Friends and Olympian athletes Adam Rippon and Gus Kenworthy come together for the May 2018 cover of Out magazine. Carter Smith photographs the duo while Grant Woolhead is in charge of styling. The pair opens up to the magazine about the obstacles they faced while competing in the Olympics. Rippon addresses hate mail he received. I would always get a pit in my stomach every time there were somebody on social media with an American flag in their name,
says Rippon. The most consistent message I got was,
I hope you fail, I hope you fall; I’ve never cheered against someone in my entire life.
Rippon continues, That somebody could go out of their way to say they’re proud of their country and that they love it, and they’re a patriot, and then turn around and taunt their athletes is incredibly disrespectful. They’re the opposite of a patriot. You don’t represent America. You represent you and your family and your small minded whatever. That’s not American.
Related: Gus Kenworthy Covers Attitude Magazine, Talks First Gay Kiss
Meanwhile, Kenworthy addresses being in the closet for his first Olympics game. I didn’t have the best Olympics experience the first time around in Sochi,
explains Kenworthy. I felt like a fraud. I wasn’t being myself. I had a boyfriend at the time that I wasn’t telling anybody about, and I wasn’t out to my parents.
Kenworthy adds, And then post-games every interviewer asked me,
Read more on Out.com.Who’s your celebrity crush? What’s your type of girl? What’s your ideal date?
And I was just lying. And I hated myself for it. So to be in Pyongchang, and get to walk into this huge stadium as myself, as an out gay man, and do it alongside Adam was the biggest, best moment of my entire life. And that was why it was so important for me to find him. Because I felt like we had the same story, and I wanted to share the opening ceremony moment with him. It was the highlight of my entire games in my head.
Adam Rippon & Gus Kenworthy Out Magazine Photo Shoot
