Word.ws English Dictionary

Closetgate

Closetgate proper noun: a scandal following the airing of the South Park television episode "Trapped in the Closet", which was a satirical parody of Scientology and Scientologist actor Tom Cruise.

Proper noun

Closetgate

  1. A scandal following the airing of the South Park television episode "Trapped in the Closet", which was a satirical parody of Scientology and Scientologist actor Tom Cruise.
    • Closetgate is heating up! Paramount has joined Tom Cruise's public relations rep in denying reports that the movie star strong-armed the studio into spiking a "South Park" episode that ridicules him and Scientology.2006 March 18, Scott Collins, “Clamor outside `South Park' closet”, in Los Angeles Times
    • The Los Angeles Times dubbed the flap Closetgate. "For Stone and Parker, Closetgate will be the gift that keeps on giving," it said.2006 March 19, David Usborne, “South Park declares war on Tom Cruise”, in The Independent

Examples of Closetgate in a sentence

  • You fans will remember the South Park 'Closetgate' episode and 'couch incident' on the popular talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show of May 23, 2005.2006 August 23, Anu Anand, “Congo, Iran & Tom Cruise”, in BBC World Service:
  • Matt Stone and Trey Parker – the show’s fearless creators – were not afraid to call out Cruise on his power play – being dubbed “Closetgate” by The L.A.2009, “Tom Cruise - Biography”, in Turner Classic Movies:
  • The LA Times dubbed it "Closetgate" as Comedy Central pulled the episode at the last minute.2009, “Off-screen antics cost Cruise”, in Herald-Sun:

Origin of Closetgate

From closet + -gate; from the name of the South Park television episode "Trapped in the Closet" (referring to the figurative "closet" that homosexuals who have not disclosed their sexual orientation are said to be in).

Questions about Closetgate

What does Closetgate mean?
Closetgate means a scandal following the airing of the South Park television episode "Trapped in the Closet", which was a satirical parody of Scientology and Scientologist actor Tom Cruise.
How do you use Closetgate in a sentence?
You fans will remember the South Park 'Closetgate' episode and 'couch incident' on the popular talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show of May 23, 2005.
What part of speech is Closetgate?
Closetgate is a proper noun.

Words near Closetgate in the dictionary

  1. closeted
  2. closetedly
  3. closetedness
  4. closetful
  5. closetfuls
  6. Closetgate
  7. closeth
  8. closetiness
  9. closeting
  10. closetings
  11. closetkeeper

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Closetgate (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “Closetgate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/closetgate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.