Jodie Foster Comes Out, Retires and Slams Lack of Privacy in Surprising Golden Globes Speech

There were winners and losers at the 70th Golden Globe Awards Sunday, but one of the biggest newsmakers of the evening was Lifetime Achievement Award winner Jodie Foster, who came out as a lesbian and seemed to retire from Hollywood during her speech.

After being presented with the award by former co-star and close friend Robert Downey Jr., Foster took a few light-hearted jabs at her own highlight reel and said she felt like the prom queen of the night. However, her speech quickly took a turn when Foster announced she had "the sudden urge to say something that I've never been able to air in public. I'm just going to put it out there loud and proud. I am going need your support on this. I am... single," Foster said.

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Although the Oscar winner didn't outright say that she is gay -- as many predicted she would in that moment -- she went on to confirm her homosexuality. "I already did my coming out about a thousand years ago back in the Stone Age in those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to trusted friends and family and co-workers," she said. "But now, apparently, I'm told that every celebrity is expected to honor their details of their private life with a press conference, a fragrance and a prime-time reality show."

Foster went onto thank her ex-girlfriend, Cydney Bernard, whom she called "one of the deepest loves of my life, my heroic co-parent, my ex-partner in love but my righteous soul partner in life." Foster said she was "so proud" of their modern family and also gave a shout-out to their sons Charlie and Kit. "Boys, in case you didn't know it, this song, like all of this, this song is for you."

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Foster's rare public acknowledgement over her longtime female partner came after the actress was featured in a high-profile feature in The Advocate discussing celebrities who had not yet publicly come out. Anderson Cooper was also featured in the article, just months before he publicly discussed his homosexuality for the first time.

Foster slammed those who expected a more public coming-out moment from her. "You guys might be surprised, but I am not Honey Boo Boo child. I'm sorry; that's just not me. It never was and it never will be," Foster said. "Please don't cry because my reality show would be so boring. I would have to make out with Marion Cotillard. I'd have to spank Daniel Craig's bottom just to stay on the air."

Foster defended her decision to keep her private life private and said that some day people will look back and think how "beautiful" privacy was in Hollywood. "If you had been a public figure from the time that you were a toddler, if you had to fight for a life that felt real and normal and honest against all odds, then maybe you too might value privacy above all else," she said. "I have given everything up there since I was 3 years old. That's reality show enough."

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Foster's harsh words for the current celebrity culture were reminiscent of an essay she penned for The Daily Beastback in August when she told the media to leave her former co-star Kristen Stewart alone after Stewart was put in the spotlight after her cheating scandal.

After so many years in the spotlight, Foster sounded ready to retire from acting and the entertainment industry altogether. "This feels like the end of one era and the beginning of something else," she said. "Now what? I may never be on this stage. On any stage for that matter. Change -- you got to love it."

Foster said she would continue to tell stories, it was just unclear what kind of stories. "I may be holding a different talking stick, and maybe it won't be as sparkly. Maybe it won't open on 3,000 screens. Maybe it will be so quiet, and delicate, that only dogs can hear it whistle," Foster said. "But it will be my writing on the wall: 'Jodie Foster was here.' I still am, and I want to be seen. To be understood deeply, and to be not so very lonely."

What did you think of Foster's speech?