Thursday, February 28, 2008

The other Ellen

Well, now I’m simply dying to know. Is she or isn’t she? The Ellen Page conundrum continues to confound. That conundrum being the puzzle of a tomboyish girl with no discernible hetero dating history and a penchant for boys underwear who pings our collective gaydars like crazy. More astute Oscar watchers than I noticed that Ellen sat next to a rather handsome, somewhat-older blonde woman.***


Much discussion was had in the comments over at my AfterEllen Oscars post as to whether said handsome, somewhat-older blonde was indeed Ellen’s girlfriend. You see, she took the same woman as her guest to the Spirit Awards the previous day. That’s, like, two full dates. If she is indeed a lesbian the U-Haul has been loaded up and new pet kitten names have been picked out.

Of course, the mystery woman could very well just be a friend. Or an agent. Or a “roommate.” What I know for sure is that the woman can’t be her mother, as Village Voice columnist Michael Musto mused this week while giving the first wider voice to the “Ellen Page is gay”-whispers making the rounds. Michael’s theory is that if she took her mother, it only furthers the gay talk because “for guys, that used to signify 100% gay, but for girls, it might just mean young and/or Canadian--or, um, gay.” Regardless, according to WireImage, this is Ellen’s mother, Martha Philpott.

So, the mystery continues. From everything I’ve read about Ellen she is a very smart, very straightforward and very sensible (not to mention very deliciously sarcastic) young woman. So I’d really like to think that if she was indeed gay that it would be no big deal and she would just come out and say it. On the other hand, I also understand that she is just 21 with a career about to hit hyper drive, so she probably wants to keep what little parts of her life that are still private private. Perhaps, if she is gay, she’ll go the Jodie Foster route, never talking about it but living her life as normally as possible. All I know is what Ellen said herself about being a tomboy growing up:

“(My parents) tried ballet, but it became evident what kind of kid I was going to be.” A tomboy? “I guess…That’s a funny word. A girl that didn’t play with Barbies.”

Now, of course, not playing with Barbies doesn’t automatically make you gay. Nor does being sporty or mechanically inclined or awkward in dresses. Well, at least not automatically. So who knows. What I do know is the more I heard from Ellen Page, the more I like her. And I really like her when she talks about tequila. God, how cute is she?

What else I know for sure is that -- baby dyke or not -- on Saturday night Ellen is going to be my date as I sit in my jammies, clutch the remote and enjoy the hell out of her hosting SNL.


***UPDATE: Mystery solved. Ellen’s “date” was her publicist, Kelly Bush. Sorry, make that her out lesbian publicist Kelly Bush. OK, so I was close with the agent thing. The firm she runs, ID PR, also handles that other Ellen, Ellen DeGeneres (and she was embroiled in the whole Iggygate brouhaha). Her other clients include A-Listers like Natalie Portman, Tobey Maguire and the late Heath Ledger as well as a parade of my past Weekend Crushes like America Ferrera, Mary-Louise Parker and Diane Lane.

And here is an interesting quote from her in a recent W feature on Hollywood’s lesbian power players:

“Bush doesn’t believe that young lesbians need to define themselves by identity politics or limit themselves to a community of like minds. She never did. “I don’t think of myself in terms of straight or gay when I’m out in the world,” she says. “If people ask me, I’m honest, but I’m not political about it. I’m just a publicist. I’m not a gay publicist.”

OK, but how about a publicist of gays? Fine, since we all know that just sitting next to a gay person doesn’t make you gay, we’ll let this one go. For now. Anyhow, here is Kelly at an event last year.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with you on Ellen Page... she is a fantastic young actress with a great head on her shoulders.

While there is yet no conclusive evidence that Ellen is or isn't a lesbian (and I certainly would love to have her on our team) I find her a refreshing change to the overexposed young women currently making headlines in tabloids everywhere.

I look forward to seeing her future body of work and feel confident that we have not yet seen the last of Ellen Page as an Oscar nominee.

Allison said...

I don't know about Ellen, but I just came across this video on youtube of an interview with Ellen and Diablo, where Diablo talks about having a crush on her female friend! I had no idea she was queer at all, and don't know if anyone else did, but that's awesome! and I know there were complaints about a lack of lesbian-y-ness at the Oscars, both here and at AfterEllen, so here's one more thing to add to the list!

here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1tYeeaXRS4&NR=1

by the way, this is the first time I've commented, but I've been reading your blog for a while now, and I just wanted to let you know I love it and you're hilarious! cheers!

Lezlie Mac said...

It has to be said. This fab' blog is witty, funny AND litterate.

"conundrum continues to confound"
First: nice alliteration
Second: my new word of the day: CONUNDRUM

Who new reading about potential lezzies in showbiz could still have you learn stuff. Kudos !

Anonymous said...

I had no idea she was queer at all, and don't know if anyone else did, but that's awesome! On her myspace page her orientation is listed as 'not sure'.

EP just makes me smile. I feel no need for the is she/isn't she pressure since she's just 21!

Loved that clip! Loved the "that was sarcasmmmmmm..." heh. Bring on the jammies and SNL!

Anonymous said...

"That was sarrrcaaasm...heh heh"

How fucking adorable is this woman?!

The "tingles" and "twitches" are reaching a fevered pitch!

Anonymous said...

Looks like Michael Musto over at The Village Voice has been watching The L Word, especially that scene about spin control with Tina and Niki's managent*: "Is Juno a you know? And if so, which male will they quickly match her up with? Zac Efron?"

As if we needed more evidence that life imitates art imitates life imitates art . . . .

*managent coined by scribegrrrl on screen 2 of the 5.8 L Word recap.

Anonymous said...

but then this morning appear a post reporting that EP had a breakfast date witk Frankie Muniz (of all people) I think it was in crabbie's blog. I am as fascinated as everybody with this gay/not gay thing and after watching Juno my girl crush is reaching embarrasing proportions, hopefully she will be able to manage all the scrutiny that her success is bringing to her private life.

Leesh said...

Love, love, love Ellen Page! Totally pings my gaydar, but it doesn't really matter in my book--she's awesome either way!

That clip of her at the Independent Spirit Awards was awesome, loved her "Loser Face" comment.

And love you, Dorothy!

Sera Alastia-Promit said...

I know I've said it before, but this girl is killing me. I have not yet found a way to meet her without looking like a stalker, so I'll just keep hoping...

Amanda said...

"The women I'm nominated with are like, craazy good"

Haha. She sounds like me and my friends.

Can't wait for SNL, and I'm stealing that outfit of hers in that press conference.

Amanda

Anonymous said...

She has a 29 year old girlfriend, and no she isn't dating Frankie Muniz. HMM she could be bisexual like many girls these days are, but who knows. Could anyone please do some sneaky for us?

Srita. Rocanrol said...

I've read somewhere she's bi, don't know if it's true, but I don't really care, I just love her
=3

Anonymous said...

Oh dear. I do feel quite conflicted over all this internet speculation over Ellen's sexual orientation.

I'm curious and blogging as much as the next dyke, but I do feel bad.

Ellen Page has just become a household name in the past 6 months, and I should think its tough being so exposed in the spotlight. I would hate for her to start having to hedge about her private life as much as Jodie did in the past.

I am looking forward to watching her evolving career, which is bound to be full of interesting kick ass roles. It would be such a pity if her hometown of Halifax becomes a place she can't relax in and be herself.

So, even though I have info I could pass on, I think I'm restraining myself. Girl deserves some private space, that's where she regenerates her creative juices. And I want her to stay sane and unstressed so she can wow us some more with her performances!

Anonymous said...

btw, Dorothy...I have been reading your blog for awhile, and it seems as if you've upped the ante of its brilliantness in the last few months!

Hardly any misteps where your posts are concerned...(well, maybe less TLW would be good!). I'm so darn obsessed with your blog that you're the first thing I open these days :)

ps. that pic of Emma Thompson..yum!

Anna said...

hey, i dont wanna dissapoint you all, but she isnt gay:( shes a family friend of mine and my sister's best friend, and yeah, shes straight. but she loves her female fans!

Anonymous said...

Are you sure they're just friends? ;)

Anonymous said...

OK, bad news, from another blog:

(The answer to Defamer's question about who was seated with Ellen at the Oscars, by the way, was her lesbian power publicist Kelly Bush. The rest of her hot clients -- among them Casey Affleck, Josh Brolin and Diane Lane -- were all within arm's reach, too.)

So not her g/f. Lets put this to rest for now....

Unknown said...

thought this interview might be of interest: http://www.curvemag.com/Detailed/741.html

Syracuse Scholar said...

Forget Ellen Page .... who is this Kelly Bush?!?!
She reps some of the hottest actors in Hollywood. Kind of amazing actually. What a wierd job, to go from dealing with Heath Ledger's death one week to arranging PR for Ellen Page the next.

Anonymous said...

she has myspace???? link link!
I'm so glad she is famous now...I've been following her steps a long time ago

Anonymous said...

So i don't know if this has been said or not but I'd like to point out the third degree awareness between Ellen Page and the whole Xena/Gabrielle lesbian tension... aka Sam Raimi. Hopefully, umm, their new movie "Drag me To Hell" follows a similar lesbian tension filled path.

Hey, I can only hope.

Anonymous said...

Here is a link to a December 2007 NPR interview with Ellen Page. Listen to the extended (~ 9 min) version. She is truly amazing.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16878377

Anonymous said...

I'm just a random wiever, but I like your blog and decided to comment.

Ellen is such a fascinating actress, it would be nice to sort out which team she hoorays for... But as far as I know she has mentioned that one of her favourite movies is "My Summer of Love" which is of course a lesbian drama... :)

Anonymous said...

For those of you mentioning Ellen's myspace account, I'm pretty sure it's a fake. She has in the past said, "You asked me in the letter if I had a MySpace page and I wanted to let everyone know that I DO NOT. Those pages are not me." (http://ellenpage.org/)
I don't think she's a lesbian as I'm pretty sure she's dating Ben Foster for a few years (they met on the set of X-Men) and could still be dating. Who knows. Although I did recently see some pics of Ben and Ellen kissing at some award ceremony of whatnot. A goggle search should find those for you, as I'm too lazy. Anyone wishing to respond, to agree or correct my info my contact rue.rose@hotmail.com

Anonymous said...

Does it really matter? Why waste so much time and energy on something so damned trivial?

Lara said...

Nice blog. I'm hanging onto every shred of evidence for now.

Here's hoping...