“Even if you thought you knew I was gay already, it’s disappointing that I couldn’t share it on my terms,” the 15-year-old said, adding that he “ugly-cried.”
Teen Mom star Kailyn Lowry’s eldest son Elliott — formerly known as Isaac — is opening up about how his sexuality was “leaked” online before he could address it publicly.
On Friday’s episode of Kailyn’s Barely Famous podcast, the 15-year-old came out and announced that he had changed his name from Issac to Elliott, which was his middle name.
While the podcast episode had been “planned out for a while,” the teen’s plans to come out on his own terms were derailed after photos that showed him posing with another boy at prom went viral online. The photos were posted to someone’s personal Facebook page, not his or his mother’s accounts, and the spread over fan accounts for the show. The images also sparked speculation about Elliott’s sexuality.
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Toward the end of the episode, Elliott and his mom shared their reaction to the images being “leaked.”
“You went to prom. You were asked to prom by a junior, a male,” said Kailyn, who shares Elliott with ex Jo Rivera. “Those pictures and videos were leaked. And I got home, [ugly] crying.”
“How were you feeling when you saw that everything was leaked?” she asked Elliott, who replied, “I was devastated. I also ugly-cried before you got home.”
He continued, “It was very disappointing because, I mean, nobody knew that we were planning this episode, but it’s just disappointing. Going back to things being on my terms, it’s, like, even if you thought you knew I was gay already, it’s disappointing that I couldn’t share it on my terms.”
“The way it happened was just not okay,” he added.
Kailyn called it a “huge violation” of privacy, pointing out that Elliott is a minor — and he didn’t share it himself, or the reality star didn’t have “permission to post it on [his] behalf.”
“That was really, really heartbreaking,” he said.
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Elliott added that it’s not just about him, but his prom date as well.
“Honestly, it’s not about just me anymore. It’s about the people who are in those pictures. It’s about … their safety,” he said, to which Kailyn noted that “maybe they weren’t out yet” either, adding that the leak put the teens in a “very dangerous position.”
“For that instant gratification of yourself, you leaked pictures of minors to be able to say that you heard it first or that you had the information first or you knew it, you called it,” she added.
Elliott noted that the “problem” is that “people don’t understand that if I don’t share it, it shouldn’t be out there.”
While Kailyn said that she likes to give people “the benefit of the doubt,” she’s learned that there are “people in your real-life circle, unfortunately, that will pray for your downfall.”
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Kailyn’s co-host again reiterated that the podcast episode was planned before the leak, and said she was “very glad” Elliott still wanted to share his story.
Kailyn explained that following the photos going around the internet, Elliott approached her and wanted to come out on social media, but she decided against it, saying that it made her “nervous.” She said she also believed it would have been “exploitative” because people could have made “money” off of it.
“If you’re going to share your story, then you should be able to tell your story in your own words,” she said, adding that she’s not profiting from the podcast, and the money is going to her son. “You should be the one benefiting from your story.”
Elliott again noted that it was “important” for him to come out on his own terms, while also emphasizing that he hopes his story can “inspire” others “who are in the same situation or similar situation work through it the best that they can.”
“I also can make rather than it be a one-minute video, it can be an hour, maybe longer,” he added.
Listen to the full podcast, here.
In addition to Elliott, Kailyn also shares son Lincoln, 11, with ex Javi Marroquin; sons Lux, 7, and Creed, 4, with ex Chris Lopez; and son Rio, 2, and twins Verse and Valley, whom she welcomed in late 2023, with fiancé Elijah Scott.
