Jameela Jamil has come out as queer.
The "Good Place" star took to Twitter on Wednesday to officially reveal her sexuality. The personal reveal comes after HBO Max announced that she would be involved in a "9-episode unscripted voguing competition series." The casting prompted many in the LBGTQ community to voice their displeasure, claiming that the show should be filled with members of its community.
"Twitter is brutal. This is why I never officially came out as queer," she began her lengthy and emotional post. "I added a rainbow to my name when I felt ready a few years ago, as it's not easy within the south Asian community to be accepted, and I always answered honestly if ever straight-up asked about it on Twitter. But 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 continued, "I didn't come from a family with *anyone* openly out. It's also scary as an actor to openly admit your sexuality, especially when you're a brown female in your thirties. This is absolutely not how I wanted it to come out. I'm jumping off this hell app for a while because I don't want to read mean comments dismissing this. You can keep your thoughts."
In its announcement, HBO said that Jamella was the MC of the show, but she has said that that's inaccurate, claiming the role is actually going to "Pose" star Dashaun Wesle.
"I know that being queer doesn't qualify me as ballroom," she wrote. "But I have privilege and power and a large following to bring to this show, (as does the absolutely iconic Megan Tee Stallion,) and it's [sic] beautiful contestants and ballroom hosts. Sometimes it takes those with more power to help a show get off the ground so we can elevate marginalized stars that deserve the limelight and give them a chance."
"I'm not the MC. I'm not the main host," she continued. "I'm just a lead judge due to my 11 years of hosting experience, being fully impartial, a newcomer to ballroom (like much of the audience will be) and therefore a window in for people who are just discovering it now, and being a long time ally of the lgbtq community."