Neil Patrick Harris Knew He Was Gay After A Kiss From Burt Reynolds

Neil Patrick Harris, known to many from his role on How I Met Your Mother, and known to still more from his role as Doogie Howser, M.D. has revealed he first realised he was gay after a “joke kiss” from fellow actor Burt Reynolds.

News of the kiss and Harris’ inclusion of the story in his autobiography Choose Your Own Autobiography comes as he has been identified as the next host of the Academy Awards, according to the Irish Independent.

As a joke at the end of one take, Burt leans over and kisses you square on the mouth…The crew thinks this is very funny, but it makes you uncomfortable. Uncomfortable and, it will ultimately turn out, gay. Burt Reynolds’ kiss makes you gay.

Of course, despite jokes about the magical nature of Burt Reynolds (one need only consult Rebecca Rose on that subject), even Harris knows that the Burtster didn’t really make him gay. Both the Irish Independent and the Daily Mail report that Harris didn’t come to realise his sexual orientation immediately, first identifying as “bisexual,” but then eventually telling his mother at 13 that he might be gay. The actor explained his orientation publicly in 2006.

The most gratifying reaction was the deafening silence of hundreds of millions of Americans thinking to themselves, who gives a s**t’?

Now, if only we could get that attitude in reaction to everyone, everywhere. Sadly, we’re definitely not there yet.