It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it. Amber Heard opened up about her decision to come out as bisexual, which she was warned might have negative effects on her career in Hollywood.
The Danish Girl star, 30, who revealed in 2010 that she identifies as bisexual, shared her story during The Economist‘s second-annual Pride & Prejudice Summit on Thursday, March 23, in New York City.
“Well, I always say in response — when I hear someone comment about me coming out, I think it’s funny because I was never in,” she said. “In part because I was very stubborn, I guess, and also in part because I just didn’t feel it was wrong.”
Heard caused a media firestorm in 2010 when she brought her then-girlfriend Tasya van Ree as her date to an event. “I was always out. I was an activist. I went to protests. I refused to not bring my partner at the time, but no one ever asked me about it. And an outlet specifically asked me who I was there with that night and who that person was to me,” the actress — who called it quits with Ree in 2012 after four years of dating — recalled on Thursday. “And I just answered honestly, the way I always answered had there not been a tape recorder on me.”
The Texas native — who finalized her divorce from ex-husband Johnny Depp earlier this year, after a bitter breakup and allegations he had physically abused her — said that she noticed a shift in perception from the public and the press after it was revealed that she is attracted to both men and women.
“Then I saw I was attached to a label … I never have myself defined by the person I’m with,” she said. “I never saw myself defined as one particular thing or not. So, I watched as I quickly became not actress Amber Heard, but out lesbian Amber Heard.”
She also shared that those involved in her career cautioned her that coming out would be detrimental to her star power. “It did impact my career, it was difficult. It was not easy. I was the only one working in this way, so it was definitely difficult because no one had done it,” she said. “I did that even though everyone told me it would end my career, without a doubt.”
