Jonathan Bailey Is Quitting Acting To Focus On His LGBTQ+ Charity

Wicked and Jurassic Park star Jonathan Bailey has announced he will be stepping away from the spotlight in 2026 to focus fully on his LGBTQ+ charity, The Shameless Fund.

Best known for his breakout performances in Bridgerton, Fellow Travelers, Wicked (during the press tour for which, he delighted the queer community by hitting the red carpet in Australia wearing stunningly hyper-short shorts) and this year’s Jurassic World: Rebirth (where he delighted the queer community with his “slutty little glasses”) , the 37-year-old British star admitted the past few years have been relentless.

“I’ve been working solidly for about three years now, which has been amazing and mind-blowing,” he told British GQ. “But I’m going to stop acting for a bit next year and just focus on The Shameless Fund.”

Launched in June 2024, the charity was born out of Bailey’s belief that visibility and culture can be powerful drivers for change. Its debut project was a playful collaboration with fashion house Loewe: a “Drink Your Milk” T-shirt inspired by a tender, defiant moment from Fellow Travelers.

The Shameless Fund aims to funnel resources into grassroots and global LGBTQ+ initiatives, particularly in spaces where funding is scarce.

More recently, the Fund released a limited-edition pink-framed — pink is the key colour of The Shameless Fund — sunglasses collection with British eyewear brand Cubitts.

 

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Bailey pointed to stark statistics from the UK that motivated him to act: “There’s this statistic: out of every £100 raised in the UK, only 1p goes to the LGBTQ+ community. You really have to dig to find solutions, and I genuinely think The Shameless Fund is exactly that. That’s why this collaboration with Cubitts has been so amazing. Not only is it fun and creative, it can also make a real difference.”

He also stressed that this is not a retreat from public life, but a refocusing of energy. Bailey said the first port of call will be infrastructure and staffing the charity to be filled with the best people possible.

“Over the next few months, I’ll be focusing on staffing and making sure we get all the right people in all the right places.”

Bailey will continue with his existing acting commitments through 2025 before taking the planned break to develop the charity.