Robin Roberts Reveals She Nearly Turned Down an Interview with Former President Barack Obama Because She Feared Being Outed [Video]

Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts revealed that she almost turned down an interview with President Barack Obama on marriage equality. 

Looking back, Roberts is grateful she took the opportunity to interview the then-president in 2012 but said initially she feared being publicly outed.

Roberts came out in 2013 and opened up about her long-term relationship with Amber Laign. In an interview with Ellen Degeneres, she talked about how she got the call from the White House and was hesitant a year prior. 

“I’m so grateful that I did that [interview with Obama],” she told DeGeneres. “Shortly thereafter is when on Instagram, or on social media, I talked about Amber and all that fear I had of being a Christian, that people would look at me differently. [But] I was embraced. Again, if we just stop and think about how many times we let fear keep us on the sidelines, and I’m so, so very glad that that’s no longer the case. I am not gonna get everything that I want in life, and I’m not going to accomplish everything, but by golly, fear is not going to be the reason why I’m not.” 

Roberts described the moment as a scene from “Moonstruck.” While promoting her new book, Brighter by the Day: Waking Up to New Hopes and Dreams, she reminded people not to be afraid. 

“It was kind of like a scene out of Moonstruck: ‘Snap out of it; Robin, what are you thinking? It’s not about you. This man is going to impact countless lives.’ And it was at that moment that I said, ‘I’m gonna stop letting fear keep me from the things that I want to do.” 

Also, in the interview, the broadcaster talked about her Laign’s breast cancer diagnosis and childhood memories. 

“Everybody is a limited edition,” she said, adding: “I mean, how many times [do] you gravitate toward people who you know were being their true authentic self? It’s something that more and more people are starting to embrace, and I’m grateful for that.”