Los Angeles- Neil Patrick Harris is gay – and wants to quell recent reports that he had denied it. The actor tells PEOPLE exclusively:

“The public eye has always been kind to me, and until recently I have been able to live a pretty normal life. Now it seems there is speculation and interest in my private life and relationships.

“So, rather than ignore those who choose to publish their opinions without actually talking to me, I am happy to dispel any rumors or misconceptions and am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest and feel most fortunate to be working with wonderful people in the business I love.”

Harris, 33, currently stars in the CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother. He shot to fame in 1989 at age 16 when he played a teen-prodigy doctor on the hit Doogie Howser, M.D. “It was a very fast but wonderful education,” he told PEOPLE in 1998.

After the show went off the air in 1993, he shook off his teen image with roles in the musicals Rent and Assassins and a wild turn as an unhinged version himself in the 2004 movie Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.

“I’m enjoying my 30s,” he told PEOPLE in 2004. “I feel like I know where I’m going. And I like where I’m going.”

from towleroad.com: Neil Patrick Harris Publicist: He’s Not Gay

A publicist for actor Neil Patrick Harris has issued a statement following a report on Canada.com that Harris had helped his “longtime sweetheart” David Burtka land a role on the TV sitcom How I Met Your Mother. Here’s the item that sent publicist pens aflutter:

“Nepotism is alive and well in Hollywood. Former Doogie Howser star Neil Patrick Harris, 33, recently got his longtime sweetheart David Burtka, 31, a guest role on his series How I Met Your Mother (airing Wednesday nights on CH). Burtka is an experienced theatre actor (he played opposite Bernadette Peters in Gypsy on Broadway and starred in the touring company of Beauty and the Beast) but also had small parts on episodes of The West Wing and Crossing Jordan.”