Kristen Stewart revisited the reasons behind her decision to publicly come out as gay during her 2017 hosting of Saturday Night Live. In an interview airing on February 2, 2025, on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis, the 35-year-old actress explained the motivations behind her announcement. Stewart emphasized the importance of living openly and authentically in a world that often pressures people to conceal their true selves.
During her SNL monologue nearly nine years ago, Stewart made a bold statement, declaring she is “so gay, dude,” a moment that directly addressed then-President Donald Trump. This public confirmation was not only about her personal life but also about challenging the social pressures that force many to hide.
The Impact of Media and Career Pressures on Stewart’s Choice
Stewart reflected on conversations with people she trusted who advised her to keep her relationships private for the sake of her career. In a clip from the PEOPLE-exclusive portion of her ABC interview, she said,
“It was less about sharing the details of my relationship and more so acknowledging that there are people that don’t get full access to being alive because they’re hiding.”
She further expressed frustration with the industry’s unspoken rules, stating,
“I’ve experienced perspectives [and] I’ve had conversations with people I’ve known, loved and trusted and still do, who thought, ‘Your career would go better if you didn’t go outside holding your girlfriend’s hand.’ And I was like, ‘So you want me to live a partial life? And you want me to uphold, perpetuate and sustain a system that excludes people?’ And I just can’t do that.”
The actress conveyed how these pressures inspired her to make a more significant, visible statement about her identity rather than keeping it guarded or vague.
Navigating Public and Private Life in the Spotlight
Kristen Stewart’s personal relationships have drawn considerable attention since her early career, including her widely publicized relationship with her Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson in the early 2010s. Stewart’s coming out during the SNL monologue also responded to a series of tweets from Donald Trump about her and Pattinson in 2012.
She described the pre-coming-out period as one where the media seemed to know the details of her personal life anyway. Stewart shared,
“I didn’t want to commodify those details,”
but also acknowledged,
“I want to define it, I want to make it a more open and accepting place. And so I thought it was necessary for me to— I was already holding my girlfriend’s hand in public.”
She added,
“None of my relationships have felt guarded because I didn’t want people to know me. I want people to know me,”
continuing,
“I felt like they did, so I didn’t really need to fill in the blanks. But at that point it felt like a statement that just might unlock other people’s doors.”
Relationship with Dylan Meyer and Recent Career Highlights
Kristen Stewart began dating screenwriter and film producer Dylan Meyer in 2019, and the couple married in April 2025. In a recent conversation at the Variety Creative Impact Awards on January 4, Stewart described 2025 as
“the craziest year of my life,”
noting the intensity of both their personal and professional lives. Along with Meyer, 38, she is also working on new movies as a director.
Reflecting on the past year, Stewart humorously remarked,
“I was so carbonated over the last year. I need to get flat… I need to go fizz out.”
Stewart’s full interview is scheduled to stream on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7 p.m. ET on Monday, February 2.
