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Billy Porter is not one to hold back on what he's thinking, and he knows exactly how to call it like it is.
Although he's upfront and doesn't beat around the bush, he also advocates for owning who you are and standing firm in your own skin. That said, there are definitely some times when he knows how to throw some serious shade -- and we totally live for every moment.
Here are 25 times Billy Porter said exactly what was on his mind, from shady to inspirational and everything else in between.
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“You are more concerned about winning a trophy than you are about our government spreading lies about us in an effort to kill us! You want to know why they want us dead? Because we’re Black and we’re brown and we’re queer. They don’t give a shit about us. So we better start caring about ourselves. Show up for your lives. Wake up! ” --Vulture
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“It was traumatizing. The [music] industry was very homophobic. It was all about the smoke and mirrors of trying to make the world think I was straight, that I was masculine enough to exist.” --Vulture
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“Then my label gave my song [“Love Is On the Way”] to Céline Dion for The First Wives Club! They gave it right over to her! Same producer [Ric Wake] produced it for her. I was like, ‘I did not come here to be a demo singer for f---ing Céline Dion! I’m done!’” --Vulture
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“I don’t like that show [Grease]. Never did. 14 inches of orange rubber hair, a white spacesuit, and glitter all over my face. Made me a clown!” --Vulture
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"I'm not one of those actors who gets so taken by a role that I can't live my life. I'm the type of actor who goes to work, transforms into a character, takes you on a journey, and then comes back home to be Billy. When I'm in it, I'm in it, but I know how to get out of it. When you can't shut it off, you're a crazy person. I'm not crazy." --The Advocate
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"Just by the nature of making the choice to be true to who I am, I'm political. Sometimes that's all you need to do: Show up and be black, gay and Christian in America and actually say it out loud. And refuse to let anything or anybody take that away from you." --The San Diego Union-Tribune
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"I do 'sissy with a heart of gold' really well." --TheaterManion
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"How can you be of service to something other than your own ego and bank account, in a business that's inherently narcissistic?" --Collider
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"All you need to do is turn on the news, and in five minutes, you're depressed with the state of the world. Choosing joy is a completely active choice. It doesn't just happen. You can't just say, 'I want to be happy.' You have to take action." --The Advocate
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"My truth is I am gay and out, and if I can't do that in my music, then I don't need it. Fortunately, I do feel like there is a movement against homophobia, and I hope to be part of that." --HuffPost
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"For me, I really feel like if there's not a real, true connection to the material, I don't need to sing it. I don't need to sing songs just because I like them anymore. I've done that." --DesertSun
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"If you gauge how you're doing on whether somebody is responding vocally or not, you're up a creek. You can't do that; you kind of have to be inside of your work and play the scene. And tell the story every day. Tell the story. Tell the story. Regardless of how people are responding, I'm going to tell the story." --Vanity Fair
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"Many movie stars or American Idol contestants sort of fall into theater... and say, 'Oh, yeah, I would love to do theater.' And then they get here and say, 'Oh, wait a minute, this actually is a craft!' It's not just show up one day and do it. It's show up eight times a week, twice on Wednesdays and twice on Saturdays." --Vanity Fair
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“So many of the songs on my album have a very similar theme — getting to a place of recognizing your own worth and celebrating yourself. The world will try to tell you who you are, and the world will try to decide if you matter. No outside force or entity gets to decide that.” --East Portland Blog
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"[On her Rockefeller tree lighting performance] It was pandemonium all day. Really, let me just say it was not cute and didn't look cute from the beginning so it was not a surprise to those of us who had been there all day long." --Watch What Happens Live
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"There is never a side-eye coming from me. Let me make this clear right now in this room to everybody, right now, there's never a side-eye coming from me. There's never anything negative coming from me. You're never gonna get it from me. Okay?" --W Magazine
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"When you grow up in the church, the only translation in that insular world that people understand is preaching. You're supposed to be a minister. So I was going down that path, and then I saw the Tonys." --Telegram
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"When who you are naturally is not only considered a sin, but you're reviled for being that human being and you don't have any control over it, there are lots of issues that come into play. And it takes a lot of presence, determination, courage and space to figure out how to land in that truth regardless of what anyone around you thinks about it." --Ebony
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"I. Personally. Changed. The. Whole. Game. And that is not ego, that is just fact. I was the first one doing it & now everybody is doing it. I created the conversation & yet Vogue still put Harry Styles, a straight white man, in a dress on their cover for the first time." --The Sunday Times
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"I am in your midst, without apology. I'm here to stay. I'm here as I am. And if you have a problem with that -- fuck you!" --Unprotected: A Memoir
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"The Bible situation is problematic. It's been weaponized by the oppressor to prop up hypocrisy and to justify hate. Hate the sun but not the sinner? Y'all can miss me wit dat!" --Unprotected
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"Fifteen minutes early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable." --Cocoa Butter
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"There's a lesson in every triumph, but more importantly, in every disappointment. Find the lesson." --Unprotected
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"Do you want to be a star, or do you want to be an artist? Being a star for fame's sake is ego-driven. Being an artist requires stripping away ego and grounding oneself in service." --Unprotected
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"I want to keep changing the world. It's possible. The Black gay lead is ready. It's time." --Collider
