Patrick Stewart Has An Awesome Response To Being 'Outed' As Gay By The Guardian

02/19/2014 09:34 am ET | Updated Feb 02, 2016

Cavan Sieczkowski Senior Editor, Content Strategy, The Huffington Post

When "X-Men" star Patrick Stewart was "outed" as gay by the Guardian, he considered it quite a nice change.

The Guardian made the error in an article about Ellen Page's coming out. In the piece, reporter Jane Czyzselska mistakenly identified Stewart as gay when referencing the supportive message he sent the "Inception" actress after her big announcement.

A correction was later issued, reading:

This article was amended on 17 February 2014. The third paragraph originally said 'Some gay people, such as Sir Patrick Stewart, think Page's coming out speech is newsworthy'. This should have read 'Some people, such as Sir Patrick Stewart, think Page's coming out speech is newsworthy'.

After the Poynter Institute pointed out the Guardian's gaffe, Stewart weighed in.

.@Poynter But @guardian I have, like, five or even SEVEN hetero friends and we totally drink beer and eat lots of chicken wings!

— Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) February 18, 2014

One Twitter user noted that the Guardian might've misunderstood Stewart's friendships (he is a close friend of Sir Ian McKellen, who is gay).

MT “@Gruaig_Rua: @Poynter Silly @guardian. You can't catch gay by hanging out with #LGBT people."

— Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) February 18, 2014

Still, the "Star Trek" actor looked on the bright side.

Well, @guardian it makes for a nice change...at least I didn't wake up to the internet telling me I was dead again.

— Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) February 18, 2014