Remember when Barry Manilow came out as gay in 2017? Well, if you do, then you didn't make a big enough fuss about it; he says he's "insulted" that no one really cared.
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In an interview with The New York Post, the "Copacabana" singer reflected on the time he came out as gay in 2017, at the age of 73. He's 81 now and still feels sour about how little attention anyone gave the singer during his vulnerable moment.
"You know, it was a non-event," Manilow admitted. "I was kind of insulted. I thought it was gonna be a big deal." Tone is difficult to convey over text, but I imagine he was laughing when looking back.
"Oh my God, it was nothing. Nobody said anything about it," he continued.
Although he expected a little more fanfare and media attention, he admits that it's not overly surprising no one really cared. He imagined that his fans had already pieced together that he was gay. To his fans, it was probably more surprising to see that he hadn't already come out prior.
"At that point, they all knew immediately. They liked my music, they liked me. And they were happy that I had somebody to come home to," he said.
Barry Manilow Secretly Got Married In 2014
Barry Manilow, as revealed in the 2017 People magazine where the singer came out, married his husband Garry Kief secretly in 2014. As they had been together since 1978, the marriage wasn't a huge deal in their relationship.
"We'd been together for so long and then, you know, we were able to get married, and it was no big deal," he said.
Having been together for nearly 50 years now, it's safe to say that Manilow and Kief's relationship is pretty solid. Kief is also Manilow's manager, and they've somehow made that work.
"You know, Garry's got his own career, and I've got my own career. And we respect each other. It's a great relationship," he shared.
Manilow also touched on what it was like to be gay in the 70s. "You couldn't come out back then. I didn't want to. I didn't care about it," he admitted. "All my friends knew. And I think as the years went on, all of my fans knew. But you just didn't talk about stuff like that back then."
"When I started off, you couldn't [come out]. It would ruin your career. You couldn't even say the word 'gay.'"
