Rapper Fat Joe Blasts the Closet

@ 2026 Equal Entertainment LLC.
All rights reserved

Rapper Fat Joe Blasts the Closet
 Neal Broverman
          
          Nov 10, 2011
          
        
Neal Broverman
Neal Broverman is the Editorial Director, Print of Pride Media, publishers of The Advocate, Out, Out Traveler, and Plus, spending more than 20 years in journalism. He indulges his interest in transportation and urban planning with regular contributions to Los Angeles magazine, and his work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. He lives in the City of Angels with his husband, children, and their chiweenie.
 See Full Bio 
                  Follow:
                  
Rapper Fat Joe, who's performed with Jennifer Lopez, Diddy, and Nas, says there are powerful gays running hip-hop and it would be a better world if they just came out.
In an interview on Vlad TV, the 41-year-old performer spoke candidly about the closet and hip-hop. He says there are gay people everywhere -- especially in the music industry --and hip-hop's gay leaders do the world an injustice by not being out. He also says Lady Gaga found success by embracing LGBT rights, so being gay or gay-friendly is not something to be feared. Watch the interview below. 
In September, rapper The Game basically said the same thing as Joe -- that the closet is unnecessary.

        
        FROM OUR SPONSORS
        
    

        
        The Latest
        
    
Crime
        Remorseless Seattle man sentenced in hate crime beating of trans woman
    Andre Karlow, who said, "Trump should kill them all," appeared defiant as the judge imposed years of confinement for the attack.
Christopher Wiggins
National
        State Department visa rule sets stage for ICE scrutiny of transgender immigrants
    New visa requirements could create document conflicts that follow gender-nonconforming travelers into immigration enforcement databases.
Christopher Wiggins
Culture
        About four in ten Americans still view homosexuality as immoral, survey finds
    Women, young people, and high school finishers were more likely to view homosexuality favorably.
Jack Walker
National
        Donald Trump attacks trans women in Women’s History Month proclamation
    The president used the annual Women’s History Month message to promote policies restricting transgender Americans’ rights.
Christopher Wiggins

        
        More For You
        
        Pete Buttigieg & Robert Garcia join chorus of leaders condemning Donald Trump’s ‘war of choice’ with Iran
    
Christopher Wiggins
Feb 28, 2026
The U.S. Capitol is seen on February 28, 2026, in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States and Israel had launched an attack on Iran on Saturday morning. 

        Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
    
        Political leaders around the country are expressing outrage over the start of armed conflict between the United States and Iran. Keep Reading →

        Retired Space Force colonel warns Trump’s Iran strikes are ‘reckless adventurism and distraction’
    
Christopher Wiggins
Feb 28, 2026
An NBC News live feed airs a clip from U.S. President Donald Trump’s Truth Social video announcement in the White House James S. Brady Press Briefing Room on February 28, 2026, in Washington, DC. 

        Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
    
        Update: Pete Buttigieg & Robert Garcia join chorus of leaders condemning Donald Trump’s ‘war of choice’ with Iran Keep Reading →

        Puerto Vallarta felt like ‘The Purge,' American says of unrest in Mexican tourist destination
    
Christopher Wiggins
Feb 23, 2026
The Malecon boardwalk in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco state, Mexico.

         Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images
    
        Shortly after mid-morning Sunday, black smoke began rising in staggered columns across the curve of Mexico’s Bay of Banderas, a familiar postcard vista that, by nightfall, had become a horizon of surging unrest. Keep Reading →

        Hillary Clinton and Sarah McBride expose how weaponizing ‘scarcity’ drives anti-trans political attacks
    
Christopher Wiggins
Feb 18, 2026
Hillary Clinton moderates the panel talk "Girls Just Want to Have Fundamental Rights: Fighting the Global Pushback" at the 62nd Munich Security Conference on February 14, 2026 in Munich, Germany. 

        Johannes Simon/Getty Images
    
        The first out transgender member of the U.S. Congress took the world stage in Germany last week, warning that attacks on people like her and on LGBTQ+ rights more broadly are being weaponized in the current political climate, as she joined former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on a high-profile panel at the Munich Security Conference. Keep Reading →

        Canadian school shooting sparks anti-trans uproar after shooter identified
    
Ryan Adamczeski
Feb 12, 2026
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to the media about the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on Parliament Hill February 11, 2026 in Ottawa, Canada. 

        Dave Chan / AFP via Getty Images
    
        Canadian authorities have identified the shooter who killed eight people — mostly children — at a school in British Columbia on Tuesday. Keep Reading →

        Most Popular
        
Opinion
        The rainbow Pride pin James Talarico encouraged me to wear
    Well before he became Texas’s Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, James Talarico helped a nervous student leader find the courage to wear a rainbow Pride pin to meet Barack Obama writes Nathan Barrera-Bunch.
Nathan Barrera-Bunch
People
        Los Angeles Marathon nonbinary champion receives no prize money
    Cal Calamia won the race again, but left mostly empty handed.
Gisselle Palomera
News
        Gay asylum seeker files claim for damages over Trump deportations to CECOT torture prison
    Andry Hernández Romero and five other Venezuelan men accuse the Department of Homeland Secuirity of unlawfully deporting them to El Salvador’s CECOT prison.
Christopher Wiggins
States
        Iowa bans cities and towns from protecting transgender citizens’ civil rights
    A year after Iowa stripped gender identity from its civil rights code, Kim Reynolds signed a law barring cities and counties from restoring protections for trans residents.
Jacob Ogles
News
        New documentary cracks 1990 gay porn star’s murder case
    The unsolved murder, dubbed the “gay Black Dahlia,” was cracked wide open by filmmaker Rachel Mason.
Ariel Messman-Rucker
News
        'Heated Rivalry's meteoric rise blamed for anti-LGBTQ+ bullying on high school hockey teams
    A civil rights group claims that backlash to the show's popularity has caused an uptick in anti-LGBTQ+ hate from fellow players and coaches. 
Ariel Messman-Rucker

Site Navigation

Rapper Fat Joe Blasts the Closet

The Latest

Remorseless Seattle man sentenced in hate crime beating of trans woman

Andre Karlow, who said, "Trump should kill them all," appeared defiant as the judge imposed years of confinement for the attack.

State Department visa rule sets stage for ICE scrutiny of transgender immigrants

New visa requirements could create document conflicts that follow gender-nonconforming travelers into immigration enforcement databases.

About four in ten Americans still view homosexuality as immoral, survey finds

Women, young people, and high school finishers were more likely to view homosexuality favorably.

Donald Trump attacks trans women in Women’s History Month proclamation

The president used the annual Women’s History Month message to promote policies restricting transgender Americans’ rights.

LGBTQ+ stories deserve to betold.

13 LGBTQ+ British Royals in History

Gay makeup artist Andry Hernández Romero describes horrific sexual & physical abuse at CECOT in El Salvador

Carrie Prejean is a Married Woman

Decriminalization of Gay Sex Boosts Global HIV Response: Report

The Gay History of Abercrombie and Fitch Quarterly

More For You

Pete Buttigieg & Robert Garcia join chorus of leaders condemning Donald Trump’s ‘war of choice’ with Iran

Retired Space Force colonel warns Trump’s Iran strikes are ‘reckless adventurism and distraction’

Puerto Vallarta felt like ‘The Purge,' American says of unrest in Mexican tourist destination

Hillary Clinton and Sarah McBride expose how weaponizing ‘scarcity’ drives anti-trans political attacks

Canadian school shooting sparks anti-trans uproar after shooter identified

Most Popular

The rainbow Pride pin James Talarico encouraged me to wear

Well before he became Texas’s Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, James Talarico helped a nervous student leader find the courage to wear a rainbow Pride pin to meet Barack Obama writes Nathan Barrera-Bunch.

Los Angeles Marathon nonbinary champion receives no prize money

Cal Calamia won the race again, but left mostly empty handed.

Gay asylum seeker files claim for damages over Trump deportations to CECOT torture prison

Andry Hernández Romero and five other Venezuelan men accuse the Department of Homeland Secuirity of unlawfully deporting them to El Salvador’s CECOT prison.

Iowa bans cities and towns from protecting transgender citizens’ civil rights

A year after Iowa stripped gender identity from its civil rights code, Kim Reynolds signed a law barring cities and counties from restoring protections for trans residents.

New documentary cracks 1990 gay porn star’s murder case

The unsolved murder, dubbed the “gay Black Dahlia,” was cracked wide open by filmmaker Rachel Mason.

'Heated Rivalry's meteoric rise blamed for anti-LGBTQ+ bullying on high school hockey teams

A civil rights group claims that backlash to the show's popularity has caused an uptick in anti-LGBTQ+ hate from fellow players and coaches.

Latest Stories

Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week.

Rapper Fat Joe Blasts the Closet

FROM OUR SPONSORS

The Latest

Andre Karlow, who said, "Trump should kill them all," appeared defiant as the judge imposed years of confinement for the attack.

New visa requirements could create document conflicts that follow gender-nonconforming travelers into immigration enforcement databases.

Women, young people, and high school finishers were more likely to view homosexuality favorably.

The president used the annual Women’s History Month message to promote policies restricting transgender Americans’ rights.

LGBTQ+ stories deserve to betold.

More For You

Most Popular

Well before he became Texas’s Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, James Talarico helped a nervous student leader find the courage to wear a rainbow Pride pin to meet Barack Obama writes Nathan Barrera-Bunch.

Cal Calamia won the race again, but left mostly empty handed.

Andry Hernández Romero and five other Venezuelan men accuse the Department of Homeland Secuirity of unlawfully deporting them to El Salvador’s CECOT prison.

A year after Iowa stripped gender identity from its civil rights code, Kim Reynolds signed a law barring cities and counties from restoring protections for trans residents.

The unsolved murder, dubbed the “gay Black Dahlia,” was cracked wide open by filmmaker Rachel Mason.

A civil rights group claims that backlash to the show's popularity has caused an uptick in anti-LGBTQ+ hate from fellow players and coaches.