Look, if you’re a famous male actor in Hollywood, then at one point or another in your career, speculation will arise as to whether you’re gay. Which is fine, and shouldn’t be a big deal at all either way, but here we are. Rumors of homosexuality have plagued actors like Tom Cruise for years. Now they’re plaguing another actor: Bradley Cooper.

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Being gay in Hollywood in this era isn’t a big deal, and if anything it could help someone’s career. This isn’t the golden age of Hollywood, back when superstar and actor Rock Hudson had to hide his true identity (he died of AIDS in the ’80s).

The Cooper rumors are not new. He’s even commented on them himself over the years, and the evidence isn’t iron clad by any means. But, rumors are rumors and as long as handsome men appear in movies, some people are going to call them gay.

Why do people think Bradley Cooper is gay?

There are two strong arguments toward Cooper being gay, but they are circumstial at best. The first begins with Cooper’s longtime friendship with fellow actor Victor Garber.

Garber is openly gay, and has been for the majority of his public life as an actor. The two are friends and have been for decades, so when Cooper started becoming famous and was seen out with Garber, the rumors started flying. This is called “gay by association” and happens all the time when two men become friends and one is gay.

When asked about the issue in 2009, Cooper said he thought the rumors were “fantastic” and “awesome.”

 “I think it’s awesome,” Cooper said. “Victor Garber is one of my best friends, and I’ll never forget when we went to some event together and people thought we were dating. It was all over the Internet. It was the first time I read a rumor like that about me, and I just thought it was fantastic. But if you believe those rumors, every single male in Hollywood is gay.”

Then there’s the issue of a kiss on the set of Cooper’s upcoming film Maestro, which chronicles the life of composer Leonard Bernstein. Cooper, who plays Bernstein, went viral for a kiss he shared with fellow actor Matt Bomer, who is presumably playing his love interest.

Bernstein was married but many of his friends described him as a “gay man who got married.” What else tips things into the “not gay” category? Cooper’s dating history. Over the years, he’s been linked to various actresses, and was even married to Jennifer Esposito for a short period of time.

Other notable hookups and relationships include Renee Zellweger, Jennifer Lopez, Zoe Saldaña, Suki Waterhouse and current George Clooney wife, Huma Abedin. Might Cooper also be attracted to men? It hasn’t been substantiated in any way, but if he is, so what?