When did Ricky Martin publicly come out as gay? Billy Bush recalls upsetting the singer by almost accidentally outing him during an interview

Ricky Martin came out as gay on his website in 2010.

During a July 10 episode of Literally! With Rob Lowe, radio and TV host Billy Bush revealed that he accidentally outed Martin before he could officially come out as gay. Billy, who was working with Access Hollywood at the time, told Martin that eight people he spoke to at the lobby bar the night before wanted to know "if you're gay".

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"He stiffens up in the chair and he goes, 'What?'. And I go, 'Oh boy'. And he goes, 'You motherf***er'. Rips of his microphone."

Martin was seemingly offended and stormed off the set, while saying,

"You want your headline...you piece of garbage."

Bush mentioned that it was one of the "most uncomfortable" celebrity interactions he has ever had. Bush had flown to Miami for the interview and claimed that he got a call from his bosses in Los Angeles shortly after, who criticized his line of questioning. Bush also clarified,

"I'm not in the business of hurting people. I am in the business of figuring out who I am and where I'm going. And you need to be able to make mistakes in life."

"I forgive you" - Ricky Martin said to Bill Bush

While talking about how he accidentally outed Ricky Martin before he would come out officially, Bush said that he went back into the interview location to apologize to Livin' La Vida Loca singer and said,

"Ricky, I am so sorry for that question. I don't know what I was thinking. It was a cowboy question. It was inappropriate. I'm so sorry, and I promise you this will never see the light of the day."

The singer forgave Bush and responded,

"I've been struggling with this my whole life. There will be a time, there will be a place. It will not be here on this program while I'm promoting this album. It's deeply personal to me. I appreciate you coming back in here. I forgive you."

Ricky Martin eventually came out on his website after years of dodging questions about his sexuality. The Puerto Rican singer stated,

"I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am."

Ricky revealed to host Andy Cohen, in a 2024 interview, that he was advised not to come out since everything that he had built would "collapse". However, he decided to do it anyway to stay true to his two kids, Valetino and Matteo.

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