The Insane Story of How Ben Platt Came Out to His Jewish Day School

"In the years that followed, I was like, 'Huh? I don’t know that I should’ve been asked to do that,'” the Broadway star said on the "Good Children" podcast.

Being a Jewish 13-year-old is tough. You’re in the throes of middle school, you’re going through puberty and perhaps orthodonture and to top it all off, your b-mitzvah is right around the corner. But if you’re Ben Platt, it turns out that being a Jewish 13-year-old also held one other particularly tough twist: having to come out to your Jewish day school in the most bonkers way possible.

In the latest episode of the “Good Children” podcast, the Jewish Broadway star and singer joined hosts Joe Hegyes and Andrew Muscarella to chat about musical theater, anxiety and whether or not Ben Platt was a good child. (The answer, obviously, is yes.) Early on in the conversation, Joe and Andrew, who are both gay and came out later in life, asked Ben what his experience was like coming out as a 13-year-old. Ben noted that he was fortunate because his parents were accepting, and that growing up in Los Angeles and in the entertainment industry, it wasn’t that big of a deal.

At his Jewish day school, it was a different and significantly weirder story.

“My school kind of handled it in a weird way because I was at a Jewish day school at that point and there was only like 40 kids in my grade. And I was the only one kind of having this conversation,” Ben explained. “So they had me kind of hold a symposium with my whole grade where they could ask me questions about it. Which probably was really well-intentioned but ultimately was mortifying.”

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He added, “They were like, ‘how do you know?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know.'”

Apparently, Ben had come out to a few of his friends at Sinai Akiba Academy, where he went to school. And then, as it does in middle school, the word began to spread. “My principal, who was trying to be very enlightened at the time, was like, ‘Let’s all have an open conversation about it,'” Ben further described. “I was like, ‘I think it’s private though.’ But it was very loving.”

When Joe asked Ben if he had been OK with doing the symposium at the time, Ben confirmed he had. He was, after all, a good child. It was only later that Ben realized that maybe, just maybe, the whole scenario was completely insane. “In the years that followed, I was like, ‘Huh? I don’t know that I should’ve been asked to do that,’” he said.

Hosts Joe and Andrew were visibly shocked during the retelling. At one point, Andrew covered his mouth with his hand and Joe stared at Ben, incredulously, with his mouth agape. Same, Joe and Andrew. Same.

Ben, from one gay Jew to another: Oh. My. God. But here’s hoping that your gorgeous queer Jewish wedding makes up for it!

Evelyn Frick

Evelyn Frick (she/they) is a writer and associate editor at Hey Alma. She graduated from Vassar College in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. In her spare time, she's a comedian and contributor for Reductress and The Onion.

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