In this month’s Elle Magazine, Our Lady Of Perpetual Resting Bitch Face Kristen Stewart wears some very pretty clothes, stares miserably into space and speaks glowingly of her relationship with her very cute girlfriend, visual effects producer and dapper blazer enthusiast Alicia Cargile. While Kristen has spoken about living openly in the past, and has referred to her sexuality in broad terms, this is the first time she’s used the word “girlfriend” publicly or even really acknowledged a relationship of hers as it was happening (save for that beautiful poetry she wrote for Robert Pattinson back in 2014).
Of Cargile, she says, “I think also right now I’m just really in love with my girlfriend. We’ve broken up a couple of times and gotten back together, and this time I was like, ‘Finally, I can feel again.'”
Ever since we first spotted Kristen Stewart cavorting sullenly on the beach with her Very Good Friend Alicia, we here at Vapid Fluff HQ have been smitten. As the Twilight star has navigated invasive paparazzi and tabloid headlines accusing her of unspeakable nonsense, we’ve had mixed feelings about covering her, because it’s been very obvious that Stewart was very uncomfortable with the attention. For a while, she and Alicia were inseparable, strolling down Los Angeles streets, grabbing coffee, walking with coffee, drinking coffee, walking away from coffee. The tabloids called them roommates, gal pals, best friends — anything but girlfriends, which they very clearly were. Then, as soon as we’d finally become attached to their relationship, it was over. Stewart wandered around LAX terminals alone, Patsy Cline echoing mournfully in her earbuds, batting her impossibly long eyelashes at no one in particular. She dated another famous person, this time very publicly, and when it fizzled out we were delighted to see her seemingly reconcile with Cargile in social situations. Before long, Alicia was walking red carpets in Cannes with her gal pal, holding her comfortable sneakers for afterparties, and escorting Stewart to and from Japanese restaurants. It was truly the glamorous tabloid romance that the queer public had always dreamed of, and finally deserved.
Stewart confides to Elle that part of her reluctance to discuss her personal life had to do with the way her relationship with former costar Robert Pattinson had been sensationalized in the press. “When I was dating a guy I was hiding everything that I did because everything personal felt like it was immediately trivialized, so I didn’t like it. We were turned into these characters and placed into this ridiculous comic book, and I was like, ‘That’s mine. You’re making my relationship something that it’s not.’ I didn’t like that,” she explains. “But then it changed when I started dating a girl. I was like, ‘Actually, to hide this provides the implication that I’m not down with it or I’m ashamed of it, so I had to alter how I approached being in public. It opened my life up and I’m so much happier.”
This particular issue of Elle also features queer icons Hari Nef, Amandla Stenberg and Zayn Malik. Kristen Stewart is currently promoting Equals, a movie costarring Nicholas Hoult that none of us have seen because we are all very busy seeing Ghostbusters ten thousand times, and also a movie with inexcusable human being Woody Allen that we are not going to talk about. Now that Kristen is finally comfortable being visible as a famous person who is not straight, we are really excited to see what her future holds.
Alicia Cargile’s most recent project has been this awkward hug, issued on a Los Feliz street while walking Kristen back to the car following a refreshing sushi lunch.
Aw! I’m very happy for her.
But also, I feel like this is kind of historic. Not just for Kristen, but for all of us. She might be the first famous person to admit to trying to hide her previous heterosexual relationship and then to trying to be open about her queer one instead.
proud of her for coming out. will never support her because she defends woody allen, but i’m proud of her for coming out and living her truth
Hehehehe. I have such an absurd crush on K-Stew. It really is ridiculous. Damn sad goth girls – such a weakness for me.
I never liked her back when she was only in the Twilight movies because they were terrible and she was terrible in them. But I knew about her thing with Robert Pattinson and how media attention kind of ruined them. I respect her wanting to keep her private life private. I’ve always been like that, myself. Dating and attraction are a very private, personal thing for some people. On the other hand, having to hide your relationship when you don’t want to does not feel good. For the first few years I was with the guy I married, we were sort of on the d/l for reasons, mostly from my parents. I hated being made to feel ashamed of something that was wonderful and added so much to my life. It’s a fine line between maintaining your privacy and feeling like you’re hiding.
Props to K-Stew for coming out for the sake of visibility, though. That’s what finally prompted me to talk more about being bi and be more open about it at my university. I wanted to be a source of support for students, friends, and community members, and it was so worth it. But it’s still messed up because every time I’m out with hubs, I get read as straight, and then more often than not when I’m alone I get read as lesbian because of how I look. I wish I could hang a big sign around my neck that says something like “yeah I’m a butch Kinsey 1.5 now deal with it!”
Um, I’m not sure where this idea that the media was responsible for anything regarding Stewart’s relationship with Pattinson. He was the one who wanted to keep it private and never acknowledged ever dating her, while she went around telling Elle and Vogue that he was her “English boyfriend” and she “wanted to have his babies.” She always claimed she wanted privacy but she mentioned him over and over in print interviews, so her claims rang hollow.
The media can hardly be blamed for their breakup. I mean, her affair with her married Snow White director and subsequent public apology had more to do with it than any stories about co-stars supposedly dating while acting in 5 films together. I’m glad she’s finally acknowledged the worst-kept secret in Hollywood, and I appreciate how all of her coffee runs with Alicia were characterized in this story. It was kind of ludicrous to see them go to the same place every day for two months solid when they knew the paps would be there waiting for them, and have her still refuse to admit Alicia was her girlfriend. It will be nice when her Twilight fans can accept her and leave Pattinson and Twigs alone.
This article makes it sound like zayn malik is a queer icon. Have I been that out of the loop?
GET ON BOARD
Bless this.
Ive always liked the Alicia/Kristen “relationship”.
And now RELATIONSHIP. ..
I feel a whole lot of emotions I can’t even describe right now?? I shouldn’t care that much about this but I do, I’m sorry
this makes me so happy omg
I think her favorite Pretenders song would be Middle of the Road or I’ll Stand By You.
personal theory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbC8JltxSq8
Stef your diligent reporting and commitment to journalism cannot be understated.
that means a lot <3 it’s been a very big day over here.
I bet when Kristen was giving this interview she was thinking “I’m not sure how Soko will feel about this one, but Stef is gonna be PUMPED”
OH MAN I HOPE SO
We already know Ellen Page and Samira Wiley follow AS, so if she doesn’t yet it’s only a matter of time
finally, i can feel again
Stef do you think she said that just for you?
god i hope so
Wait ellen page reads autostraddle?
Yup, she said “omg yas” on Instagram to Heather and Riese’s graphic evidence of Ted Cruz dressing like her (see comment section here: http://develop.autostraddle.com/10-presidential-candidates-who-dress-like-lesbians-besides-hillary-clinton-324152/)
Is it terrible that the comment “Finally, I can feel again” instantly reminded me of Gina Gershon’s post-sex line in Bound, “I can see again”?
YOU DROPPED THAT EARRING DOWN THE SINK ON PURPOSE, DIDN’T YOU?
OMG I can totally see Alicia doing the Corky and getting the earring back for KStew
That headline, tho. :D
THEY KEEP CHANGING IT although at one point it just said “happy birthday carmen”
“Stewart confides to Elle that part of her reluctance to discuss her personal life had to do with the way her relationship with former costar Robert Pattinson had been sensationalized in the press. “When I was dating a guy I was hiding everything that I did because everything personal felt like it was immediately trivialized, so I didn’t like it. We were turned into these characters and placed into this ridiculous comic book, and I was like, ‘That’s mine. You’re making my relationship something that it’s not.’ I didn’t like that,” she explains. “But then it changed when I started dating a girl. I was like, ‘Actually, to hide this provides the implication that I’m not down with it or I’m ashamed of it, so I had to alter how I approached being in public. It opened my life up and I’m so much happier.””
I get this totally. Good for her for putting it to words.
‘We here at Vapid Fluff HQ have been smitten’ … you don’t say…
As soon as I saw this I was like OMG how will Stef deal??
I’m totally that awkward hugger!
“HUG ME!” “Omg what are you doing this is so awkward”
I still can’t believe that Alicia from Wells Fargo dates movie stars
KStew GayStew confirmed
STEF where is our vapid fluff article on Sarah Gorden and Rachel Daly from NWSL? It’s so necessary, look at their Instagrams!