What To Know
- Rowdy Robertson, adopted son of Duck Dynasty’s Willie and Korie Robertson, revealed he was sent to a Christian boarding school as a teen partly due to his sexuality and behavioral issues.
- He clarified his comments were about being gay in the South, rather than criticism of his family.
- Rowdy maintains a relationship with the Robertson family, noting some relatives are accepting of his sexuality while others are not, but he remains grateful for their support and care.
Rowdy Robertson, the youngest child of Willie Robertson and Korie Robertson, opened up about his upbringing in a series of TikTok Lives last month. The footage was captured by YouTuber Lilly Archive and featured Rowdy alleging that he was sent to a Christian boarding school because of his sexuality and behavioral issues.
After Rowdy’s father died, he was adopted by the Duck Dynasty stars in 2002 when he was 13 years old. On July 25, he partook in a viral TikTok trend by pretending to film a scene for a Netflix documentary. The post was captioned, “Me preparing for the Netflix documentary on how I got adopted by one of the most well known families in the south while also being gay.”
He then expanded on the topic in his TikTok Live. Rowdy explained that he was sent to Master’s Ranch Christian Academy, a baptist boarding school, for “one, being a little snot, and two, it was partially because of my being gay.” However, he clarified it was “mainly because I was a little snot.”
@o_o.getaload.of.this.guy 🦆 #netflixdocumentary #plottwist #lgbt #southern #fyp ♬ On a Mission – Duomo
Rowdy went to the school when he was 16 and 17, coming home around the time he turned 18. “The boarding school, I just faked my way ’til I made it, basically, to get out of there,” he explained. While he said he did have “some cool experiences” at the school, he “started getting sneakier with how I portrayed things” so he could leave sooner. “I was so miserable there,” Rowdy admitted. “I was like, if I’m gonna get my way out of there, I’m just gonna fake it. They can’t change me being me, so I’m just gonna make them think I did.”
One fan asked if Rowdy’s family has been accepting of him. He replied, “It kind of depends. Some people were from the get-go, and some people I’ve never told. One of the guys in my family, he was in the military at one point. He’s an in-law kind of thing. I’ve never shown that part of my life to him because I heard where he stands on stuff like that. There’s some people I choose to share that part of my life with because I know that even if they aren’t accepting of it, they’re not going to view me differently, compared to the people I know that are completely against it and they think all people like that are just disgusting.”
He said he’s come out to some of his siblings who have “been accepting.” As for the ones he hasn’t told, “They probably already know just from everyone else in the family that does, so I’m not really worried about people knowing or not.”
When asked if he’d bring a significant other to Robertson family events, Rowdy said, “I don’t know if they would or wouldn’t [be accepted]. That’s a later down-the-road type thing when I do have a significant other to worry about that with. I do imagine they would [be invited] because even if [my family] might not agree with something, they’ll still try to be as respectful about it as possible. I think they would be nice about it and let them [come], but I don’t know if they’d actually be accepting of it.”
Rowdy confirmed that he still has a relationship with the Robertsons and talks to them today. “I still go home to see them sometimes,” he added. “Yes, they are good to me. They actually do a lot for me, and I am so grateful for it. I would not be here without them. I recognize that, and I do not take that for granted.”
@o_o.getaload.of.this.guy #fyp ♬ original sound – o_o.getaload.of.this.guy
He later followed up the Live with a post on TikTok where he insisted that the comments he made on his Live were not meant to be directed at his family. “The video is more or less directed towards being gay in the south, more than being gay in the South with my family,” Rowdy explained. “My family knows. It’s obvious. I have a rainbow flag in my bio on Instagram. It’s not a secret or anything.”
Rowdy said he talked to his mom after hopping off the live and that she “understands” he wasn’t directing his comments towards her, which “is the only thing that matters” to him.