Diane von Fürstenberg’s husband, Fox billionaire Barry Diller, has opened up about why he waited so many years before coming out.
On CBS Sunday Morning, the co-founder of Fox Broadcasting Company discussed the release of his upcoming memoir, Who Knew, and why he didn’t reveal his sexuality sooner.
CBS correspondent Tracy Smith read an excerpt from Diller’s memoir to him — “When I was young, I was far too afraid. I’m no longer that. And I’m too old to care” — and asked him what he was afraid of. “I was afraid of secrets being revealed,” he replied. “I was afraid of, I thought I didn’t qualify. I think, just afraid of revealing myself.”
He continued, admitting that he first realized he might be interested in men around his early teenage years. “Eleven or twelve years old, or 13, I got on my bike, and I rode down to the Beverly Hills Public Library. And I looked for books on homosexuality. And everything I read was, like, horrible. And I got on my bike and I rode home and thought, ‘I’m a condemned person.’ I mean, for a little kid, that’s not great,” Diller recalled.
In the book, Smith said Diller compares his sexuality to an “anvil on a wire.”
“Yes, because I was afraid,” he said. “Listen, this is in the ’60s and ’70s. Well, I think probably I was being realistic that, first of all, my sexuality was confused. And I thought, ‘Well, if I reveal it, what am I actually gonna reveal?’”
“I didn’t want to risk what a lot of other people had risked, even at that time. I mean, talking about homosexuality, talking about bi-, whatever sexuality is, was something that scared the hell out of me.”
The interview comes a few days after Diller wrote a personal essay for New York Magazine, where he opened up about his 50-year relationship with Fürstenberg and being afraid to disclose his interest in men.
“I have never questioned my sexuality’s basic authority over my life (I was only afraid of the reaction of others),” he started. “And when my romance with Diane began, I never questioned that its biological imperative was as strong in its heterosexuality as its opposite had been. When it happened, my initial response was, ‘Who knew?’”
Diller, who tied the knot with von Fürstenberg in 2001, continued: “I’m well aware that this part of my life has caused confusion and lots of speculation.”
Who Knew hits shelves on May 20.
