Billy Porter Reveals He Has Been HIV-Positive for 14 Years

He has lit up the stage and screen for the past three decades, but his journey hasn't always been smooth sailing. Tony and Emmy Award Winner Billy Porter just revealed in an intimate interview with the Hollywood Reporter that he has been HIV-Positive for the past 14 years.

"I was the generation that was supposed to know better, and it happened anyway. It was 2007, the worst year of my life," says Porter. "I was on the precipice of obscurity for about a decade or so, but 2007 was the worst of it. By February, I had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. By March, I signed bankruptcy papers. And by June, I was diagnosed HIV-positive. The shame of that time compounded with the shame that had already [accumulated] in my life silenced me, and I have lived with that shame in silence for 14 years."

Watch the full interview below:

Billy Porter is an award-winning actor, singer, director, composer, and playwright. He recently won the Emmy Award for Lead Actor for his appearance in FX's Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated drama "Pose", and most recently received his second Emmy nomination for this role.

A Hollywood Walk of Fame inductee, Porter has numerous theatre credits, including the role of Lola in the Broadway musical "Kinky Boots," which he originated in 2013 and for which he won the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle awards, as well as the Grammy for best musical-theatre album. Recently, Porter appeared in the second season of CBS All Access' "The Twilight Zone", and "American Horror Story: Apocalypse". He can next be seen in the third season of FX's "Pose", voicing Audrey II in Greg Berlanti's remake of "Little Shop of Horrors," as well as the highly anticipated "Cinderella" re-make in 2021. Porter's most recent single "Finally Ready" was released in June 2020; he also released his single "For What It's Worth" in April to motivate potential votes.