Do we like Kathy Bates?
Our score: 7 out of 10. Nothing harmful in her own words or acts and some real good, but the record on LGBTQ+ issues is thin in reliable sources.
Kathy Bates grew up in Memphis and moved to New York in 1970. She made her film debut in Taking Off in 1971, then spent most of the 1980s on stage, picking up a Tony nomination and an Obie. It was a long, patient climb for someone who didn't become a household name until her forties.
The breakthrough was Misery, which won her the Best Actress Oscar. Later came Emmy wins for Two and a Half Men and American Horror Story: Coven. Not bad for a woman who says she was ready to say goodbye to acting before the next role turned up.
That next role was Matlock. In 2024 she told ABC her talk of a final show had been “misunderstood”, and the series has since become a hit. At 77 she became the oldest person ever nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She said of the script: “I had no expectations when I got the script.”
Now the harm check. We searched her name against LGBTQ+ issues, women, vaccines, climate, migrants and Trump, and found no harmful words, no campaigns and no dodgy company of her own. We also found no verified, reliable-outlet record of what she has said or done for LGBTQ+ causes, and plenty of junk sites guessing about her personal life, which we've ignored. So it's a clean pass, with a gap where the evidence should be.
The recent noise isn't about her. In June 2026 a former Matlock writer sued CBS Studios, the showrunner and two executive producers, alleging a hostile workplace with racist and sexual remarks. CBS said its investigation found no support for the claims, and it has since moved to dismiss, calling the complaint baseless. Bates isn't named in the suit and nothing alleged involves her, so it doesn't count against her.