Hollywood star dispels rumours of lesbian past

Hollywood star Cate Blanchett — in Cannes for the premiere of her latest movie about a lesbian romance — on Sunday scotched media speculation that she had a real-life gay past.

“Have I had sexual relations with women? The answer is no,” Blanchett told reporters ahead of the red-carpet premiere of the movie “Carol”.

The 46-year-old Australian actress said speculation about possible gay episodes had sprung from an interview she had given to the US cinema industry magazine Variety.

The publication had reported that it asked Blanchett whether she’d had “past relationships with women” and got the response: “Yes. Many times.”

That triggered cascading speculation in other media that Blanchett had revealed past gay encounters.

But at a Cannes film festival media conference on Sunday, Blanchett clarified the situation by saying the part where she had stated she had had no “sexual relations with women” was edited out of the Variety piece.

The actress added firmly that “in 2015, the answer (to that sort of question) shouldn’t matter”.