The late Pee-wee Herman star Paul Reubens came out as gay in his posthumous documentary Pee-wee as Himself, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Thursday night. Reubens, who passed away from cancer in July 2023 at the age of 70, offered a candid insight into his experience as a closeted man in Hollywood.
![[Reubens, who passed away from cancer in July 2023 at the age of 70 , offered a candid insight into his experience as a closeted man in Hollywood; (pictured 1980)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/25/06/94497653-14323975-Reubens_who_passed_away_from_cancer_in_July_2023_at_the_age_of_7-a-2_1737785610157.jpg)
'I was secretive about my sexuality even to my friends [out of] self-hatred or self-preservation,' he shared in over 40 hours of interview, according to the New York Post. 'I was conflicted about sexuality. But fame was way more complicated.'. Reubens debuted his character Pee-wee Herman in 1981 at the famed improv theater The Groundlings, and as the character gained fame, he intentionally kept his personal life out of the spotlight.
![[In an emotionally charged revelation from beyond the grave, Paul Reubens beloved by millions as the whimsical Pee-wee Herman left behind a heartbreaking message that lays bare his pain over the controversies that haunted his life]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/25/01/94495913-14323547-image-a-11_1737769268933.jpg)
Reflecting on that time, he said, 'I was out of the closet, and then I went back in the closet. I wasn't pursuing the Paul Reubens career; I was pursuing the Pee-wee Herman career.'. Reubens admitted that he had 'many, many secret relationships,' but reiterated that his professional life always took priority over his love life.
![[In his recorded statement, Reubens reflects on the devastation of being branded a 'pedophile' after his arrests in the 1990s and 2000s - a label he says shattered his life. Paul Reubens rides a bike in a scene from the film 'Pee-Wee's Big Adventure' in 1985]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/25/01/94495919-14323547-image-a-12_1737769272650.jpg)
The late Pee-wee Herman star Paul Reubens came out as gay in his posthumous documentary Pee-wee as Himself , which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Thursday night; (pictured 2016). Reubens, who passed away from cancer in July 2023 at the age of 70 , offered a candid insight into his experience as a closeted man in Hollywood; (pictured 1980).
![[The film delves into his 1991 arrest for indecent exposure at an adult theater in Sarasota, Florida, pictured in his mugshot above. The film also looks at his 2002 arrest on charges of possessing child pornography - charges that were later dropped]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/25/01/94495905-14323547-image-a-13_1737769279974.jpg)
