John Cena kept his brother’s sexuality a secret for over a decade

John Cena fans are showering praise on the wrestler after he recalled keeping his brother’s sexuality a secret for over 10 years.

A fan account for the 48-year-old former WWE wrestler shared a clip of the star explaining the moment he discovered his brother, Steve Cena, was gay.

In the clip, from a 2014 interview with the late Larry King, the 14-time WWE world champion explained that his brother came out to him privately when they were teenagers.

“I had two choices; I could either disown him as a human being for what he does, or he can still be my brother,” he told King. “He came out to me, uh, before I turned 20 years old, and he asked me to keep it a secret.”

That’s exactly what Cena did for over 10 years until his brother was ready to tell his family.

“When he did, he was met with a little adversity by the family. It’s an old Italian family. You know, they’re stubborn old b*******,” he explained. “But, you know, I was there to support him every step of the way.”

He explained that his parents saw the way that Cena supported his brother, which in-turn helped them to realise his sexuality was “not a roadblock”.

Cena has long being a vocal ally of the LGBTQ+ community, regularly supporting out gay wrestlers such as Darren Young, who became the first gay WWE superstar actively competing in the squared-circle.

Homophobia is ‘downright ignorance’, Cena says

“Darren is one of the best professionals in the ring,” Cena explained. “He’s one of the hardest working guys, one of the most technical guys we have. His life outside the ring doesn’t affect his work.”

Speaking on homophobia within the entertainment and sporting industry, Cena said much of the bigotry comes from “downright ignorance”.

“People who can’t accept how people live their life, because we only get one go around in this thing, that’s just downright ignorance,” he said.

“I’m a working man. If what you do affects me clocking in and clocking out every day, I’ll have a problem with that. If it doesn’t, like I said, you only have one life to live, you might as well live it the way you want to, because living an unhappy life … that ain’t the way to wake up every day.”

Cena’s comments came in the run-up to the pivotal Obergefell v Hodges judgment, in which the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is protected by the constitution.

The ruling and its protections have come under threat by Republican lawmakers since US president Donald Trump began his second term last year.

Jim Obergefell, the LGBTQ+ rights activist who pioneered the historic judgment, said in July 2025 he feared same-sex marriage protections would be “erased” under Trump.

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