Aaron Hernandez’s fiancee says she would have accepted his bisexuality

Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez says "I wish that he would have told me because I would not have loved him any differently ...It's not shameful."

The grieving girlfriend Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez believes Netflix should have been careful about exploring questions of Aaron Hernandez's sexuality without him around to respond.

Melanie Eversley

Jan 29, 2020

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Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez, the fiancee of late New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, has some choice words for the recently released Netflix docuseries about the football player’s murder of Odin Lloyd.

The grieving girlfriend and mother of Hernandez’s daughter told ABC’s Good Morning America that Netflix should have been careful about exploring questions of Hernandez’s sexuality without him around to respond. She said she never had any indication that he might be gay or bisexual, or that he might be trying to figure out his sexuality.

“If he did feel that way or if he felt the urge … I wish that I was told,” said Jenkins-Hernandez, 30, as she fought back tears. “I wish that he would have told me because I would not have loved him any differently. I would have understood. It’s not shameful. I don’t think anybody should feel shameful for who they are inside, regardless of who they love. I think it’s a beautiful thing. I just— I wish I was able to tell him that.”

She continued, “It would’ve been hard to watch somebody walk away or to live a different life, but it’s not shameful.”

ABC News released the segment of Jenkins-Hernandez’s interview on social media, and the full interview was to air Wednesday morning.

“You can’t describe someone’s sexuality without them being there,” she said.

In the past, Jenkins-Hernandez has expressed harsh words about those questions, and once said that she would have “disowned him” if he told her he was gay.

Netflix released Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez on Jan. 15 amid much fanfare. The docuseries explores the life of Hernandez and alleges he engaged in a same-sex relationship before he committed suicide in 2017. Hernandez was convicted of the 2013 murder of soccer player Odin Lloyd in 2015. Two years later, he hanged himself in his prison cell. He was 27.

Netflix so far has not released any comment on Jenkins-Hernandez’s interview. The organization indicates on its website that the three-episode series was built from interviews with “friends, players and insiders.”