Sophia Bush Thanks Fans for ‘Kindness’ After Coming Out as Queer

Sophia Bush is thanking her fans and followers for the support she received after coming out as queer and confirming her relationship with USWNT alum Ashlyn Harris.

“Ever-evolving + still weird,” the Chicago P.D. alum, 41, captioned a behind-the-scenes video of her Glamour shoot via Instagram on Friday, April 26.

She continued, “Thank you for the kindness, vulnerability, and the stories and journeys of your own so many of you have shared. Courage is contagious. Here’s to a life in progress.”

Fans, friends and celebs were quick to comment on Bush’s post, with her fellow “Drama Queens” podcast cohost and former One Tree Hill costar Hilarie Burton Morgan writing, “Love you love you love you,” while Harris, 38, said,”You’re perfect.”

Related: Sophia Bush and Ashlyn Harris’ Relationship Timeline

Sophia Bush and Ashlyn Harris’ friendship turned romantic on the heels of their respective divorces from Grant Hughes and Ali Krieger, and they’ve been quietly building their relationship. A source exclusively told Us Weekly Bush and Harris “bonded over their breakups and having to start over” in October 2023, one month after they began dating. […]

A separate social media user added, “What a WOMAN, what a SHOOT, what an incredible human being. You are PHENOMENAL and a force to be reckoned with. You’re going to help so many other humans feel like they can breathe again too.”

Bush came out in a self-written cover story for Glamour published on Thursday, April 25, which marked the first time she commented on her romance with Harris. She also denied that she cheated on her ex-husband, Grant Hughes.

“As I came into myself, I already felt it was my home. I think I’ve always known that my sexuality exists on a spectrum,” Bush wrote. “Right now I think the word that best defines it is queer. I can’t say it without smiling, actually. And that feels pretty great.”

She continued, “I finally feel like I can breathe. I don’t think I can explain how profound that is. I feel like I was wearing a weighted vest for who knows how long. I hadn’t realized how heavy it was until I finally just put it down.”

Bush was married to Hughes, 42, for a little more than one year before the John Tucker Must Die actress filed for divorce in August 2023. By October of that year, she was romantically linked to Harris after they bonded amid their respective splits.

Related: Sophia Bush and Ex-Husband Grant Hughes’ Relationship Timeline

Sophia Bush and Grant Hughes had a short-lived marriage, but their relationship was years in the making. The actress met the entrepreneur nearly a decade before things between them turned romantic. “We became fast friends but only saw each other a few times a year because both of us were traveling all of the time […]

Harris was previously married to U.S. soccer star Ali Krieger, whom she wed in 2019. The exes are parents to two children: daughter Sloane, 3, and son Ocean, 20 months.

In her essay, Bush also addressed the “blatant lies” and “accusations of being a homewrecker” amid her and Harris’ divorces, maintaining that the allegations made against her were untrue.

“The ones who said I’d left my ex because I suddenly realized I wanted to be with women — my partners have known what I’m into for as long as I have,” she wrote. “The idea that I left my marriage based on some hysterical rendezvous — that, to be crystal-clear, never happened — rather than having taken over a year to do the most soul crushing work of my life? Rather than realizing I had to be the most vulnerable I’ve ever been, on a public stage, despite being terrified to my core? It feels brutal.”

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Though Bush said her coming out journey was “long and thoughtful and exhaustive” and one that she didn’t want to share on social media in real time, she said her parents are fully supportive of her and who she loves.

“After the news became public, my mom told me that one of her friends called her and said, ‘Well, this can’t be true. I mean, your daughter isn’t gay,’” Bush wrote. “My mom felt that it was obvious, from the way her friend emphasized the word, that she meant it judgmentally. And you know what my mom said? ‘Oh honey, I think she’s pretty gay. And she’s happy.’”