Elliot Page once opened up about the moment a fellow actor 'verbally assaulted' him after he came out as gay.
Page, 38, who publicly came out as gay in 2014 and then as transgender in December of 2020, has bravely shared a number of his experiences navigating through Hollywood as someone who doesn't fit heteronormative or cisgender binaries.
Much of his experiences have been documented in his memoir, Pageboy, which was published a few years back in 2023, but one interaction in particular which took place over a decade ago now has clearly stuck out for fans reading it at home.
In the book, Page opened up about an unfortunate incident which saw another actor 'verbally assault' him at a party.
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The chapter which delves into the incident is aptly titled 'Famous A**hole at Party'.
In the text, the Umbrella Academy star recalls being at a birthday party in Los Angeles in 2014 when the actor, whom Page describes as an 'acquaintance', told him: "You aren't gay. That doesn’t exist. You are just afraid of men."
He then shockingly told Page: "I’m going to f**k you to make you realise you aren’t gay."
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Just a few days after, he bumped into this actor at the gym where he claimed: "I don’t have a problem with gay people I swear."
"I think you might," Page told him at the time.
Elsewhere in the chapter, the Inception actor explained that he'd had 'some version' of that interaction happen 'many times' throughout his life.
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"A lot of queer and trans people deal with it incessantly," he continued. "These moments that we often like don't talk about or we're supposed to just brush off, when actually it's very awful."
Page explained that this was the precise reason he included that anecdote in Pageboy, noting that 'it’s about highlighting the reality, the s**t we deal with and what gets sent to us constantly, particularly in environments that are predominantly cis and heterosexual'.
"[In Hollywood] these are very powerful people," he went on. "They're the ones choosing what stories are being told and creating content for people to see all around the world."
Noting that many people at the party saw and heard what happened, Page added: "I’m purposely not sharing his name.
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"But he will hear about this and know it’s him."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 10am–6pm Monday to Friday, or email [email protected]
Topics: Elliot Page, Celebrity
Rhiannon Ingle