Jonathan Bailey Is Quitting Acting To Focus On His LGBTQ+ Charity
Image: Photo: jbayleaf / Instagram.
Wicked and Jurassic Park star Jonathan Bailey has announced he will be stepping away from the spotlight in 2026 to focus fully on his LGBTQ+ charity, The Shameless Fund.
Best known for his breakout performances in Bridgerton, Fellow Travelers, Wicked (during the press tour for which, he )聽and this year鈥檚 Jurassic World: Rebirth (where he ) , the 37-year-old British star admitted the past few years have been relentless.
鈥淚鈥檝e been working solidly for about three years now, which has been amazing and mind-blowing,鈥� he told . 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 going to stop acting for a bit next year and just focus on The Shameless Fund.鈥�
Launched in June 2024, the charity was born out of Bailey鈥檚 belief that visibility and culture can be powerful drivers for change. Its debut project was a playful collaboration with fashion house Loewe: a 鈥淒rink Your Milk鈥� T-shirt inspired by a tender, defiant moment from Fellow Travelers.
The Shameless Fund aims to funnel resources into grassroots and global LGBTQ+ initiatives, particularly in spaces where funding is scarce.
More recently, the Fund released a limited-edition pink-framed 鈥� pink is the key colour of The Shameless Fund 鈥� sunglasses collection with British eyewear brand Cubitts.
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Bailey pointed to stark statistics from the UK that motivated him to act: 鈥淭here’s this statistic: out of every 拢100 raised in the UK, only 1p goes to the LGBTQ+ community. You really have to dig to find solutions, and I genuinely think The Shameless Fund is exactly that. That’s why this collaboration with Cubitts has been so amazing. Not only is it fun and creative, it can also make a real difference.鈥�
He also stressed that this is not a retreat from public life, but a refocusing of energy. Bailey said the first port of call will be infrastructure and staffing the charity to be filled with the best people possible.
鈥淥ver the next few months, I’ll be focusing on staffing and making sure we get all the right people in all the right places.”
Bailey will continue with his existing acting commitments through 2025 before taking the planned break to develop the charity.
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