Cassandra Peterson, famous for her character Elvira-Mistress of the Dark, came out last year in her memoir as having a long term relationship with her assistant, Teresa "T" Wierson.
The sexy yet campy actress shared what happened when her book released. Mostly her coming out just made "horny old men" angry.
Peterson told the Behind the Velvet Rope podcast earlier this week:
“The straight people, I knew that there was going to be some horny old men out there who were just not going to like the fact that they didn’t have a chance with me anymore."
“I hate to tell them they already didn’t have a chance of me anyway.”
Peterson explained how 11,000 people unfollowed her—on which platform, she didn't specify—but then gained 60,000 new followers.
“In one day, the day after the book came out, I lost 11,000."
“People just said, ‘Elvira, you lied to me. I don’t respect you anymore. Goodbye.'”
“But I got 60,000 new followers the same day.”
“It was mostly straight, older guys who just felt lied to."
"I don’t know – can’t please everybody!”
Peterson's character of Elvira is know for her witty, campy humor and for pushing boundaries on the PG-13 rating. With her drag inspired look and cult following, she became a household name and an LGBTQ+ icon.
Though her "horny old men" fans weren't the only ones shocked at the news. Peterson herself was surprised.
She wrote in her memoir Yours Cruelly, Elvira:
"I think I was even more surprised. What the hell was I doing?"
"I'd never been interested in women as anything other than friends."
"I felt so confused. This just wasn't me!"
"I was stunned that I'd been friends with her for so many years and never noticed our chemistry."
"I soon discovered that we connected sexually in a way I'd never experienced."
Peterson shared on the podcast she kept her sexuality a secret for nearly 20 years:
“Nobody was ready for that."
"And apparently we kept it a pretty damn good secret because nobody knew — and everybody was surprised.”
She also admitted she worried about losing her LGBTQ+ fans for not sharing her relationship publicly for so long.
“Honestly, I worried more about my gay fan base."
“Because I hope they embraced it, but I was feeling like: ‘What if they think I’m a big fat hypocrite, and I was lying to them?’”
“So that scared me more.”
Seems regardless of her fears, her fans are still supportive.
Especially after her most recent comments.
Peterson said another good thing about coming out was not introducing Wierson as her assistant anymore.
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