Is Jameela Jamil Gay? The Actress Comes Out As Queer After Backlash Over Her Casting In HBO Max Show 'Legendary'
Actress, writer and activitist Jameela Jamil released a personal statement on Twitter this week.
Getty Jameela Jamil — born Jameela Alia Burton-Jamil — is a London-born actress, model, writer and radio presenter. Her career kicked off in the late 2000s when she took over for Alexa Chung on the morning TV show Freshly Squeezed as co-host.
Jamil moved to Los Angeles with plans of being a screenwriter, yet quickly after her move she found out about an opening for a British actress on a series created by Michael Schur. That show turned out to the NBC series The Good Place and Jamil landed the role of Tahani Al-Jamil.
Her work on The Good Place would lead to voiceover work on the animated series DuckTales and Jamil's hosting of a recurring segment on the Last Call With Carson Daly talk show. Currently, Jamil is in the headlines as a result of a posting she published to Twitter on February 5, 2020.
Below is more about the acclaimed entertainer and activist and her recent statements about her sexuality.
1. Is Jameela Jamil gay? The actress revealed her sexuality on social media.
On February 5, 2020, Jamil released a statement on Twitter, which you can view above, about her sexual orientation. Within the first sentence of such she identified as "queer."
Jamil explained that it is "not easy within the South Asian community to be accepted" and "kept it low" due to being "scared of the pain" that could be associated with such. She also identified herself as a "long time allyof the lgtbq community" within the posting.
However, she closed the statement by telling members of the press that she "really really" does not "want to talk about it."
2. A new job is what inspired Jamil to reveal her sexuality.
Jamil's latest job is as lead judge on HBO Max's voguing competition show Legendary. After she was announced as being the show's lead judge, Jamil was criticized for being a major part of a show that is based on LGBTQ culture — yet not being gay herself.
Within the earlier-mentioned Twitter statement, Jamil commented, "This is absolutely not how I wanted to come out.” Other announced judges on the show include Megan Thee Stallion, Law Roach and Leiomy Maldonado.
3. Jamil has a complex relationship with Hollywood in general.
Beyond the numerous re-tweets and shares from media personalities, Jamil's February 5, 2020 Twitter posting also received support from many high-profile figures. This includes partner James Blake, actor Javier Munoz and voiceover actor Matthew Mercer.
Previously, Jamil had attracted a lot of attention on social media because of her calling out celebrities who follow fad diets and shoddy products. This led to praise from singer Taylor Swift last year who remarked to DJ Zane Lowe, "We have amazing women out there like Jameela Jamil saying, ‘I’m not trying to spread body positivity. I’m trying to spread body neutrality where I can sit here and not think about what my body is looking like.'”
Several months prior, Jamil had taken specific aim at the Kardashian sisters for "selling us something that doesn’t make us feel good." Jamil's tweets had gone viral in this case, just as they had with her critical tweets of rapper Cardi B for promoting questionable products on social media.
4. Despite her identifying as "queer," Jamil is in a steady relationship with James Blake.
Jamil has been in a relationship with singer James Blake for five years. The two have been public about their relationship from early on, as Jamil shared a photo of the two on Instagram in February 2015.
She notably posted about their relationship at length on Instagram in May 2019. She commented, "4 years deep with this hilarious man... I’m so happy in that picture and I’m so glad that wonderful day is documented."
5. Jamil is keeping very busy beyond Legendary.
While The Good Place ended as of January 30, 2020, Jamil is working steadily. She is the co-host of the comedy game show The Misery Index, alongside the four stars of the Impractical Jokers series, and beyond recording voiceovers for the animated series Mira, Royal Detective.
Legendary has an anticipated premiere within the spring 2020 season. Its development had been announced by HBO Max alongside The Greatest Space, as HBO Max's "first foray into unscripted programming."
6. Jamil has multiple social accounts.
As noted earlier, Jamil's sexual orientation was announced via Twitter and she has often posted about Blake on Instsagram. She also keeps an official Facebook account and has an official website.
Notably, Jamil has a second Instagram account called I Weigh. Its mission, per its Instagram bio: "I Weigh is about radical inclusivity, so that no one feels alone. Our job is to amplify, advocate, and pass the mic."
However, Jamil's Twitter statement from February 5, 2020 included a declaration that she might be "jumping off" Twitter for awhile as she did not want to “read mean comments dismissing" her statement. So time will tell if Jamil will be taking a hiatus from some or all of her social media accounts within the near-future.
Darren Paltrowitz is a New York-based writer, editor and author. He is also the host of the Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz podcast, as co-produced with PureGrainAudio.com.