Actor Billy Porter, in a startling revelation, has said that he has been living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) for the last 14 years. Billy said that he decided to break it to the public in hopes of freeing himself from "that shame in silence".
51-year-old Billy, who made history by winning an Emmy in 2019 for his role as 'Pray Tell', a role where he played an HIV positive character in 'Pose', Billy said that he used the part as a "surrogate" to tell his real-life story.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Billy said, "The truth is the healing. And I hope this frees me. I hope this frees me so that I can experience real, unadulterated joy, so that I can experience peace, so that I can experience intimacy, so that I can have sex without shame. This is for me."
Billy further added, "This is what HIV-positive looks like now. I survived so that I could tell the story. That's what I'm here for. I'm the vessel, and emotionally that was sufficient -- until it wasn't. It's time to grow up and move on because shame is destructive -- and if not dealt with, it can destroy everything in its path."
Narrating his heartbreaking story, Billy said that he hit rock bottom in 2007 when he was diagnosed with Type II diabetes, filed for bankruptcy, and then diagnosed with HIV.
"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," he said.
Billy said that he goes to the doctor every three months and has been "the healthiest I've been in my entire life... So it's time to let all that go and tell a different story. There's no more stigma -- let's be done with that. It's time."
On the work front, the actor is currently working on the third and final season of 'Pose' and will next be seen playing a genderless Fairy Godmother in 'Cinderella'. He is also writing a memoir and working on a documentary about his life for Netflix.