Modern Family Star Was Outed When He Got Caught Stealing Gay Porn
Modern Family actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson didn't exactly plan his coming out moment, which involved gay porn, a citizen's arrest, and his dad.
The actor, who is now quite open about his sexuality and married to Justin Mikita, described the painfully unfunny coming out story to Aisha Tyler on her Girl on Guy podcast.
Well, I was caught stealing gay porn when I was 14. So, I always considered that my coming-out. … It was so humiliating. I had been stealing porn for a while. I had quite a little collection. And I would bring it into the house, and then I'd get nervous, so I'd hide it under the mattress, or I'd hide it behind a shed in the backyard. And then it would get rained on, and I'd have to go get the barbecue tongs to [get it out].
But eventually he got busted, forcing him to come out to his father.
I had been stealing porn and I had three magazines underneath my shirt. I guess the certain magazine that I picked up had a sensor in it, and I set off the alarm. I had to go back to the woman who asked me if I had anything in my backpack – she was giving me the benefit of the doubt.
I couldn't be like, 'some porn fell inside my pants' – I lifted up my shirt and I had tears in my eyes. She took me to the back room and they brought my dad in, showed him the nature of the material that I was stealing. It was really, really humiliating."
Ferguson later told Tyler he had to come out to his dad about three times before he accepted it, but says his family eventually grew to be supportive of his sexuality (but probably not his shoplifting).
