Hugh Jackman's Wife Responds To Persistent Tabloid Rumors That He's Gay

Hugh Jackman in The Greatest Showman
(Image credit: (Fox))

Between his legendary tenure as Wolverine and his work in massive musicals like The Greatest Showman, Hugh Jackman is one of the most loved actors in Hollywood right now. On top of that, he’s avoided circling the dating rumor mill many talents of his caliber get caught into since he put a ring on it with Aussie Deborra-Lee Furness long before his mutant claws came in.

Though his wife has admitted to finding herself frustrated with one narrative surrounding the actor that she’d heard over the years. Tabloids have been speculating about Hugh Jackman’s sexuality for years. Here’s Deborra-Lee Furness’ recent remarks on the subject:

I see these magazines and they're so mean-spirited… I hope people realize it's all made up. [Hugh's] been gay for so many years, I was gay too when I did [the 1988 film] Shame. They were shocked when I got married. It's just wrong. It's like someone saying to Elton John, ‘Oh he's straight’. I'm sure he'd be pissed!

During an appearance on Anh’s Brush With Fame, Deborra-Lee Furness shared her thoughts on the rumors about Hugh Jackman being gay. As she explained, it's something that she dealt with prior to meeting the Wolverine actor when she made the drama Shame and has continued with remarks about her husband throughout the years.

Deborra-Lee Furness also got candid about people often telling her how lucky she is to be married to her husband of 24 years, a remark that they don’t realize is “actually rude.” The pair met when they both were on the Australian TV show Corelli, tied the knot in 1996 and have two adopted children together. They share one of the most stable relationships in the business.

The couple has benefitted from beginning their love story prior to Hugh Jackman blowing up in Hollywood when he starred in X-Men with Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry and so forth. It’s somewhat like Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson’s marriage, who got hitched before the Oscar winner’s big break in Splash and Big in the late ‘80s.

Back in 2013, Hugh Jackman talked about how the rumors “bugs” his wife, but other than that, the couple has kept quiet about addressing them and it doesn’t seem to have perpetuated past some presumptuous tabloid headlines. While Furness was more established as an actress when she met Jackman, she has since stepped back for the most part, as Jackman has led a number of massive hit films and received an Oscar nomination for Les Miserables in 2013.

As Hugh Jackman’s career turn in X-Men passed its 20-year anniversary this year, the actor is spending his days in quarantine continuing his playful duel with Ryan Reynolds, and his 2011 film Real Steel has gained a newfound popularity on Netflix this week. Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more movie and TV news.

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.