Jodie Foster acknowledges lesbian partner in public

Double Oscar-winning actress Jodie Foster has publicly acknowledged her lesbian partner Cydney Bernard for the first time.

Foster, 44, paid tribute to "my beautiful Cydney" as she accepted the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award at a Women in Entertainment breakfast, held at a hotel in Beverly Hills last week.

She thanked her film producer partner for being the person "who sticks with me through all the rotten and the bliss".

The couple have been in a relationship for almost 20 years and they are raising two sons together: nine-year-old Charles and Kit, six, at their home in Malibu.

It has been an open secret in Hollywood for many years that Foster is a lesbian, but she has been a notoriously private person.

Foster also spoke of her insecurities during her acceptance speech, saying: "I feel fragile, unsure, struggling to figure it all out, trying to get there even though I'm not sure where there is. I've been working in this business for 42 years and there's no way you can do that and not be as nutty as a fruitcake."

She is well known for several film roles, including that of Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs.

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