“When Ben [Affleck] and I first came on the scene there were rumors that we were gay because it was two guys who wrote a script together”.
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For the past 12 years, Danny has been HIV-positive.
“I tell anyone who asks”, Pintauro told ET about his HIV diagnosis. “It’s like anybody hearing you have terminal cancer or something bad”, Pintauro said candidly.
Pintauro first came out as gay in 1997 after a National Enquirer reporter threatened to reveal his long-kept secret in the tabloid. “You can see how well he is doing”, said Light. “So now that all of this is happening, I feel like the fates are telling me that this is my opportunity to be that beacon of light, and I’m going to do everything and anything I can to live up to that”. According to Pintauro, this was the part that most disappointed his Who’s the Boss? co-star, Tony Danza.
“It is definitely one of my life regrets that I wasn’t able to take that [responsibility] on”, he says. He feared that he was never going to have a good relationship and that he would have to reveal his illness to everyone he was going to date.
Of his diagnosis, Pintauro said he felt nearly a sense of “relief” to hear the news after waiting for his diagnosis.
Matt Damon is in trouble once again for his comments, this time about sexuality and actors being openly gay in Hollywood. In 2014, Pintauro married Will Tabares, the report details.
But Danny admitted that even before he knew was HIV-positive, he had been scared that he would contract the disease. Pintauro, therefore, made the decision to be candid. He said he wanted to expand his sexual boundaries.
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As to why Danny is choosing to speak out now, Pintauro emphasized that he feels it’s time to raise awareness of what it means to be HIV-positive, reported People. “I want my community to wake up, stop being complacent and start taking care of each other”.
