--- title: YouTube Star Tyler Oakley Speaks on Fame, Ricky Martin, and Barack Obama description: Through a YouTube video, of course canonical: https://time.com/3892950/youtube-tyler-oakley-ellen-show/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-21T19:20:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T07:32:48.858Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: YouTube Star Tyler Oakley Helped Ricky Martin Come Out og:description: Through a YouTube video, of course og:url: https://time.com/3892950/youtube-tyler-oakley-ellen-show/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: YouTube Star Tyler Oakley Helped Ricky Martin Come Out twitter:description: Through a YouTube video, of course twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # YouTube Star Tyler Oakley Helped Ricky Martin Come Out ## Video: Person of the Year 2013 Shortlist: Edith Windsor [Watch (HLS stream): Person of the Year 2013 Shortlist: Edith Windsor](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/9hpSZrim.m3u8) (2:02)  _Published 2013-12-11. TIME's Eliza Gray explains why gay rights activist Edith Windsor is on the short list for the 2013 TIME Person of the Year_ by [The Hollywood Reporter](/author/the-hollywood-reporter/) ## The Hollywood Reporter May 21, 2015 7:20 PM CUT by [The Hollywood Reporter](/author/the-hollywood-reporter/) ## The Hollywood Reporter May 21, 2015 7:20 PM CUT Tyler Oakley could hardly contain his excitement about being on _Ellen_. The YouTube star with nearly seven million subscribers talked about his meteoric rise as a YouTube celebrity, his visit to the White House, and helping Ricky Martin come out of the closet. “Back in 2008 I made a video about the importance of being authentic to yourself and about coming out and how you should wait till you’re ready,” Oakley told Ellen Degeneres. “A few years later I got a tweet one morning on National Coming Out Day and it was from Ricky Martin and he said that video was part of the reason he felt ready to share his story. It was like ‘Oh my god. I used to watch _TRL_ and have a crush on him.'” Oakley also talked about his two-word compliment to Barack Obama in the Oval Office: “Cute desk!” “People just want to watch people live their authentic lives and share the good and the bad,” Oakley tells Degeneres. “You can have fun and be a positive influence and have a good impact. And it can still be entertaining.” Watch the full clip of Oakley on _Ellen_ below. _This_ [_article_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tyler-oakley-ellen-youtube-star-797383 "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_The Hollywood Reporter_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com "undefined")_._ _More from The Hollywood Reporter:_ * [Cannes: ‘Paulina’ Tops Critics’ Week Awards](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-paulina-tops-critics-week-797332 "undefined") * [Cannes: George Romero’s ‘Empire of the Dead’ Graphic Novels Heading to TV](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-2015-george-romero-tv-797368 "undefined") * [Cannes: “Flatgate” Petition Demands Clarification on High Heel Requirements](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-flatgate-petition-demands-clarification-797390 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3892950/youtube-tyler-oakley-ellen-show/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3892950/youtube-tyler-oakley-ellen-show/"},"headline":"YouTube Star Tyler Oakley Helped Ricky Martin Come Out","datePublished":"2015-05-21T19:20:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:32:48.858Z","description":"Through a YouTube video, of course","url":"https://time.com/3892950/youtube-tyler-oakley-ellen-show/","keywords":["celebrities","LGBT","Ellen Degeneres"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Hollywood Reporter","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-hollywood-reporter/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3892950/youtube-tyler-oakley-ellen-show/","name":"YouTube Star Tyler Oakley Helped Ricky Martin Come Out"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Person of the Year 2013 Shortlist: Edith Windsor","description":"TIME's Eliza Gray explains why gay rights activist Edith Windsor is on the short list for the 2013 TIME Person of the Year","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/9hpSZrim/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-12-11T12:42:22.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/9hpSZrim.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3892950/youtube-tyler-oakley-ellen-show/","duration":"PT2M2S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3892950/youtube-tyler-oakley-ellen-show/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```