A gossip blog run by self-professed “urban celebrity guru” Jacky Jasper is making unsubstantiated and outrageous claims today that celebrated gay ally and recent four-time Grammy winner Macklemore turned tricks as a Seattle-based male escort before making it big.
In a blog post beginning with “Yo!!!”, Jasper claims an unnamed source told him Macklemore (real name Ben Haggerty) “isn’t 100% straight” and used to pay for studio time by working as a male escort. There’s no further evidence to back up his claim, and it seems strange that the several gay men who were allegedly having sex with Macklemore haven’t yet come forward.
It’s also probably not a coincidence that this “news” suddenly surfaced a day after Macklemore & Ryan Lewis won a Grammy for Best Rap Album, which Macklemore said he didn’t deserve in an apologetic Instagram post to fellow nominee Kendrick Lamar. After scrolling through the hateful comments on Jasper’s blog post, it’s obvious his readers were rooting for Lamar.
These jealous queens are thirsty!
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In other news, Macklemore—who is engaged to his girlfriend of seven years—appeared on Ellen yesterday to discuss the emotional mass same-sex marriage ceremony he hosted at the Grammys on Sunday night. “It just gives me goosebumps to think about it,” he said. “To watch the Staples Center kind of erupt and stand up and participate in that ceremony, it was magical.”
Watch it here:
http://youtu.be/Kx72y6MN-nA
Stache1
Uses the word “Yo” and “claims an unnamed source”
All I need to know.
imperator
Come on now, it’s fair to say the claim is “insubstantiated” if it is– that’s an objective statement. But to assert that it’s “outrageous?” Suggesting that being a gay men’s escort if it’s true– or even thought to be a gay men’s escort if it’s false– implicitly carries with it the more basic suggestion that there’s something wrong with being a gay men’s escort, and that the salacious part is the “gay” bit.
Well if he was, then “so what?” And if he wasn’t, then really “so what?” One needn’t be offended or “outraged” by an accusation unless the subject of the charge is something shameful. I see nothing shameful about being gay, and frankly I don’t see anything shameful about someone parleying whatever sex-appeal they have into a paycheck on their own terms. Models and actors do it all the time. Lots of other people work every day in jobs they hate (or that other people hate) for the money they need. Why should we judge if someone chooses to get paid for fuckin’? It’s arguably undignified if they’ve been coerced into doing it against their will– forced slavery is immoral– but otherwise I’d call it sexy entrepreneurism. If I were hotter I’d consider it.
B Damion
I for one am glad they won best rap album.
Hip Hop has shown no sign of growth over the years. It’s the same bitches and ghetto hoes anthem that has been reinating throughtout the hip hop culture for over a decade. It’s time for Hip hop to growup a little bit.
sportyguy1983
Who would pay to have sex with him? He is a nice looking guy, but not good looking enough to pay for.
Scribe38
@imperator: the issue for me is the attempt of tearing down gay allies. Why must a str8 male who support gay marriage must be secretly gay or a gay prostitute? It is an attempt to scare away people from supporting gays. I hope the site is sued. No there isn’t anything wrong with being gay, I believe that to my core; but if someone said I was an male escort sucking d*ck for cash I would sue the sh*t out of them? This isn’t journalism just bullying.
Scribe38
That should have been a period, not a question mark.
Black Pegasus
If this claim is unfounded, Macklemore should pull a Tom Cruise and sue those bitches into oblivion! The fact is; most of the Hip Hop community feels butt hurt [pun intended] because of Mack’s pro-gay song and his subsequent grammy win.
davincibarnette
@B Damion: Agreed! I really wish he hadn’t apologized to Kendrick Lamar as well.
balehead
He was 15 when it happened….
HirsuteOne
There is no shame in being a gay escort or being gay or bisexual. It’s sad that stories like this become news. I’m guessing it will be of no concern to Macklemore.
sangsue
Even if he was, he was also an addict and I find it strange that people would be more upset about the gay escort part and not about the addict part of his past.
litper
Homophobic bigots are unhappy with his success and success of marriage equalito so they try to make up any nasty filth possible!
Stache1
@sportyguy1983: Wow. Of all things you could take from this and that’s your concern? Wow.
Stache1
@HirsuteOne: It really isn’t. However, some people don’t like the idea of white fags doing rap and winning a grammy for it.
Stache1
@sangsue: One is a celebrated lifestyle while the other one is bad because it’s mostly about guys having sex with other guys and not being apologetic about it.
Cam
He a girl’s gotta eat.
Seriously though, if it isn’t true, then sue the liar. If it is true, then I for one am incredibly impressed that he was able to pull himself up out of that and become so successful. Good for him either way.
Stefano
@sportyguy1983 : yes i would !!! For me he is a gorgeous…:-P
KDub
Am I the only one who saw the screenshots of some homophobic tweets from Macklemore in that post? Could be fake, but I find it interesting how he doesn’t align himself too closely with the gay community. He doesn’t perform prides or gay clubs or anything. To me he could’ve done at least one or two. He’s made tons of money off gay struggles. Seems like he’s only pro-gay when the spotlight is on him. I don’t know or care whether he was gay-for-pay (eww) or not, but I was always kind of leary of this guy’s motives.
jimbryant
I wouldn’t be surprised if Macklemore has had sexual relations with men. The sad thing is that he may be hiding it. Do we really need allies who hide their pasts? I say “no”.
And why was he on Ellen? Ellen is an idiot and a pain the proverbial. Ellen uses gay men to achieve brownie points with her demographic.
GQ83
So what!!!!! Male excort or not the dude is awesome, its called the PAST for a reason.
jimbryant
I’m sorry but a lot of gay men are liars and frauds. In order to achieve commercial success, a lot of them will cover up their past. This cover-up is often necessary because commercial success means that you have to appeal to women.
Women generally will not purchase anything from men who show any signs of homosexuality unless it’s a hand-bag or designer shoes.
mydude
To be honest, it wouldn’t surprise me, given the simple fact that more than a few celebrities turned tricks, or were kept by sugar daddies on their way up the fame ladder.
Everybody has a past, especially here in Hollyweird. 🙂
Curtispsf
If a source came forward and reported that a well known and out gay man had had sex with a woman, it wouldn’t really be newsworthy or something worth mentioning. I can only conclude that someone reporting that Macklemore slept with men in the past thinks others will perceive this as something bad or scandalous. In other words, this gossip is intended to harm Macklemore’s reputation in some way.
And guess what? I could care less. I like Macklemore & Ryan’s music and message and Macklemore seems to be a kind and decent person. I could care less who he’s had sex with in the past or present. I have respect for him and nothing’s going to change that.
trelin
I think he’s pretty sexy, even in that Batman onesie he wears.
Curtispsf
@litper: If what he did is true, I wouldn’t call it “nasty filth” at all. He has nothing to be ashamed of and if it were me and it was true, I’d say “Yes….I did that…now what’s your point?”
mz.sam
So what if he did? You do what you gotta do to survive in a cut-throat business. But the reality is, Macklemore/Haggerty is an advocate of Same Love…but loves the Power of the Pussy. Although, Ryan Lewis is cuter!
stonrdude
Who cares if he was. Lots of people did lots of stuff. Means nothing to me. Yes, Ryan Lewis is cute! Bet he is a cool guy too!
jimbryant
stonrdude,
Lots of people are escorts? Where did you get this stuff?
I have no respect for escorts. Selling your body for money is deplorable, disgusting, and usually done for the purpose of buying drugs.
xzall
@KDub: The tweet about Dykes vs Drag Queens is a fundraiser softball event in Seattle and those are the names of the teams. The tweets are from 5 years ago in 2009 and were published to try to discredit him. The same thing with this guy story about him being an escort.
There are lots of pissed off people who hate him for being white and winning a rap award and a whole bunch of homophobes who didn’t like the gay wedding on TV so they’re busy looking for dirt on him.
xzall
@KDub: Also when he wrote Same Love, all the proceeds went to Prop 74 for marriage equality in Seattle, Washington at the time. He was kind of a local celebrity but he hadn’t broken out yet as a big star so it looks like he did support marriage equality before the big spotlight was on him.
He’s also said he wrote the song because he’s had a gay uncle who had a long term partner. The words to the song talks about him thinking he was gay when he was in the third grade so that seems like it was a topic of interest to him for a while.
LeNair Xavier
@HirsuteOne: You’re 2/3 correct. For there should be no shame in being gay or bisexual. BUT you should definitely feel shame for being an escort.
Too many gay males act as if being a prostitute is a gay male’s “rite of passage”. And since those tend to be the loudest of us, it makes our community as a whole look DISGUSTING.
And before anyone tries digging into my past. Yes, I was a gay porn actor. But I was an exhibitionist first. One who (as I have said often) wanted to be paired with guys I was actually attracted to. The money was a fringe benefit, not the priority. Since that attraction was not always there, YES, (as I’ve also repeatedly admitted to) I had prostituting moments. Hence why I know of the disgust that I speak of with escort. There’s a reason so many of them go to drugs, then their escorting becomes to support a drug habit.
So I feel no shame in my being a predominately gay bisexual. But I am smart enough, and respect sex enough to feel shame for those prostituting moments.
Stache1
@LeNair Xavier: “being a prostitute is a gay male’s “rite of passage”.
Well, that’s news to me. Why am I always the last to get these gay memos:)
I’m glad that you were only in it just to have men lust after you and not for the $ though.
donsboy
So what if he did… it’s not like this is the first time something of this nature has happened in the music or movie business.
that_dude247
One day someone will expose my escorting past. If I only could have said no to a man offering me $100 for my underwear. Smh.
LeNair Xavier
@Stache1: Actually, it wasn’t even about men lusting after me. It was more about being a symbol of a gay man comfortable with his sexuality for those who were questioning their orientation The problem is the industry didn’t care about that responsibility of theirs.
HirsuteOne
@LeNair Xavier:
Your truth, your shame, your opinion. Live it as you see you fit.
Tyler100
@jimbryant:
Jimmy, the only people you respect are masculine, closeted, Republican men who hate themselves as much as you hate yourself. I don’t think escorts, Macklemor or frankly any sel-respecting human being will lose one wink of sleep about not having your respect.
hotshot70
This story is BS! I know, I sound like the annoying @jimbryant, but this is a Qyeerty story used to fill space right after the big Grammy party. His uncle’s are a gay couple, and because of that, he learned that gay people deserve same rights as the “straights”.
mz.sam
@Tyler100: You got that shit right! Besides, that jb is a total attention getting wacked-job regurgitating diarrhea in every posting.
yupwhatever
@Scribe38,
“the issue for me is the attempt of tearing down gay allies. Why must a str8 male who support gay marriage must be secretly gay or a gay prostitute? It is an attempt to scare away people from supporting gays.”
Well, if a straight ally is gonna get so upset over gay rumors that he’ll stop supporting gays, then he’s not much of an ally to begin with.
kinseyfiles
@Scribe38: Right on brother! Right on!
Kudos!
Brendan
This type of reaction from Kendrick’s fanbase and a large majority of the black hip hop community is exactly why Macklemore won in the first place. He wrote a song criticize homophobia in the hip hop community, the hate him for winning and now rumors pop up with people gay bashing him. Gee, way to prove Macklemore’s point. He tries to make rap with a message and the haters don’t like it, but in the end the lovers win awards and have happy endings and the haters just keep on being ignorant losers.
MickeyP.
Sounds like bs to me! I hate people who find a need to talk shit just because they have no life of their own! I think if the man were gay,he’d have definitely already said so!
Deepdow
Why would you even publish this insipid article? Gossip at it’s foulest. Bad form Queerty.
Curtispsf
@HirsuteOne: Amen to that.
Wolfwalk
So what if he was? No big deal. There are many people who make a decent living being escorts, prostitutes, call girls/boys, masseurs, etc. In most civilized countries they’re known simply as workers in the sex industry and aren’t stigmatized. But not in the good old, “Christian” hypocritical US of A. Talent lies in many areas, and Macklemore has more than enough to go around.
nevereclipsed81
Aside from the fact that it’s kind of sexy, I don’t care to know. It’s his business. It doesn’t mean he is or isn’t straight, people shouldn’t come forward to say they had sex with a celebrity before they were famous, this isn’t a world of witch hunts.
nevereclipsed81
@Deepdow: I can see why Queerty published it, it’s kind of hot, and gossip, but the other end of it where people actually make the claims is what annoys me.
Michaelmouse1
@sportyguy1983: oh aren’t you just the most gorgeous fairy in the Garden? Judgemental prick.
Michaelmouse1
@imperator: well said! This site reeks of self loathing and internalised homophobia. And that’s just it’s “journalists”.
Michaelmouse1
@HirsuteOne: absolutely. Attacking our allies with this kind of shit says more about Queerty than it does about this lovely human being who is on our side. You Americans are truly fucked in the head. You thrive on gossip, innuendo, and the cheap shot. So much for Stonewall.
dbmyers
@jimbryant: “What you mean we . . . straight homophobic troll (posing as a gay man)? Take your crap elsewhere. We’ve heard your junk before. Its boring and pathetic.
dbmyers
@xzall: Thanks for calling out the trolls with their malicious nonsense.
niles
well, you hit a new low. Not only do you not have a shred of journalistic integrity, your basic morality is in the toilet, Queerty. Why in the world would you publish a totally unsubstantiated rumor from a homophobic source? And of course you had to display his picture just to add to the salaciousness. Trash like you do not deserve equal rights. I really hate you.
jimbryant
The music industry is controlled by sleazy straight guys and their “bisexual” female enablers. The reason I put “bisexual” in quotes in relation to females is that most of these females are straight but pretending to be be bi to titillate straight guys. Think Katy Perry and her big hit I Kissed A Girl.
These “bisexual” females tend to be very homophobic when the issue of male bisexuality comes up. They can’t stand male bisexuals. They find them a threat. They see male bisexuality as a threat to female power.
This is why there are still no openly gay or bisexual male performers in the music charts today. Not even one. Think about this very carefully – not even one. When not even one openly gay or bisexual male performer exists in the music charts, you know that there is a form of cleansing going on, for which “bisexual” females are responsible.
Caleb in SC
@jimbryant: Troll somewhere else. Your comments are puerile and illogical.
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Stache1
@Brendan: Which makes his win all the more delicious. Even if he did escort so the fuck what. Most those Rappers dealed and did drugs which harms far more people. They have no moral high ground.
Curtispsf
@jimbryant: I think we have a whole new level of trolling going on here with jimbryant. He is troll posting and then creating new personas to attack his original post. Someone has way too much free time on their hands.
sportyguy1983
@Michaelmouse1
sportyguy1983
@Michaelmouse1 Aren’t you being judgmental (this is the correct spelling of this word) by calling me a prick? lol
KDub
@xzall: I was referring to his “no homo” references. He and Ryan Lewis have both admitted to using gay as an insult in the past. Not surprising since they’re from Seattle, where indie rock (which is notoriously homophobic) is very popular.
KDub
@xzall: Where did you hear that he donated all of the proceeds? That’s incorrect. He donated some of the proceeds until SS marriage in WA passed, and that was years ago. Like I said, I get that he’s super pro-gay when the spotlight is on him, and I get that his PR team thought it’d be a great move to donate proceeds to the cause he’s made so much money from. But why doesn’t he go into the community himself to perform for the people? He probably doesn’t want to burn his hip hop bridges by aligning himself to closely with the gay community.
Bryguyf69
@sportyguy1983: First off, I know plenty of people who consider him attractive enough for paid sex — and would do so if the need and opportunity arises. Second, Macklemore began rapping professionally at 17. That’s when he was most likely too poor to afford studio time. So if these rumors are true, he was probably 17-21. How do you know that he wasn’t cuter in his younger years?
Bryguyf69
@jimbryant: Er, why are you assuming that these unlikely rumors are true? And even if they are, what is your basis for saying that “he may be hiding it”? Has anyone ever asked Macklemore if he escorted for men? Has anyone ever asked him if he’s had gay sex? If so, please provide the source. Or are you saying that all celebrities must publicly divulge their sexual history without being asked? Should they proclaim it on a t-shirt with a scarlet A, or in this case, a lavender G or Q? Finally, even if he did do gay-for-pay, how does revealing this help the gay community? If anything, it discredits him among the hiphop community he’s trying to convert.
Jenn Foley
Who cares? The singer Lovari used to do gay for pay porn and he never apologized, so why should Macklemore?
crowebobby
Thank God WE now have the right to decide what’s deplorable, disgusting, and nasty filth instead of those goddamned Christian heterosexuals. That’s what I call real progress.
rcktetr
I always thought he was an attractive sexi man