Jameela Jamil says she identifies as 'queer' following backlash

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Actor Jameela Jamil announced that her new gig would be judging a new talent show that focuses on the art of vogueing, people got all up in arms saying she shouldn’t be crashing in on queer culture, to which Jamil had the perfect answer.

Jamil is best known for her role as Tahani on the TV series The Good Place, and her advocacy against photoshopping images and promoting realistic expectations of beauty.  Now that The Good Place has aired its final episode, she’s been announced as a host for the new talent TV series Legendary. 

The announcement upset some people, saying a show about vogueing should be focussed on queer talent, leading to Jamil declaring that she herself is actually queer.

She said she’d added a rainbow to her Twitter account a few years ago but had chosen not be explicit about her sexuality.

 “I kept it low because I was scared of the pain of being accused of performative bandwagon jumping, over something that caused me a lot of confusion, fear and turmoil when I was a kid,” she wrote.

“It’s also scary as an actor to openly admit your sexuality, especially when you’re already a brown female in your thirties,” she explained.

Jamil has been dating musician James Blake for the last four years.

OIP Staff