Billy Porter's proficiency as a theatrical performer, on-screen actor, and lead vocalist has made him one of the most decorated artists in Hollywood. But his gifts were unbeknownst to the mainstream until his break-out performance on a hit television series by Ryan Murphy called Pose. Since the release of Pose back in 2018, Porter has claimed a Primetime Emmy, and he has also been named to Time's list of the most 100 influential people in the world. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, the 53-year-old actor has used his influence to advocate for equality, but there is one barrier in the entertainment industry he has yet to overcome: the hip-hop community. During a recent interview on the Higher Learning podcast with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay, Porter was asked to share his feelings on certain rappers who have spoken out against the LGBTQ+ community in the past, such as DaBaby and Boosie. In response, Porter revealed that he was never accepted by the rap community growing up, because of his sexual orientation. Therefore, he never allowed himself to become fan of the music, which is why he doesn't know who DaBaby and Boosie are.

"Would you ever want to talk to Boosie or talk to DaBaby [for saying offensive things about the LGBTQ+ community]?" Asked Van Lathan.

"First of all, I don't know who they are. Let me say that, and here's the reason, because I talk about it in my book. My childhood was very traumatizing," Porter said. "I was bullied, I was beaten, I was put out of the church, I was all of those things and hip-hop started to emerge. The first narrative was 'f*ck the police,' the second narrative was 'kill the f*ggots.' I missed hip-hop! Because I had to extract myself from that energy so that I could save myself, I don't know nothing about it. I don't know who these people are. You know, I let the hip hop singers in, Mary J. Blige [and] the 'nice' rappers [like] the Puffy's and the things like that, yep, I got all of that, but I missed a lot of that culture. I'm not proud of it and it was for my own survival. So, I don't know any of these people! I don't know about Lil Boosie; I don't know who the f*ck that is."

Source: Instagram