Star Wars star Billy Dee Williams, 86, opens up about embracing gay rumors in the 1970s – after admitting he’s flirted all his life: ‘I’ve been called a Closet Queen’

Star Wars star Billy Dee Williams has opened up about embracing gay rumors in the 1970s.

The 86-year-old acting legend – who earlier this month admitted to being a lifelong flirt – had another revealing confession when she said he didn’t care if people thought he was gay during his Hollywood heyday.

He opened up about the gay rumors that could have derailed his acting career Page six on Sunday when he said, “I’ve been called a ‘Closet Queen.’

“But I don’t pay much attention to that.”

Billy Dee said he had always felt comfortable around members of the LGBTQIA+ community and had even hung out at secret gay parties in the basement of the Metropolitan Opera when he was an extra there.

He explained: ‘It all seemed very normal to me. I was dealing with it all my life, so I never really thought about it.”

In 2019, Billy Dee had made headlines when he seemingly came out as gender fluid after revealing this in an interview with Esquire that he uses both ‘himself’ and ‘herself’ pronouns.

However, days later, the Star Wars actor clarified that his statements had been misinterpreted and clarified that he identifies as a straight man in a subsequent interview with The undefeated.

Williams revealed that until his story went viral, he had never heard the term gender fluid and didn’t know what it meant.

“Well, first of all, I asked last night. I said, “What is gender fluid?” That’s a whole new term,” the Lando Calrissian actor said.

The narrative that the octogenarian was gender fluid stemmed from this statement to Esquire: “You see, I say ‘herself’ and ‘herself’ because I also see myself as feminine and masculine. I am a very gentle person. I’m not afraid to show that side of myself.’

In reality, Billy told The Undefeated, he was referring to men getting in touch with their “softer side” and affirming that he identifies as a straight man.

He said, “There’s an expression that was coined by Carl G. Jung, a psychiatrist, a contemporary of Sigmund Freud, and they divided because they had different ideas about the… what do you call it? ? Conscience. Unconscious. It is collective unconscious.

“But he coined a phrase: ‘Anima animus.’ And anima means that this is the feminine counterpart of the masculine self, and the animus is the masculine counterpart of the feminine.”

Williams further clarified, “So that’s what I was talking about. I was talking about men getting in touch with the feminine side of themselves. I wasn’t talking about sex, I wasn’t talking about being gay or straight. People should read [Jung]. I mean, it would be an interesting education for a lot of people.”

As for his sexuality, the actor said: ‘No, no, no, I’m not gay – not in any way. Not that I have anything against gays. But personally? Not gay.’

Meanwhile, the veteran actor came clean about his infidelity earlier this month.

The 86-year-old actor – who is releasing a memoir spanning his nearly eight-decade career – spoke honestly and openly about being a ladies’ man and the role cheating has played in his life.

He told People magazine Wednesday that it all started at a young age when he grew up as a hopeless romantic, he said, “I always fall in love.”

Billy told the publication that while he struggled with school, he excelled in both art and romance, but it wasn’t until he starred opposite Diana Ross in a 1972 biographical drama film that he really hit his stride.

He said, ‘Lady Sings the Blues [the 1972 Billie Holliday biopic] and mahogany [1975] really changed my whole world, as far as a romantic figure goes.

Those roles made the veteran actor one of Hollywood’s first black heartthrobs.

Billy said, “I think I’m the first little brown boy who really exudes that kind of personality. That was a lot of fun for me.’

However, this made it difficult for him to maintain a monogamous relationship without infidelity.

The actor who played Lando Calrissian in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back explained: “I’m intrigued by strong women. That obviously gets me into trouble.’

He has been married three times, including to Audrey Sellers from 1959 to 1963, Marlene Clark from 1968 to 1971, and Teruko Nakagami, whom he has been married to since 1972 but divorced in 1993.

Billy also shares 64-year-old son Corey with Audrey Sellers and 51-year-old daughter Hanako with Teruko Nakagami.

When asked by People how he would characterize himself as a husband, the actor replied, “A womanizer! I’ve been flirting all my life.’

Billy was open about the role infidelity had played in the failure of all three of his marriages and that not even fatherhood could hold him back.

He said, “I think I was a good husband once. I value family.

‘Then my son [Corey, 63, with Sellers] was born, I thought that was the most beautiful thing in the whole world. And my daughter [Hanako, 50] from my third marriage was a gift.’

Billy then sweetly commented on all of his ex-wives, saying, “They’re all wonderful people I married.

“How I ended up in those situations, I’ll never know.”

His memoir What Have We Here?: Portraits of A Life, which covers his nearly eight-decade career, will be released on February 13.