It’s a tricky situation, trying to recognize influential gay men and women when they won’t even recognize themselves — as gay. Out magazine played this game in 2007 when it named Anderson Cooper and Jodie Foster to its Power 50 list, even though neither are out of the closet. (Since they wouldn’t pose for a cover shoot, models held placards in front of their faces with the twosomes’ mugs.) And, in a genius stroke of publicity, Out is doing it again.
Enter Barry Diller (chairman of IAC, which owns Match.com, Ask.com, and College Humor) and Matt Drudge (the news cycle-setting conservative link curator behind DrudgeReport.com). Neither is openly gay, but both men are indeed — beyond the plausible deniability of “gossip.”
Diller, in fact, is married to fashion mogul Diane von Furstenberg; Drudge retains a surprising amount of privacy given his level of influence and notoriety, keeping a home in South Florida high-rise.
While Biller wouldn’t respond to requests for comment from New York magazine, Drudge did.
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Out describes Drudge this way: “The archly conservative 42-year-old … also happens to love Chaka Khan, The Young and the Restless, and sex with men … Unfortunately, his agenda is often anti-gay, anti-choice, and anti-tolerance.” (The way Drudge spins stories in just a few hyperlinked words reeks of self-hatred.)
And what did Drudge have to say? “False. False. False,” he tells New York. “I do not love sex with men. My site is not anti-gay. I present both sides of the anti-choice-life issue. I am not anti-tolerant! Except against big-government freaks. I liked Chaka in the eighties, and have not watched Young and the Restless in twenty years! But I do watch Judge Judy!”
Maybe Drugde just isn’t doing it right?
For the record, Drudge has denied being gay, telling the Miami New-Times succinctly, “I’m not.” And he told the London Times, “No, I’m not gay. I was nearly married a few years ago.” But he does go to gay bars!
Merlin
He said he did not love sex with men….. that is different than not having sex with men.
There are so many homophobic gays. People are raised in that type of self hating environment all the time, how many twenty somethings have been over heard suggesting they are not gay, don’t like the gay world and yet they admit to having gay sex. The down low is a real place, not very safe, yet a real place.
Listen to the denials from Rev Ted even.
ChristopherM
Drudge is such a douchebag that I’d guess no man enjoys sex with him either, at least not without some money changing hands.
ggreen
If it were not for Mark Halprin of Time Magazine constantly kissing his ass and the closet queens at Politico regularly fellating him Matt Drudge would just be an unpleasant memory.
So butt ugly only a drug up hustler could love that face. I suggest a heavy black veil in the future Miss Drudge. Everyone says you’re slipping Matt, your clay feet are crumbling.
ousslander
there are plenty of people who just don’t enjoy sex or is not the all consuming subject like for a lot of people.
I’ve been to his site and don’t find it anti-gay. Did I miss something? UNless to count being pro-life but since when did that become a gay issue.
Bashing drudge for not fully coming out but giving a pass to Diller who actually entered a fraudulent marriage because of his political stance smells rather fishy but predictable.
Alec
@Merlin: This is the guy who openly embraces circuit music. If he’s on the DL, I have a very different conception of it than others:
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2001-06-28/news/the-drudge-retort/
I mean, I don’t really know what to say with this one. His non-denial denials are warped and there’s nothing really anti-gay about the kind of conservatism he embraces, so who in the hell knows what’s wrong with him.
Newshound
Ok, boys, I’m going to beg to differ on this one. Not with respect to MD’s gayness, which my gaydar tells me is the case, but with respect to his website, which I love despite its clear bias. The Drudge report, like craigslist, the google homepage, and a very few others, got it early and got it right. It is the best tabloid style news amalgamator on the web if you ask me. I go every day. Yes its biased, yes he can be obscene in his POV, but its always a great broadsheet of stories, well headlined and well edited. Just because I’m a gay liberal doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy my guilty pleasures, and Drudge is one of them.
mikeincleveland
the washington corps deal with closet cases like their professional ancestors did with JFK’s girlfriends- just look the other way.
which is why i’m still surprised that none of the tricks or escorts that may have been hired by any of these gentleman have not come forward and, essentially, taken them/called them…out.
petted
“anti-choice-life issue” so he calls it the no choice – life issue or am I miss-interpreting him?
NOLALibertarian
Is he gay? So What?
Since everyone is so curious, the answer’s been given already.
From The Times article:
. . . on a German train he wept listening to Kelly Clarkson’s new record.
Case closed.
Qjersey
he doesn’t like sex with men, but women with strap-ons just can’t do it for him.
Dazed & Confused
Drudge used to room with a friend of mine. He’s gay.
tricky ricky
i love how the headlines drudge writes don’t have anything to do with the story and are usually from a paper owned by rupert murdoch in another country. you can always tell a story has been linked by matt from the right wing comments. i saw him once or twice on fox, totally gay.
Mike
Drudge even admits visiting gay bars and dating guys in that Miami New Times story linked above:
At the mention of Walls’s book, Drudge turns visibly angry, characterizing Dish as nothing less than an attempt to spike his career. “I go to bars,” he explains with a perturbed edge. “I go to straight bars, I go to gay bars. [Walls] never said there was sex; she said there was dating. She never had enough to go that far.”
Craig Seymour
OUT magazine got much of its info about Matt Drudge from my memoir ALL I COULD BARE: MY LIFE IN THE STRIP CLUBS OF GAY WASHINGTON, D.C. (Matt and I were friends for a short time in the late ’80s, and I write about it in the book.) I’ve posted an excerpt on my blog:
http://www.craigspoplife.blogspot.com/2009/04/what-i-wrote-about-matt-drudge.html
Craig Seymour
mick
How can a magazine named Out create a list with people who are not out yet….seems weird.
Ricky
Hello, of course Matt doesn’t like sex with men – HE PREFERS BOYS! … young latino boytoys around his pool in Miami.
tricky ricky
@Alec: good lord the music review comment from drudge is so, gay.
How to Get Six Pack Fast
The style of writing is quite familiar to me. Did you write guest posts for other bloggers?