Neil Patrick Harris recalls coming out before the internet outed him & what he found most annoying about it

That was at a time when there were bloggers on the internet that you would go to to, like, read the salacious, you know, ‘try to guess who this actor is that’s gay and in the closet’ kind of comment. And so there was a fear that I would be the next target on that…

Someone asked a publicist about my sexuality, and the publicist said I was ‘not of that persuasion.’ That turned into a ‘that’s weird for him to say, because we know that he’s gay. … Why is he doing that?’

And then it became, ‘I’ve got to say something. I’ve got to get ahead of the story, because I don’t want to be coming out in reaction to ‘if anyone has any information on Neil Patrick Harris, and have you ever slept with him? Please come forward.’ You don’t want those stories.

And so I crafted, with the help of my then agent and my publicist, we worked really hard to make a statement that was authentic to me and that was really truthful. And so we released that statement. I think at that point, I was a little scared of what would come from that.

[When I finally did it], I was a little bit offended that more people weren’t surprised. I expected a little more ‘Wait… what? Him?! He’s so masc!’ So the indifference to me was a little, ‘C’mon, really?!’

Neil Patrick Harris speaking to the Great Company with Jamie Laing podcast about his decision to come out publicly in 2006 due to pressure from certain gossip bloggers.