Jerrod Carmichael Shares How His Family Reacted to His Coming Out

The comedian recently addressed his sexuality and came out as gay in his HBO Max comedy special Rothaniel. 

Jerrod Carmichael is continuing to live in his truth.

Fresh off of his stint as a host on Saturday Night Live this past weekend, the 35-year-old comedian, actor, and filmmaker stopped by Late Night with Seth Meyers on Wednesday night to dish on everything from his career, his inspirations, and more personally, what it was like coming out as gay to his family, particularly his mother

"My mom practices a lot of cognitive dissonance with it, or denial rather, so I have to come out every other conversation," Carmichael said when asked my Meyers if he had recently talked to his family about his coming out in the wake Rothaniel's release, which he did.

"How did the conversation go?" Meyers then asks.

"I was nervous because it was a lot, in the special, a lot of things that I was afraid to say to her," Carmichael answered, recalling a phone call he had with his mother literally right before stopping by Meyers' show. Though he said his family does have a tendency to be super polite and just smile through things instead of talking about them, and Carmichael did initially receive love, his call with his mother took a more somber turn when she told him said his "sins" were "tearing the family apart."

Though he hasn't had a breakthrough with his mother just yet, Carmichael did mention his relationship with his father is in a good place since Rothaniel.

Carmichael's appearance on Meyers' late-night show comes on the heels of his public coming out earlier this month during his critically-acclaimed HBO Max comedy special.

"After that was out in the open, I was left alone feeling like a liar, because I had a secret," Carmichael said during one point in the stand-up special, opening up about how he caught his father cheating on his mother when he was younger and how he also had a secret of his own that he was hiding. "One that I kept from my father, my mother, my family, my friends, and you. Professionally, personally. And the secret is that I’m gay." 

He continued: 

"I’m accepting the love, I really appreciate the love. My ego wants to rebel against it. I rebelled against it my whole life. I thought I’d never, ever come out. At many points I thought I’d rather die than confront the truth of that, to actually say it to people. Because I know it changes some people’s perceptions of me. I can’t control that."

Rothaniel is now streaming on HBO Max.

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Jerrod Carmichael Shares How His Family Reacted to His Coming Out