Sophia Bush and Ashlyn Harris just made their red carpet debut as a couple. The One Tree Hill alum, 41, and the soccer star, 38, attended the 2024 White House Correspondents’ Dinner as each other’s date on April 27 at the Washington Hilton, just two days after Bush announced she identifies as queer in a personal essay for Glamour.
Bush and Harris wore coordinating Harbison outfits on the red carpet – Bush looking stunning in a black strapless dress with gold details and Harris matching in chic black pants and a textured vest with gold details. The actress also confirmed her romance with the athlete after months of speculation in her recent essay, saying that she was comfortable now calling herself “queer” after plenty of introspection.
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“I think I’ve always known that my sexuality exists on a spectrum,” Bush wrote. “I’ve experienced so much safety, respect, and love in the queer community, as an ally all of my life, that, as I came into myself, I already felt it was my home. I think I’ve always known that my sexuality exists on a spectrum. Right now I think the word that best defines it is queer. I can’t say it without smiling, actually. And that feels pretty great.” Bush gushed, “I finally feel like I can breathe. I don’t think I can explain how profound that is. I feel like I was wearing a weighted vest for who knows how long. I hadn’t realized how heavy it was until I finally just put it down.”
When it comes to her relationship with Harris, Bush shut down any speculation that there was any infidelity surrounding their romance, which began in the fall of 2023 following their respective divorces – Bush from Grant Hughes, 42, and Harris from Ali Krieger, 39.
“The idea that I left my marriage based on some hysterical rendezvous – that, to be crystal-clear, never happened – rather than having taken over a year to do the most soul-crushing work of my life?” Bush wrote. “Rather than realizing I had to be the most vulnerable I’ve ever been, on a public stage, despite being terrified to my core? It feels brutal.”
She explained that people haven’t been “privy to just how much time it took, how many painful conversations were had” surrounding her divorce and how much “effort was made to be graceful with other people’s processing, their time and obligations, and their feelings.” The Chicago P.D. alum recalled, “What felt like seconds after I started to see what was in front of me, the online rumor mill began to spit in the ugliest ways. There were blatant lies. Violent threats. There were accusations of being a home-wrecker. The ones who said I’d left my ex because I suddenly realized I wanted to be with women-my partners have known what I’m into for as long as I have (so that’s not it, y’all, sorry!).”
