Hailee Steinfeld: Is She Gay or Straight? A Deep Dive into Her Dating History

Hailee Steinfeld recently touched the hearts of many with her endearing and hilarious portrayal of a queer character, and she did it with solid intention. However, her performance — and a particular Instagram post — brought much speculation regarding her sexuality and dating life among fans.

Hailee Steinfeld is often hailed for the riveting performance she always delivers with her characters. Her fanbase grew exponentially as she captivated audiences in productions including "Pitch Perfect 2" "Hawkeye," and "The Edge of Seventeen."

She also starred as Emily Dickinson, a lesbian poet, in the renowned comedy-drama, "Dickinson." Steinfeld's representation of this fraction of the LGBTQ community was compelling enough to bring her sexuality into question. And over the recent years, fans have speculated — and even dreamed — if she was in some way queer.

As the discussion began in November 2021, one user on Twitter wrote, "wait, is Hailee Steinfeld gay??" while another hoped, "Hailee Steinfeld is gay, right… like just a little bit??? pls." Last August, another person tweeted, "My toxic trait is wishing that Hailee Steinfeld is queer." The part-time singer fueled the rumors with an Instagram photo she captioned:

"G-A-Y."

The image depicted her mid-performance onstage as multi-colored confetti fell to the ground. While her comment section brimmed with praises, her followers were mainly intrigued by her caption, as one wrote, "Say whaaaat." Others who seemed to be in the loop said they hoped Steinfeld was "a little fruity," while another person exclaimed, "BEE WHO YOU ARE, FOR YOUR PRIDEEEEEEE."

Kissing a Girl and Playing an LGBTQ+ Character - What Started the Discussions about Steinfeld's Sexual Orientation?

"Dickinson" was a show well-received by audiences, as the Rotten Tomatoes ratings indicated. The first season scored 76 percent on the Tomatometer and 96 percent out of 250+ audience reviews. Viewers raved about Emily, as one of them wrote, "this thoroughly modern Emily is easy to relate to, in all the ways that really matter."

Seinfeld's character in "Dickinson" depicted the early life of the late Emily Dickinson, whose rebellious nature would lead her to become one of the world's greatest poets. Her romantic interest in the series was Sue, Emily's sister-in-law, played by Ella Hunt.

While promoting the show's second season in January 2021, Steinfeld spoke candidly about her responsibility to represent the LGBTQ community through Emily. She described her onscreen relationship with Hunt as a "huge part" of the production and felt compelled to do it justice, as she said:

"I hope that the LGBTQ community can watch this and feel accurately represented, truthfully represented."

Although Steinfeld has yet to confirm her sexuality, her co-star appears to have made hers known to the public. In March 2021, Hunt repeatedly penned the phrase "I love women" at least 20 times in one tweet. As of this writing, the post had garnered over 7K supportive retweets and 29K likes.

Is Hailee Steinfeld Really Gay?

While the speculation continues (the same for Conan Gray), Steinfeld has only been romantically linked to men. Her last confirmed relationship was with Niall Horan, the former One Direction boy bander. The two had known each other for some time before they sparked dating rumors in January 2018.

Steinfeld initially remained tight-lipped about her connection to Horan, describing herself as a "very private person," though she allowed a few glimpses now and then. In the following months, she and Horan were spotted at a few public events until they confirmed the nature of their relationship in August during a date at Disneyland.

Shawn Mendes even commented on their relationship, saying it was "common knowledge." However, reports surfaced by that year's end, claiming the two had separated. Before Horan, Steinfeld had been linked to influencer Cameron Smoller. At the time of this writing, the actress appeared to be single.