Ellen Page Calls Out Mike Pence After Jussie Smollett Attack: "This Is What Happens…When You Hate People"
Ellen Page did not mince words when asked about homophobia in today's political climate.
Speaking to Stephen Colbert on The Late Show, Page, who married wife Emma Portner last year, revealed that she dealt with plenty of intolerance of LGBTQ+ people in her career.
The Umbrella Academy's star, who came out in 2014, and hosted the Viceland series Gaycation, told Colbert that "the levels of misogyny and homophobia I've dealt with [working in entertainment]...has been really unfortunate."
"I dealt with a lot of stuff that was totally normalized," said Page. "Since really young... I would give [that young person] a hug. I would tell her she's not alone, and that she can reach out to people. And that the behavior is not okay."
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Page also called out Vice President Mike Pence for setting back LGBTQ+ rights as governor of Indiana.
"Mike Pence wishes I couldn't be married. Let's be clear. The vice president wishes I didn't have the love with my wife. He wanted to ban that in Indiana, he believes in conversion therapy, he has hurt LGBT people in Indiana so much."
She also connected the recent homophobic and racist attack on Jussie Smollett to political leadership that does not seem to care about protections for LGBTQ+ people.
"I don't know [Jussie Smollett] personally. I send him all of my love," said Page. "Connect the dots. This is what happens. If you are in a position of power, and you hate people, and you want to cause suffering to them, you go through the trouble, you spend your career trying to cause suffering, what do you think is going to happen? Kids are going to be abused, and they will kill themselves, and people will be beaten on the street."
Check out the full video below.
The Netflix star received praise on Twitter for her candor.
If you haven’t already, stop what you’re doing and watch @EllenPage’s powerful truths in @colbertlateshow. @realDonaldTrump & @VP, are you listening?pic.twitter.com/XZceQlDYu9
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) February 1, 2019
I love you Ellen Page https://t.co/q0dXoYoThc
— Chelsea Peretti (@chelseaperetti) February 1, 2019
I know a lot of folks have already rt'd this, but I just wanted to add that this is a way to use your platform for good. Late Show interviews are about selling your project and telling "amusing" anecdotes.
— Gennifer Hutchison (@GennHutchison) February 1, 2019
Good on Ellen Page for using it to address the attacks on LGBTQ folks. https://t.co/4k2fxLh0ZN
Ellen Page is my fucking hero. https://t.co/e3NtFguaE9
— Anthony Oliveira (@meakoopa) February 1, 2019
Thank you, @EllenPage. https://t.co/1oolkqaeM2
— Jordan Horowitz (@jehorowitz) February 1, 2019
Page is not the only celebrity to call out Pence in recent weeks. Lady Gaga fired back at Pence and his wife Karen during her Enigma show in Las Vegas.
"If Mike Pence thinks it’s acceptable that his wife works at a school that bans LGBTQ, you are wrong," the Star Is Born actress told the crowd. "You say we should not discriminate against Christianity? You are the worst representation of what it means to be a Christian."
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Page has long spoken out about LGBTQ+ acceptance. On Colbert's show in 2015, she admitted that staying in the closet was "toxic."
"I feel so grateful for [coming out]," she told Colbert, tearing up. "I feel so grateful to feel how I feel now, compared to [how I felt] when I was a closeted person. It's not a nice place to be."