Richard Pryor once openly admitted he dated a transgender woman…and years later, his son Richard Jr. revealed to his true sexual identity to his pops, but also proudly expressed himself by performing as a drag queen artist. His son has now explained what that conversation was like and more.

Richard Pryor On Dating A Transgender Woman

Richard Pryor was not shy at all about revealing the time he dated a transgender woman. “Pause and rewind that back,” you say? Aight then: The legendary comedian said he tried a relationship with a transgender woman for about two weeks, also confessing that she resembled Josephine Baker:

[Via NY Daily News] One night, “I discovered that she was actually a he. For some reason, I didn’t care.  … I never kept him a secret. My best friend for instance, knew I was f**king a dude, and a drop-dead gorgeous one at that. I even admitted doing something different was exciting. But after two weeks of being gay, enough was enough and I went back to life as a heterosexual.” – Richard Pryor

Years later, Richard’s son, Richard Pryor Jr. has spoken out about his sexuality as well…

Richard Pryor Jr a.k.a. “Ivanna Schtup” Speaks On Being A Gay ‘Part-Time Drag Queen’

Richard Pryor Jr. is an actor, singer, comedian…and yes, he’s gay and proud of it. There are a lot of similarities between he and his Dad. In an interview with Feast of Fun, this is what Richard Jr. had to say about the how his parents handled him confessing to them that he was gay:

Richard Pryor Jr.: Dad [comedian, Richard Pryor] took it well, but Mom freaked out. She was like, ‘Oh, where did I go wrong?!!’ She thought that it was her fault. I expected it to be the other way around. You always think that people don’t know, but then you tell them and they’re like ‘Well, I already knew.'”

So, are you saying that your Dad already knew you were gay?
Pryor Jr.: “Oh God…how could he not know? One time I had picked up these two hitchhikers and my Mom caught them in the house when I wasn’t there…they were naked and when I got home my Mom called and said “Richard Jr. your Dad wants to speak to you!” Then my Dad just outright asked me, “Are you gay?” and I basically just cried & lied my way out of that one…LOL. This was before I came out, but he knew. I came out and then went back in [got married], and then came out again.”

On dressing in drag as his alter ego, “Ivanna Schtup”:

Pryor Jr.: “To me it’s performing…anything you do as far as being in front of people…it’s performing, it’s acting. That’s the way I’ve always looked at it. it was never a thing for me like: ‘I wanna be a woman, you know. It was just the thing of me performing and just releasing a lot of things that were inside of me out as far as performance and being very theatrical.”

Habits Richard Pryor Jr. Said He Learned Directly From His Dad

Do you have fond childhood memories?
Pryor Jr.: I grew up off and on with my dad. I was with my dad for vacations and summers and got to go on the road and tour with him, too. It was an unbelievable experience but I didn’t know that until I was older. Touring with my dad and introducing him on stage felt like the norm. Now I cherish those memories.

How old were you when your Dad landed in the hospital from his freebasing incident?
Pryor Jr.: It was a week after my high school graduation. I knew it was a suicide attempt. He had so many demons.

Did you struggle with addiction, too?
Pryor Jr.: Yeah, I went through all that. I crashed and burned. When I was old enough, I moved to L.A. and went club-wild. Drank anything, smoked anything, took anything. There was one time when I worked on one of my dad’s films and I was so high that my dad flew me from the set to a rehab. I nearly had a heart attack, in the hospital…I flatlined. I went through another tough period when my mother was diagnosed with cancer. I tried to kill myself with an overdose on pills.

[I just wanted] to fit in. I’ve learned that life really comes down to acceptance. A lot of my turmoil came from trying to have acceptance for my dad. A lot of my drug abuse was my own naïve way of trying to be closer to him. He was a partier so I thought if I were like him, we could be close.

[Sources: Feast of Fun; Soul Train; Examiner]

Richard Pryor Jr. seems to have innately inherited and/or learned his father’s ability to live in his truths. That’s never a bad trait to have. Salute to the late Richard Pryor Sr. and his son for being bold enough to share their authentic selves with the world.