James Haven, the older brother of Angelina Jolie and son of Hollywood legend Jon Voight, announced he is gay in a video statement and livestream, saying he is "tired of hiding" after years of healing from childhood trauma.
Haven released the announcement Thursday through a video posted on the Instagram page of his ex-wife, Romi Imbelli, and followed it with a letter he read aloud during a livestream on Imbelli's Substack publication, "Breathe Mija." The video, accompanied by a lengthy caption, laid out Haven's decision in his own words, a public declaration from a man who has spent most of his adult life on the margins of one of Hollywood's most famous families.
"I, James Haven, begin a new chapter of my life," he said in the video. The former actor, now 53, framed the announcement not as a sudden change but as the end of a long, private struggle.
"After many years of healing from childhood trauma, I am now free to live the life that I believe I was always meant to live. One of hope, one of peace and one of love."
Haven thanked supporters for "allowing me to be what I was meant to be." He did not specify the nature of the childhood trauma he referenced, and no members of his family, including Jolie or Voight, had publicly responded at the time of the announcement.
The letter Haven read on the Substack livestream reached further back, into early memories that he said shaped his sense of self long before he had the words to explain it. The Daily Caller reported the details of the letter, which Haven read in full.
"When I was a little boy, I was absolutely obsessed with the Disney princesses. I would sneak glitter onto my cheeks, swipe mascara onto my lashes, and for those moments, I felt like magic."
"I didn't have the language back then to explain why I just knew it made me feel more like me," Haven continued. "It was never about pretending to be someone else. It was about letting a part of myself shine that had always been there."
He addressed the question of timing directly. Haven said he was coming out not because he had changed, but because he was tired of hiding. "Coming out isn't about becoming someone new," he said. "It's about allowing everyone else to meet the person who has been here all along."
The statement ended with a line that tied his childhood recollection to his adult declaration. "That little boy with glitter on his face and mascara on his lashes was never confused, broken, or something to be ashamed of," Haven said. "He was simply gay."
Perhaps the most pointed passage in the letter was aimed at his relatives, though Haven did not single anyone out. He expressed hope that his family members could "choose love over fear, understanding over judgment, and connection over the beliefs that may have kept us apart."
That phrasing, "the beliefs that may have kept us apart", raises obvious questions about Haven's relationship with his father, Jon Voight, who has been one of Hollywood's most outspoken conservatives for decades. Haven did not elaborate. He said only that he hoped his family "can look beyond the labels and simply see me with the same heart, the same laugh, the same soul they've always known."
Voight, now in his late 80s, has been a prominent figure in Republican politics and a vocal supporter of traditional values. Haven's carefully worded appeal stopped short of accusation but left little doubt that the relationship has been complicated. In a year that has already brought major personal revelations from Danny Glover about his Alzheimer's diagnosis, Haven's announcement adds another deeply personal chapter to the broader story of Hollywood families navigating private struggles in public view.
Haven's personal life had already drawn some attention before Thursday's statement. He married Romi Imbelli in August 2024, but the couple filed paperwork to have the marriage annulled just 15 days later, according to People magazine. Whether the annulment was ultimately granted remains unclear from available reporting.
The fact that Imbelli's own social media platforms served as the vehicle for Haven's coming out suggests the two remain on good terms despite the dissolved marriage. Imbelli's Instagram account, @romi_hairandbeauty, hosted the video, while her Substack publication provided the livestream platform. Haven did not address the marriage or annulment directly in either statement.
Haven has largely stayed out of the spotlight for years. Described as a former actor, he appeared in a handful of films in the early 2000s but never approached the career trajectory of his sister, who became one of the highest-paid actresses in the world, or his father, whose decades-long career includes an Academy Award. The entertainment world has seen no shortage of dramatic personal disclosures in recent months, from the sudden death of Sam Neill to the fatal stabbing of veteran actor James Handy, but Haven's announcement stands apart as a voluntary act, made on his own terms.
Several significant questions hang over the story. Neither Angelina Jolie nor Jon Voight had commented publicly as of Thursday evening. The Voight-Jolie family has a well-documented history of estrangement and reconciliation, Jolie herself went years without speaking to her father before the two eventually reconnected, and Haven's reference to "beliefs that may have kept us apart" hints at tensions that remain unresolved.
Haven also left the nature of his "childhood trauma" unspecified. Whether that phrase refers to the very public divorce of his parents, Voight and actress Marcheline Bertrand, or to something else entirely, Haven did not say. He chose to keep the focus on what he called a new beginning rather than a detailed accounting of old wounds.
In an era when celebrity personal crises routinely play out in courtrooms and tabloid headlines, Haven's approach was notably restrained. No press tour. No magazine exclusive. A video on his ex-wife's Instagram and a letter read on a small Substack page.
Whatever comes next for Haven and his family, the man said what he came to say, and how the people closest to him respond will say just as much about them.
