Jonathan Bailey Reveals There's a 'Lovely Man' in his Life, Opens Up About Homophobic Attack

In a recent interview with The Standard, out superstar Jonathan Bailey casually dropped a revealing bit of his private life. While the ground rules for the interview stated his relationship status was "off limits," he did reveal that there is "a lovely man" in his life, alluding that he is in a relationship.

While not going into details, he added "It's not secret, but it's private, Having a private life is, for me, completely critical. I don't know if I would be able to be as confident to speak out on other things if I felt that my whole life was up for grabs."

The British hunk and co-star (with Matt Bomer) of the current hit Showtime series "Fellow Travelers" also described a recent and disturbing event in Washington DC. He was in the nation's capital to attend the Human Rights Campaign Dinner, where he met President Biden and Shonda Rhimes. Rhimes, along with Bomer, were receiving HRC awards. "My first political gala," Bailey told the Standard. "I had the most amazing night; had a drink; couldn't sleep; buzzing," he recalled.
What happened the following morning was more sobering. "I woke up the next morning, it was like a montage," he explained. "Sunshine, I was like, this is brilliant. I went into a coffee shop, and I was wearing a Human Rights Campaign cap from the night before. And the young lady who I was ordering from recognised me from 'Bridgerton,' we were just chatting."

He then said a man came up behind him asking, "Are you famous?' Bailey answered, "I said something like, 'I'm really famous for ordering coffee,' which is actually quite an annoying thing to say." But then things turned dark. "And then he got my cap, and he pulled it off my head and he threw it across the room and he said, 'get out of this f***ing coffee shop, you queer.'"

The room went still, Bailey remembered. "But he walked over, picked up his hat, and put it back on his head," he said. But the man continued: "If you don't take that cap off, I'm gonna f***ing shoot you," along with "Where I'm from, people like me kill people like you."

It was, of course, terrifying, he told the Standard. "In the moment, everything slows down," he continued. "No one knew what to do, apart from one girl, she was amazing. Angela, she came up, and she got her phone out and she said, 'I'm recording this message, I think you are welcome in this country. And what you're saying, I think, is appalling.' That happened sort of five minutes in, and he left."

He continued: "My life was threatened. My body believed it; my brain didn't and it took me a while to really catch up with it. But I've got friends and security. There are so many people that don't. They are surrounded by that every day, and the torment of what that must be like, the amount of fear that was generated... If that's what children are surrounded by, they're not going to be able to grow in any way.

"And of course, that's not just an American story," he added. "It's international. And it's terrifying, that [here in the UK] we're not looking after queer people, in terms of allowing them into the country. Because that is the reality; people's lives are literally at risk."

He says the messages he's been getting in response to the show bear this out. "People are still living in the closet. Or they've had a moment where they're watching and they realise, that was their father's story, or their mother's story; or it's people who have been affected by this, but for the first time are understanding the trauma.