Back in May, country singer Chely Wright made the brave move to come out, making her the first “out” lesbian in the country music world.
Now, during an interview, Chely has commented on how coming out has unfortunately hurt her album sales.
Here’s what she had to say about it:
“It didn├óΓé¼Γäót help my career. My record sales went directly in half. If it appears from the outside in that it├óΓé¼Γäós helped my career, it could be because I haven├óΓé¼Γäót talked about the negative. You won├óΓé¼Γäót hear me bitching and moaning on my Facebook about the hate mail I├óΓé¼Γäóve gotten. My life has been threatened. I get nasty letters every day, ‘I├óΓé¼Γäóm through with you Chely Wright, you├óΓé¼Γäóre going to hell.’ There├óΓé¼Γäós a big difference between press and advocacy and├óΓé¼┬ª. sometimes people forget that people who sing or make movies, this isn├óΓé¼Γäót just a hobby for us. This is how I pay my bills. In coming out I had a feeling that it would diminish my wage earning, and that feeling was correct. And, I am fine with that.”
We’re so sad to hear that Chely, but we are SO impressed with the positive attitude you’ve maintained!