Gloria Carter on how she came out to her son, Jay-Z
— -- Gloria Carter is opening up about how she told her son, Jay-Z, about her sexuality.
The famed rapper addressed his mother's coming out as gay in his song, "Smile," in which he wrote, "Mama had four kids, but she’s a lesbian. Had to pretend so long that she’s a thespian."
Jay, real name Shawn Carter, also said in the song that it doesn't matter if his mother loves a man or woman; he just wants to "see you smile."
On the latest episode of the "D'USSE Friday" podcast, Carter said that she told her son about her sexuality later in life when she "finally started telling him who I was."
"Besides your mother, this is the person that I am. You know, this is the life that I live," she said. "My son started actually tearing, like, ‘That had to be a horrible life, Ma’ ... My life was never horrible. It was just different. So, that made him want to do a song about it."
Carter admitted that after she first heard the song, she wasn't "feeling that."
"Because when it first happened, I was sharing myself with you," she explained. "Not to share myself with the world. I was like,'I don't know if I'm ready for that.'"
But she decided to help her son along and eventually even wrote something for him and the music.
In the song, she appears and says, "You live in the shadows for fear of someone hurting your family or the person you love ... But life is short, and it’s time to be free."
"I was never ashamed of me," she added. "But with my family, it was something that was never discussed. Everybody knows who I am. I don't hide who I am."
What she did feel bad about was other people being written about who might be connected to her romantically.
"Who I share my life with is no one's business," she said. "I'm tired of all the mystery, so I'm going to give it to them."
Carter also commented on Jay-Z's "4:44" album as a whole. It's "an amazing album, because it shows my son's growth," she said.
