Jay Leno is straight and not gay. He has been married to a woman named Mavis Elizabeth Nicholson-Leno for more than four decades. However, for some unknown reason, rumors about his sexuality have been swirling around for the past decade.
Jay Leno is American television host and writer who is known as the former host of NBC The Tonight Show. Also a comedian, his stand-up career lasted for two decades and thanks to his extraordinary contributions to U.S. television, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2014.
But despite the fact that he is no small fish in the media industry, Jay has been the subject of gay rumors for quite a while and the public has been wondering why, because he is married. So, where exactly did all the rumors come from? Find out all about that here.
Jay Leno is Currently Married to Mavis Elizabeth Nicholson-Leno
Jay Leno is married to a woman named Mavis Elizabeth Nicholson-Leno. Mavis, the daughter of famous Hollywood actor, E.A. Nicholson is a well-known philanthropist and social activist. She was born on September 5, 1946, in San Francisco, California, United States and is presently 77 years old. She is an American citizen of Caucasian descent and was born under the Virgo zodiac sign.
Although she wanted to be a jockey, the restrictive gender roles prevented her from achieving her dreams so she choose another path. Apart from the fame she enjoys as Jay Leno’s wife, Mavis is recognized as an influential feminist in California.
Because she prefers a low-profile status, the social activist is not as popular as her husband. However, she is much more socially active than he is. Mavis is affiliated with a huge number of feminist organizations and is involved with multiple non-profit organizations and politically charged groups.
She has held a couple of notable positions in her social activism career. Chief of all was when she became the chairman of the Feminist Majority Foundation Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan in 1997. Two years later, she became involved in the Afghan fight against the Taliban.
She was reported to have donated the sum of $100,000 to the organization, to help in the fight against women’s oppression in Afghanistan. American journalist Melissa Rossi mentions Jay Leno’s wife as one of the most important figures in the deal between former American president Bill Clinton and the Taliban.
The deal involved building a refinery pipe in Afghanistan that would have inevitably made the Taliban richer. Mavis nowadays is much less vocal about these social issues, mostly due to her declining age. She now runs an NGO called ‘Equality Now’ alongside her husband.
The Couple Have No Children Together
As it stands, Jay Leno and his wife are currently childless. The gag, however, is, the couple made the conscious decision to remain child-free. The main reason for this decision was none other than Mavis herself, who was determined never to have children, even before she got married.
As you may have already guessed, Mavis Leno’s radical feminist views contributed to her belief that pregnancy was nothing but a trap for women—a trap she made sure to avoid. What is even more impressive is that Jay Leno respected the wishes of his wife, and chose to remain child-free as well.
The former TV host had no children before he got married to Mavis in 1980, nor did he try to have any throughout their married days till now. The couple seems to be completely content with their decision and appears to be very happy with the state of their marriage.
Jay Leno is Not Gay Although the Internet Believes Otherwise
Now it isn’t unheard of for a man to get married to conceal his sexuality. However, this has not been the case for Jay Leno. The television host and comedian is completely straight and enjoys being with women. So you might wonder, from where then, did rumors of him being gay emanate? It stemmed from some comments he made while he was still a television host.
Before the discussions surrounding same-sex rights became less of a taboo, Jay Leno was one of the few influential people who openly supported the LGBTQIA community. He openly expressed concern over the harsh homophobia in Russia, and this led to a lot of raised brows over his apparent sexuality.
The rumors were particularly vicious in 2008. Part of the reason why the spotlight was on Jay so much was that in the mid-2000s, conversations about same-sex issues were highly frowned upon. Still, this didn’t deter him from speaking up for a marginalized minority.
There was also an online advertisement that alleged that he was already married to a man. The advert, which turned out to be a click bait, lured readers into thinking that Jay Leno divorced his wife and married a man instead.
In the end, it was just a link to a fraudulent website called Paydayville. To the best of our knowledge, Jay Leno never pressed defamatory charges against the owners of the site, and naturally, the rumors died down after a while.
How Has Jay Leno Reacted to the Scrutiny Surrounding His Sexuality?
It might seem that very wealthy comedians do not bother themselves much with the opinions of plebeians. Jay Leno has proven to be very gracious about these rumors indeed, considering the way he has handled gay rumors in the past.
The former late-night host has not bothered to clarify or debunk anything concerning his sexuality. Rather, he has continued to show up to work and public events as necessary, without seeming to pay the rumors any mind.
A few times, he showed up to several of these red-carpet events with his beautiful wife. This might have been his way of quelling the rumors as there’s no better way to dispel such rumors than to appear with a beautiful woman on your arm?
In a way, Jay Leno’s nonchalance about whatever rumors people might have about his sexuality is also a stronger indication of his commitment to ending the fight against sexual discrimination against LGBTQIA.
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