Pee Wee Herman, Paul Reubens, Comes Out

January 27, 2025
ALEXANDER

Pee Wee Herman, Paul Reubens, Comes Out

We have had such a boom in celebrities coming out as queer. With so much representation, it is easy to forget how difficult it was for celebrities during a not-so-distant past to be their true selves. Pee-wee As Himself, a documentary, premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival. In the documentary, Paul Reubens, who powered the persona of Pee Wee comes out. Very sad that we lost this pop culture icon to cancer in 2023. In addition to keeping his sexuality a secret, Paul also kept his illness a secret.

During the documentary, it is revealed that one of Reubens' relationships was with a man named Guy. Guy was actually responsible for inspiring the character of Pee Wee Herman, vocally and with his mannerisms. Guy passed away from complications from AIDS. The character of Pee Wee Herman became a big part of late 80s pop culture, many of us grew up with him. His TV show Pee-wee’s Playhouse ran on TV from 1986 to 1990 and featured an amazing cast of guest stars. The show was definitely avant-garde for its time and many adult themes were hidden in the seemingly "youth" programming.

The TV show would spawn two movie versions and a Broadway show, and Paul Reubens would pop up as Pee Wee on-screen in many different projects. In the documentary, Reubens says he was out of the closet but went back in when he started to pursue his career as Pee Wee. The documentary covers all aspects of Reubens life and will be presented as a two-part series, coming to HBO Max this Spring.

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Paul Reubens' life was not without scandal, and as Pee Wee was on the rise, his personal life would stall that stardom. He was arrested in 1991 for pleasuring himself at an adult theater. He was arrested again in 2001 on accusation of being in possession of porn featuring youth. In actuality, he was in possession of adult material that featured vintage-style beefcake men. He paid a fine but had to register as a sex offender. Reubens states in the documentary, “More than anything, the reason I wanted to make a documentary was for people to see who I really am, and how painful and dreadful it was to be labeled something I wasn’t. To be labeled a pariah; to have people be scared of you, or untrusting.”

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Reubens also addresses his internal homophobia. He wasn't even out to his friends because of his self-hatred. He also goes on to say that his career was his focus, even though celebrity status was just as complicated.

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Paul Reubens studied with the Groundlings in Los Angeles and created a stage show during that time, that's Pee Wee first showed up. That show became an HBO special which earned him national acclaim as the character. It is sad to think that not only was Reubens hiding behind a character, but he was also hiding behind the closet door.