Neil Patrick Harris has talked about the time he felt compelled to come out as gay in public, saying he was afraid of being a "target" among irrational online users. Harris faced intense pressure from 2000s internet gossip columnists trying to out him, forcing him to hide his relationship with David Burtka on red carpets. Juggling this private secrecy while starring as a hyper-h********** womanizer on How I Met Your Mother created a heavy personal strain before he openly reclaimed his narrative in 2006.

Speaking about the tough times recently, Harris opened up about the fear of being exposed and how it affected his personal relationship with David Burtka.

In a recent episode of the British TV star's Great Company podcast, Neil Patrick Harris, who played the iconic Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, spoke with Jamie Laing about his s******** and his marriage to David Burtka. He also shed light on his coming out and the pressure he felt due to gossip bloggers’ constant witch hunt.

“It was an inevitability at the time,” Harris said about his coming out.

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

Speaking on Great Company, Harris mentioned that before coming out as gay, he would go to premieres with his partner, David Burtka, whom he eventually married in 2014. However, Burtka was unable to accompany him on the red carpet because they needed to avoid being perceived as a couple. 

However, after a publicist was mentioned in the media, implying that he was, in fact, gay, the father of two finally decided to come out. He made a brave decision to come out on his own terms and not in response to slanderous stories about him. In reaction to the rumors, Harris, along with his publicist and agent at the time, created a statement that seemed genuine to him.

However, the response to his coming out statement was not quite what he had expected for such a big revelation.

Reflecting on the climate surrounding his 2006 announcement, Neil Patrick Harris admitted that he had initially feared the professional and social repercussions of publicly acknowledging his s********. Pointing to a cultural landscape defined by aggressive hostility and widespread societal stigmas, he recalled joking that he anticipated at least a "bad week" of backlash.

Ultimately, however, those fears proved unfounded as the public response was remarkably muted. Describing the general reaction as "indifference at best," Harris acknowledged that trailblazers before him had borne the brunt of a much harsher era, paving a smoother path for his own transition. In true comedic fashion, the star confessed to feeling slightly amused - and even playfully offended - by the lack of shock, admitting he had expected a more dramatic reaction from fans rather than a collective shrug.

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