Looking back, Barbara Walters shows major regret for the way she handled her interview alongside Ricky Martin.
Ricky Martin is a multi-talented artist, who has made history as a singer, songwriter, and actor. He is, however, best known for his successful music career, particularly his hit songs Livin’ la Vida Loca, She’s All I Ever Had, and The Cup of Life.
He has sold over 70 million records worldwide and has won numerous awards for his music, including several Latin Grammy Awards.
Although not much else can match up to his career as a singer, Martin has also carved out a prolific life for himself beyond the music.
Professionally, he has proven himself to be just as adept as an actor on screen and on stage. Some of his most notable roles include on the TV shows Glee and American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, as well as in the Broadway production of Evita.
Following his star performance in Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story, Martin found that he struggled to land new acting roles.
He attributed this dearth of opportunities to discrimination in the industry. The Puerto Rican star is openly gay, and married to Swedish artist Jwan Yosef.
When Did Ricky Martin Come Out?
Ricky Martin officially came out as a gay man in a post on his personal blog on March 29, 2010.
In the post, he wrote: “I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.” Martin had previously been very private about his personal life and sexual orientation, and his decision to come out was met with widespread support from the LGBTQ+ community and his fans.
Prior to his coming out, Martin had been linked to relationships with different women, including Mexican singer Alejandra Guzmán and Argentine tennis player Gabriela Sabatini. While he always remained very guarded with details of his love life and never confirmed either of these rumors, he did later reveal that he had been involved with different women.
“I have slept with women and fell in love with them and felt wonderful things,” he told Vanity Fair in an interview in March 2012.
In the same conversation, he suggested that none of these women knew of his true identity at the time. Mexican model Rebecca de Alba is another lady that Martin reportedly dated, and she, however, insists that she always knew about his true orientation.
Barbara Walters Pressed Ricky Martin About His Orientation In A 2000 Interview
At the turn of the century, Ricky Martin was really hitting the heights of success as a musician, while also making his foray into acting.
Some of his most popular songs were actually released during this period. It was just around the same time that he played the lead role in the Broadway production of Evita, and enjoyed guest roles on several television shows, including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Glee.
With his career on a seemingly unstoppable trajectory, he sat down for an interview with seasoned television host Barbara Walters.
Things did not quite go to plan for the singer. As part of the interview, Walters pressed him on his sexual orientation, insisting that she “felt it important to address the rumors that were swirling around his sexuality.”
Urging him to put a “stop [to] these rumors, she said: “You could say, ‘Yes I am gay or no I’m not.” Martin was completely unprepared to share his truth with the world at the time, and could only say: “Barbara, for some reason, I just don’t feel like it.”
Barbara Walters Now Regrets Her Approach In Her Interview With Ricky Martin
In an interview with People Magazine during Pride Month 2021, Ricky Martin delved into deeper detail about how Barbara Walters’ line of questioning made him feel.
“When she dropped the question, I felt violated because I was just not ready to come out,” he said. “I was very afraid… There’s a little PTSD [that still comes] with that.”
Martin’s reaction in real time as he was put under the microscope by Walters – as well as his refusal to outright deny that he was gay – led most people to conclude that he in fact was. It was also widely felt that his career suffered as a result, especially in his acting endeavors.
This fallout was not lost on Walters, who would later express her regret at her approach during the now infamous interview.
Asked in 2010 what the one regret of her career was, she said: “In 2000, I pushed Ricky Martin very hard to admit if he was gay or not, and the way he refused to do it made everyone decide that he was. A lot of people say that destroyed his career, and when I think back on it now I feel it was an inappropriate question.” Walters was speaking to the Toronto Star.
So Ricky Martin is a depressed person suffering from homosexuality addiction mental illness… maybe he has the money for treatment… or can just break free on his own…
Barbara Walters doesn’t even know who she is let alone regret her pushing Ricky Martin to come out as if it was her place to make that decision. She was just a very aggressive reporter who wanted the story on her terms all the time.
As for “Buzz Waldron’s” remarks on the matter, you are a disgusting human being talking about something you know nothing about. There is always one ass to think he is being funny or cute when he is just showing everyone who he really is since we know he is using a fake name. He is a homophobe and by being a homophobe he cuts out a lot of men who happen to be some of the nicest, kindest, and more manly men that he would not know how to be. If it weren’t for our gay men, women wouldn’t know how to be treated properly because the saddest people are the men who refuse to grow up and actually be men.
You can be mentally ill and still be nice. I don’t say person is awesome for being gay just like I don’t say a person is awesome for smoking cigarettes. I’m not a big fan of drunk pride month either, even though I have friends who get drunk.