Passion Pit's Michael Angelakos Reveals That He is Gay

In a new interview with author Bret Easton Ellis on his podcast, B.E.E., Passion Pit member Michael Angelakos comes out as gay. During the 49:00 mark of his hour-plus-long conversation, Angelakos revealed his true orientation. He shared:

“I am saying something that I’ve never said before publically. [...] I’ve told very few people in my personal small circles because I don’t know how to talk about it, you know? Talking with you—we’ve talked before—when someone understands what you do and what you make, it disarms you a little bit and you can just be yourself because you don’t have to defend your work. … This is the kind of situation every artist wants to be in—to talk to artists they really admire. When this was all happening recently, finally, I just decided it might be best to talk about it here. I don’t really know what happened, but it’s just one of those gut feelings. It’s the same gut feeling I had when I said, OK, I kind of just need to talk to people about the fact that I am. I’m gay. And that’s it. It just has to happen. This was exactly the type of situation where I don’t feel like I’m being threatened.”

He also detailed his divorce with stylist Kirsty Mucci and his eventual understanding of his sexual identity during this process, as well as how helpful she was in helping him achieve that.

“I just wanted so badly to be straight, because I love her so much. I think that was one of the most painful things when we decided to separate. [...] When I decided to really deal with it head on—which was, I don’t know, in June—she was the one who spearheaded it in a way. … She said, ‘You need to figure out what’s going on with your sexuality because you can’t hate yourself anymore.’”

We congratulate Michael for his bravery in doing this and hope that he’ll be receiving all the support needed from his friends, family and fans. Listen to the entire interview below.