Actress Jodie Foster has officially come out at The Golden Globe Awards.

Accepting the Cecil B DeMille Lifetime achievement award, the fiercely private actress gave a speech that acknowledged her sexuality, her former partner and two sons.

Foster said her coming out happened, ‘a thousand years ago’ and described the process as being a fragile young girl who opened up to trusted friends, family and co-workers. Foster commented that nowadays celebrities are expected to make announcements with all details of their private lives, with press conferences, fragrance launches and reality television shows.

The fifty year old actress was honoured for her work as an Actress and Director. Foster had previously hinted at her sexuality when receiving an award in 2007 when she thanked her then partner Cydney Bernard. Foster has always refused to answer questions about her private life in interviews.

In 2007 US magazine OUT featured a cover story about stars who would not ‘come out and play’. The cover image featured actors holding up masks with the faces of CNN anchor Anderson Cooper and Foster. Cooper publicly acknowledged that he was gay in 2012.

Watch Foster’s acceptance speech below.

Foster’s career began when she was a toddler appearing in television commercials. In 1976 she starred in a trio of films that catapulted her to fame. The widely diverse roles included the films Freaky Friday, Bugsy Malone and Taxi Driver. Foster established herself as a serious adult actor in groundbreaking roles in The Accused and Silence of the Lambs – both films won her dual Golden Globes and Academy Awards.

Foster has continued her acting career appearing in Nell, she acted opposite Richard Geer in Sommersby and long time friend Mel Gibson in Maverick. Foster has also had success as a Director with films like Little Man Tate, Home for the Holidays and most recently The Beaver.

OIP Staff