For two decades, Hugh Jackman’s sexuality has been questioned, and the rumors accelerated when he split from his wife last year.
Despite repeatedly stating that he is straight, unfounded rumors that he is gay have continued to circulate, and Jackman even fueled the whispers by mocking the speculation.
He has also addressed the origin of the claims, believing they date back to a role he played in 2003.
At the time, Jackman was happily married to Deborra-Lee Furness, but was playing openly gay singer-songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz on Broadway.
Speaking about taking on the role at the time, he reflected: “Some people said, ‘That’s very brave of you to play a gay man.’ And I think that’s very dated. Isn’t it?”
For two decades, Hugh Jackman’s sexuality has been questioned, and the rumors accelerated when he split from his wife Deborra-Lee Furness last year (pictured in 2023).
Unfounded rumors that she is gay have continued to circulate, and Jackman believes they date back to a role she played in 2003, when she had to kiss her male co-star Jarrod Emick.
However, this week it was claimed that Jackman is now dating Broadway legend Sutton Foster, 49, and that they have been “spending all their free time together” (pictured in 2022).
During production they had to kiss. Male co-star Jarrod Emick onstage and reflecting on the moment he believes sparked the rumors, Jackman shared: ‘I was literally locking my lips… I started laughing a lot.
“So I kept kissing him, because I thought, ‘I’m just going to laugh.’ I’m going to stay here until it calms down,’ and it never slowed down and the whole audience could see my body shaking so they started.’
He added during the 2018 interview: “Some guys get upset, some guys say, ‘Don’t say I’m gay,’ (but) I’m good.”
When The Boy from Oz ended its run on Broadway and began playing in Australia in 2006, Jackman no longer needed to kiss his lover on stage.
Addressing the decision to remove the kiss, her new co-star Murray Bartlett explained, “We just wanted to keep it very simple and very pure.”
The same-sex kiss was not part of the original musical when it first premiered Down Under in 1998, and was only added to the script when production began on Broadway in 2003.
Jackman has been revered by the gay community and became an instant pin-up when photographs emerged of him enjoying shirtless runs on the beach with his handsome personal trainer.
The strong supporter of LGBTQ rights recently addressed his sexuality during his one-man show, The Man. La Música. The show in 2019.
Addressing the crowd at London’s O2 Arena, Jackman, 56, winked and said: “I know what you’re all thinking… right? Isn’t he… (pause for effect )… Australian?’
While the rumors haven’t fazed him, Jackman confessed that he was worried about how it would affect his wife.
Jackman, who is a strong supporter of LGBTQ rights, has poked fun at the rumors over the years (pictured with his personal trainer in 2017).
In 2003, Jackman was happily married to Deborra-Lee Furness, but was playing openly gay singer-songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz on Broadway.
Speaking about taking on the role at the time, he reflected: “Some people said, ‘That’s very brave of you to play a gay man.’ And I think that’s very dated. Isn’t it?”
He explained during the interview in 2018: “Some guys get angry, some guys say, ‘Don’t say I’m gay,’ (but) I’m good.”
When The Boy from Oz ended its run on Broadway and began playing in Australia in 2006, Jackman no longer needed to kiss his lover onstage.
speaking in 60 Minutes, shared: ‘To me, anyway, it’s not the most interesting thing about a person. I feel frustrated for Deb, because I see her saying, “Oh, this is crazy!”
Furness addressed the rumors about Anh’s Brush with Fame, rolling her eyes and exclaiming: ‘I look at these magazines and they’re so mean… I hope people realize it’s all made up.
He added: “(Hugh) has been gay for so many years that I was gay too when I made (the 1988 film) Shame.” They were surprised when I got married.
‘It’s just wrong. It’s like someone saying to Elton John, “Oh, he’s straight.” I’m sure he would be angry!
‘And! What are we discussing here? Is he vegetarian? Is he gay?
During another talk On the Not an Overnight Success podcast, Deborra-Lee said: ‘I mean, hey guys, if I was gay, I could be gay!
‘He didn’t have to hide in the closet anymore and he’d be dating Brad Pitt, or whatever. It’s not that Brad is gay, but you know what I’m saying!’
She continued, “It’s so dumb, and then people perpetuate dumb things and it’s boring.”
The couple met on the set of the Australian TV show Correlli in 1995. They married just 11 months later and adopted two children, Oscar, 23, and Ava, 19, in 2005.
Last year, they revealed they had split after 27 years of marriage, sparking a new wave of rumors about Hugh’s sexuality.
Sources tell Page Six that Jackman and Foster are reportedly keeping their relationship private amid ongoing rumors (pictured in May 2022 in New York City).
However, this week it was claimed that Jackman is dating Broadway legend Sutton Foster, 49, and that they have been “spending all of their free time together”.
Sources said Page six that Jackman and Foster are reportedly keeping their relationship private amid ongoing rumors.
“They spend all their free time together,” a source said. “They are a normal couple, they are just in private.”
This report comes just a couple of days after Foster filed for divorce from her husband, Ocean’s Eleven screenwriter Ted Griffin, after 10 years of marriage.
Foster and Griffin share a daughter, seven-year-old Emily, whom they adopted in 2017.
Since their split and before she filed for divorce, she and Jackman have reportedly spent more time together privately and have been “inseparable,” the source claimed.
The source added that the couple is keeping a low profile and ‘sneaking around’.
Speculation about the couple’s relationship began in Broadway circles while Foster was starring in The Music Man alongside Jackman.
For more than a year they worked together on the Broadway show, which ran from December 2021 to January 2023.
Multiple sources told Page Six that Foster and Jackman “have fallen in love.”
“They are 100 percent together, they are in love and want to spend the rest of their lives together,” a source previously told the publication.
The couple is reportedly going strong, but they have kept the relationship out of the public eye, according to sources.
A source claimed: ‘They are still together. They do everything they can to hide it, but it is public knowledge.
This report comes just a couple of days after Foster filed for divorce from her husband, Ocean’s Eleven screenwriter Ted Griffin, after 10 years of marriage (pictured in June 2022).
Recently, an interview from 2022 resurfaced that showed Jackman calling Foster a “dream.”
At the time, I was excited to have the opportunity to work with Foster on the Broadway revival of The Music Man.
“It’s been a long time since I did a musical book—18 years, actually, since The Boy From Oz,” he told New York Theater Guide two years ago.
“I’ve been lucky enough to do movies and some plays, but there’s nothing like doing a musical on Broadway.”
He went on to specifically applaud “this cast in particular” for their hard work before gushing, “Sutton Foster is just a dream.”
