Reneé Rapp explained why she chose to come out as a lesbian on Saturday Night Live.
In a new interview on the Good Hang with Amy Poehler podcast, the singer explained that her choice to come out on the show came from a desire to be her most authentic self during a sketch written by SNL writer Celeste Yim.
The sketch in question, “Entertainment Tonight Lip Readers,” aired last January in an episode hosted by Jacob Elordi. He and Bowen Yang played celebrity lip readers, and Rapp appeared as “the little lesbian intern, Reneé.”
Originally, the script introduced Rapp as “a little bisexual intern” as a nod to her previous bisexual identity. But behind the scenes, Rapp was already living a quiet evolution.
“In private, I was talking with my girlfriend [Towa Bird] and a lot of my friends for the last maybe eight months before that, of being like, ‘I actually don’t really feel very, like, bi at the moment. I feel very much like a lesbian’ and it feels so nice,” she explained around the 37-minute mark in the video linked above. “That word feels amazing and it feels very euphoric for me.”
After sharing her feelings with Lim, Rapp asked if the sketch line could be changed.
“To come out as a lesbian on SNL is, like, pretty cunty. I was like, I’m going to do it for sure,” she recalled.
Rapp admitted she was aware she might “disappoint a lot of people” who connected with her openly bisexual identity but shrugged off the pressure. She also said she chose not to check online reactions after the episode aired. What mattered, however, was how it felt in her own life.
“So fucking good,” said Rapp. “I think also just like being from somewhere incredibly rural—it’s like fucking MAGA-town where I grew up at, and it always has been. And it’s probably better now than it was when I was a kid, or it’s 10 times worse in so many ways.”
She continued, “It was really interesting because I think a lot of the people who I grew up around who are incredibly homophobic are very supportive of me now that I am a public person. Because I think the idea of fame and wealth can sometimes trump hate if it’s close in proximity.”
Despite all the noise, Rapp says she’s found peace and power in her identity.
“On the other side of that, I love being a lesbian and I love the lesbian community so much and I love like the community surrounding lesbians that, like, really fuck with us,” she explained.
Rapp’s new album Bite Me is set to drop on August 25, 2025 in a stunning “Grape” vinyl available exclusively at Complex Shop. You can pre-order the album here.
