We’ve been blessed with another beautiful coming out this Pride season, and this time it’s from Alexandra Shipp, 29, the actress best known for playing Storm in the X-Men franchise and Abby in Love, Simon.
“I didn’t come out until I was 28,” she shared in her June 1 Instagram post. “Though I don’t believe in regrets, this would definitely be #1 for myself. I denied denied denied. I struggled with not only my sexuality, but my femininity. I was scared it was too late. I was scared I wasn’t going to be able to get work. I was scared no one would ever love me. Scared. Scared. Scared. It’s exhausting being scared all the time. It’s exhausting chasing other people’s ideas and opinions of who you should be.”
“Today I’m happy in ways I don’t think my kid self could imagine,” Shipp continued. “I get to be exactly who I want to be EVERY FUCKING DAY and it feels incredible!! It’s never too late to be you.” While Shipp didn’t specify a label for herself, her message of self-acceptance to her LGBTQ+ community is powerful and clear.
Shipp first rose to fame by playing Aaliyah in Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B in 2014 and then Kimberly Woodruff in Straight Outta Compton in 2015. The actress played a supportive straight friend of the lead character Simon in Love, Simon in 2018 and starred as Hayley Kiyoko’s cottagecore girlfriend in Kiyoko’s new music video “Chance” that premiered June 1, the same day as Shipp’s coming out post.
Shipp concluded her moving Instagram post with: “I’m not denying anything anymore. I’m not scared anymore. I have #pride in who I am and what I’m doing on this planet. I am myself and I love LOVE. Sure, we get a month. But for the past 3 years and for the rest of my life, I’ll be celebrating every day. Because I choose me.”
