Angelina Jolie’s older brother James Haven is opening up about a deeply personal part of his life, revealing publicly that he is gay just months after the end of his brief marriage.
Haven, 53, shared the news during a live appearance with his ex-wife, Romi Imbelli, on her Substack, where the former couple discussed their unusual journey from newlyweds to close friends.
Haven, the son of Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight and the brother of Angelina Jolie, said he came out to Imbelli after the two reconnected following their split.
During the livestream, Haven read an emotional letter about his sexuality and the years he spent hiding a part of himself.
“When I was a little boy, I was absolutely obsessed with the Disney princesses,” Haven wrote. “I would sneak glitter onto my cheeks, swipe mascara onto my lashes, and for those moments, I felt like magic.”
Looking back, Haven said he didn’t understand exactly what those feelings meant at the time.
He said he “didn’t have the language back then to explain why I just knew it made me feel more like me.”
“It was never about pretending to be someone else,” he continued. “It was about letting a part of myself shine that had always been there.”
But as Haven got older, he said he began to feel pressure to bury that side of himself in order to fit in.
“I started wondering if that sparkle was something I had to hide to be accepted by the ‘normal’ boys around me,” he wrote.
Haven said that, like many gay children, he began questioning parts of himself long before he learned to embrace them.
For years, he said, he effectively “dimmed” his own light to make others more comfortable.
Now, he says he is finished hiding.
“Coming out isn’t about becoming someone new,” Haven wrote. “It’s about allowing everyone else to meet the person who has been here all along.”
The emotional letter also appeared to address the possibility that some relatives or others close to him may struggle with his announcement.
“I hope my family and others can choose love over fear, understanding over judgment, and connection over the beliefs that may have kept us apart,” Haven said.
He added that he hopes those closest to him can look past labels and continue seeing “the same heart, the same laugh, the same soul they’ve always known.”
Haven said he is now proud of the man he has become and relieved that he no longer feels compelled to apologize for who he is.
He ended his letter by returning to the image of himself as a young boy experimenting with glitter and mascara.
“That little boy with glitter on his face and mascara on his lashes was never confused, broken, or something to be ashamed of,” Haven wrote. “He was simply gay. He was joyful. He was brave before he even knew it.”
The announcement comes after Haven’s whirlwind marriage to Imbelli.
The pair married in 2024 but separated just days later. Despite the stunningly short-lived union, the two have apparently remained close and are now collaborating professionally.
Haven and Imbelli are currently working to adapt her book into a television series, with Haven expected to direct the project.
For the famously private Haven, who has spent much of his life in the shadow of his Oscar-winning sister and their equally famous father, the announcement marks one of his most candid public revelations yet.
