Apple CEO Tim Cook tells Stephen Colbert why he came out as gay

Apple CEO Tim Cook explains why he came out as gay
(Image credit: Late Show)

On Tuesday's Late Show, Stephen Colbert asked Apple chief executive Tim Cook about starting a charitable arm at Apple, and if that decision was informed by growing up gay in Alabama. But he started the question with a joke, asking about coming out recently: "Was that an upgrade, or just a feature that had not been turned on before?"

After everyone was done laughing, Cook said that yes, growing up an outsider helped him see the need to make things better for other people. Citing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Cook said he asks himself everyday if he is doing enough for others, and looking at the gay children being bullied and rejected by friends and family, he decided he wasn't. "Where I valued my privacy significantly, I felt I was valuing it too far above what I could do for other people," he explained. Not that his coming out was a surprise to many people he knew and worked with, Cook said. ("It's like discovering something on your iPhone. It's always done but you didn't quite know it.") But he felt a "tremendous responsibility" to share his truth with the rest of the world. Watch the interview below. Peter Weber

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Peter Weber

Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.