Passion Pit’s Michael Angelakos Comes Out as Gay

Passion Pit frontman Michael Angelakos has come out as gay in an interview on author Bret Easton Ellis’ B.E.E. podcast.

Angelakos has been forthcoming about his experiences with bipolar disorder, depression and suicide in the past, which he also discussed with Ellis. He also spoke at length about his sexual orientation for the first time. “I am saying something that I’ve never said before publicly,” Angelakos said.

Angelakos addressed his divorce, saying his ex-wife has been incredibly supportive. “I’ve been putting it off in my head -- not consciously,” he said. “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.’”

He also discussed why Ellis’ podcast was the right place to open up about his sexuality:

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. ... 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.

You can listen to the entire interview below. Ellis begins introducing Angelakos at the 17:30 mark and their conversation stars around 22:15.

Afterward, Angelakos shared a pair of tweets: