Molly Shannon opens up about discovering her father was a closeted gay man
Actress and comedian Molly Shannon is opening up about learning her father was a closeted gay man.The Saturday Night Live alumna only discovered the truth about her father, James Shannon, shortly before his death.She writes about the experience in her new memoir, “Hello, Molly!”, and spoke about it this week on The Howard Stern Show.“I felt so much compassion,” she said. “Kind of the pieces of the story all coming together.
It’s tragic.”The truth began to emerge in 2001, when James Shannon visited New York City as Molly was wrapping up her six-year run on SNL.
She said he was out drinking and met a “straight college boy,” then showed up with the man at her West Village apartment.She was upset since her father had been sober for a few years, and made him stay in a hotel.
Afterwards, she called her manager, Steven Levy, who is gay and had become close with James over the years.“Steven, in that conversation when I complained about my dad, said, ‘You’re being too hard on him Molly, you’re being too hard on him.
