Neil Patrick Harris became globally popular after successfully transitioning from a child actor on Doogie Howser into a charming adult comedy star. However, despite becoming such a major star, one fear continued to trouble him. Before coming out in 2006, Harris said he was afraid of becoming a “target.”
Neil Patrick Harris recalls the rumors and pressure surrounding his sexuality before he publicly came out in 2006
Rumors about Neil Patrick Harris’ sexuality had already begun circulating before the 53-year-old actor publicly came out as gay. He recently revealed on the Great Company with Jamie Laing podcast that the speculation made him fear becoming the next public “target.”
Harris said, “I had started dating David, who’s now my husband, well before I auditioned for How I Met Your Mother. When I got the job, everyone on that show knew David [and] knew that we were a couple.”
“That was at a time when there were bloggers on the internet that you would go to read the salacious, ‘Try to guess who this actor is that’s gay and in the closet’ comment. There was a fear that I would be, like, the next target on that,” he added.
On the same podcast, Neil Patrick Harris explained that he and David Burtka would sometimes attend movie premieres together, but they deliberately kept their relationship out of the spotlight. To avoid drawing attention to their romance, Harris would walk the red carpet while Burtka stayed on the other side of the photographers, as they were not publicly a couple at the time.
Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka first met in New York City in 2004 and went on their first date in April that same year. In 2006, Harris publicly confirmed that he was gay in an interview after overcoming his fears.
The couple made their official red carpet debut at the 2007 Emmy Awards and later got engaged privately. In 2010, they welcomed fraternal twins, Harper Grace and Gideon Scott, via surrogate. Harris and Burtka married in Italy in September 2014 and have remained together ever since.
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