Daily Beast interview. For Tom, his sexuality is part of his private life and not something he needs to share with the world.

His comments are quite lengthy and it’s hard to just pick out a few choice quotes, so here they are in full.

“I think everybody is entitled to the right to privacy. There should be elegant ways to approach any topic, and there’s a time and place to approach anything and have a good, common sense conversation about anything. I do think that there’s a responsibility for people to own the way that they speak publicly. This doesn’t stop us from being human beings; some things are private. I’m under no obligation to share anything to do with my family, my children, my sexuality—that’s nobody’s business but my own. And I don’t see how that can have anything to do with what I do as an actor, and it’s my own business. If you knew me as a friend, then sure, we’d talk about anything. But that was a public forum, and for someone to inelegantly ask a question that seemed designed entirely to provoke a reaction, and start a topic of debate… It’s important destigmatizing sexuality and gender inequality in the workplace, but to put a man on the spot in a room full of people designed purely for a salacious reaction? To be quite frank, it’s rude. If he’d have said that to me in the street, I’d have said the same thing back: ‘I’m sorry, who the fuck are you?’ What he had to talk about was actually interesting, but how he did it was so inelegant. And I appreciate that I could probably have more grace as a human being, but I’m just a bloke. I’m just a man. And I’m just a man doing a job. I’m not a role model for anyone, and you’re asking me something about my private life in a room full of people. I don’t want to discuss my private life with you. I don’t know you! Why would I share that with a billion people? Also, if you felt it was so important for people to feel confident to talk about their sexuality, why would you put somebody on the spot in a room full of people and decide that was the time for them to open up about their sexual ambiguity? There’s also nothing ambiguous about my sexuality, anyway. I know who I am. But what does that have to do with you? And why am I a part of something now that, however legitimate, I haven’t offered my services for? It’s not about what he and his publication stands for, none of that is offensive, and on the contrary, it’s very admirable, and an important issue. But how I was asked was incredibly inelegant, and I just thought it was disrespectful and counterproductive to what he stands for.”

Did you read the whole thing? You should read the whole thing. For those in the TL;DR camp, Tom’s main gist is that although sexuality shouldn’t be an issue, and he thinks it’s an important topic, it isn’t something he should be forced to talk about because, for him, it’s a private matter. Plus, he didn’t like the way the reporter asked the question or the forum he used to ask it.

That latter part of his annoyance makes sense to me. Although Tom is a relatively private actor, he has opened up about major parts of his life in the past–which is why the reporter brought up his sexuality in the first place. But the question would have definitely worked better in a print setting, not in a group Q&A when he’s specifically there to talk about Legend.

This article was originally published on September 18, 2015.

LINK LOVE

elink.io | See Original

SL RECOMMENDS

Like most websites, Socialite Life uses affiliate links where available, which means we earn a little commission if you click through and buy something. Also, as Amazon Influencers, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Sale