Kylie Rancor
Lili Reinhart has come out as bisexual in a show of solidarity between the LGBTQ+ community and Black Lives Matter.
The Riverdale star had never previously opened up about her sexuality, but opted to share her truth via Instagram story on Wednesday alongside a flyer for an LGBTQ+ for #BlackLivesMatter protest in West Hollywood.
“Although I’ve never announced it publicly before, I am a proud bisexual woman,” she wrote. “And I will be joining this protest today. Come join.”
Reinhart had publicly been dating her co-star, Cole Sprouse.
The pair have also been in a relationship on Riverdale, as Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones.
In real life, they began dating in 2017. The two had previously been dogged by rumors of a split in summer of 2019, but sources say they’ve officially called it quits this time — for now, anyway.
The break-up seems to have been confirmed by Skeet Ulrich, who plays the father of Sprouse’s Jughead on the CW hit, during a recent Instagram Live.
“I think they were a very cute couple,” Ulrich said in response to a question about Reinhart and Sprouse’s relationship.
Fans reacted to Reinhart’s coming out with love and support.
She had previously stirred up some controversy with her reaction to Riverdale fans who shipped Betty with her BFF, Veronica Lodge, in the show.
The Riverdale pilot included a very queer-baiting kiss between the two ladies, and fans were torn between frustration at yet another LGBTQ moment being used as a “water cooler moment,” and hoping that it might mean the show had more in store for Betty and Veronica somewhere down the line.
“There’s a group that very, very much wants it,” she told Hollywood Life of the pairing back in January 2017. “They’re soulmates in a friends’ way. Our show is not meant to be fan fiction. We give them a taste of it when they kiss, but that’s all it is.”
She later clarified that she only meant it wasn’t canon in the comics, and the decisions as to who dates who in the show are, obviously, not up to her.
Regardless, Reinhart’s coming out is a pleasant surprise for fans in the LGBTQ community who have supporter her career and her time on Riverdale, and a great way to kick off Pride Month!