FOX Newsman Shepard Smith: I Was Never In The Closet

FOX News anchor Shepard Smith says that he was never outed as a gay man — because he was never in the closet!

The National ENQUIRER had the scoop when Shepard casually confirmed that he's gay while discussing disgraced FOX News boss Roger Ailes in Oct. 2016 — saying "That’s not true" while addressing rumors that Shepard had been told to hide his sexuality. The newsman looked back at the bombshell while making an appearance at the University of Mississippi's Meek School of Journalism, saying: "And when I told the truth, I guess it was considered that I outed myself. I didn't even think about it, because I didn't think I was in!"

Shepard's sexuality certainly wasn't a secret to readers of The ENQUIRER — with a report in Dec. 2005 about how the FOX star stumbled into a scandal after approaching a man in a NYC bar. The unwitting newsman didn't know he was talking to the editor of a gay newspaper! Kevin Naff, the openly-gay editor of the Washington Blade, told The ENQUIRER: "He was pretty drunk. He was singing along with show tunes. Then after a few martinis, he asked me if I would leave with him."

At about 3 a.m., Kevin recalled, they went their separate ways — after the gay advocate politely turned down Shepard's additional offer of a dinner date. Kevin told The ENQUIRER that was the last he saw or heard of Shepard in person. At the time, added Kevin, Anderson Cooper was also continuing to "choose the closet over honesty." The CNN star finally went public with his sexuality in 2012. Kevin also now gets to see Shepard speaking out about his sexuality — surprisingly, in defense of Shepard's disgraced FOX News boss!