Redeem now - Actress Samira Wiley said on WYNC's "Nancy" podcast that she was in tears after being outed as gay by one of her "Orange Is the New Black" costars.
- October 11 is National Coming Out Day, which is a day for LGBT awareness and visibility.
- Wiley said coming out on her own terms was "something that somebody took" from her.
Actress Samira Wiley revealed on WYNC's "Nancy" podcast that she was outed as gay by one of her "Orange Is the New Black" costars when she "wasn't out at all."
This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in.The costar, who was never named, mentioned Wiley while talking about gay actors in the "OITNB" cast. (Many online are speculating that it was Lea DeLaria, who plays Big Boo.) Wiley said that saw her name in print being named as a lesbian, she "cried a lot."
"I tried to get it taken down," she said.
Thursday is National Coming Out Day, which is a day for LGBT awareness and visibility. Wiley said the opportunity to come out when she was ready was "something that somebody took" from her.
"Everyone's journey is their own," she said. "You should be able to come out on your own terms."
The 31-year-old credits her character, Poussey, for helping her come to terms with her sexuality and "fall in love" with herself. Wiley currently plays another LGBT character on Hulu's "The Handmaid's Tale."
"I think that if I wasn't portraying these characters, I wonder how my own journey with my own sexual orientation — how I would embrace that, how I would walk the world if I wasn't able to embrace the characters that I have been," she said.
Wiley married her longtime partner, "Orange Is the New Black" writer Lauren Morelli, in March 2017. The couple met on the set of the show. Morelli realized she was gay while writing for the Netflix series.
Although Wiley didn't get to choose when she came out to the world, she said she's "very, very happy it's worked out this way."
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