persona non grata

Sugar daddy website wants absolutely nothing to do with Matt Gaetz

The ongoing teen sex trafficking federal investigation of Matt Gaetz just took a weird and unexpected turn.

A sugar daddy website rumored to be linked to the investigation just issued a statement saying that, contrary to numerous reports, the antigay lawmaker has never had a profile on the site, so if everyone could please stop saying that he had it would be great for their brand image.

SeekingArrangement bills itself as the “premier sugar daddy dating website” by connecting young “sugar babies” with wealthy older men. Last weekend, it was forced to put out the statement because of another bizarre twist in Gaetz’s story involving none other than Rachel Uchitel, who is probably best known for being Tiger Woods’ former mistress appearing on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.

OK, OK, now we know what you’re probably thinking: What the hell does Rachel Uchitel have to do with Matt Gaetz’s teen sex scandal?

The answer: Absolutely nothing!

Politico reports:

The former mistress of golfer Tiger Woods sued [SeekingArrangement] claiming it wrongfully terminated her contract as the company’s spokesperson. The plaintiff, Rachel Uchitel, said she was fired because SeekingArrangement was in damage control due to the investigation into Gaetz, which is unrelated to her lawsuit.

According to Uchitel, she was offered $120,000 to be the website’s spokesperson and help destigmatize sugar daddy arrangements earlier this year. But after it was reported that Gaetz had a profile on the site, the company suspended all marketing campaigns, resulting in her being released from her contract early. Now, she’s suing for the remaining $60,000 she says she is owed.

But the company is pushing back.

In a lengthy statement, it says it has “no knowledge of Mr. Gaetz ever having an account on the website” and that Uchitel’s termination was “in no way related to the state of affairs within the company, current events or any celebrities and/or politicians.”

“Her remarks on Representative Gaetz have been entirely fabricated and are unfounded as at no time did Ms. Uchitel have personal knowledge of the website outside of those she may have met personally as a user of the site,” the statement added.

When asked how it actually determined Gaetz was never on SeekingArrangement, a company spokesperson wouldn’t say. Meanwhile, Harlan Hill, a spokesperson for Gaetz calls the whole thing “sad.”

“The media’s lies about Rep. Gaetz have fallen like dominoes including the fake ‘SeekingArrangement’ claims,” he said in a written statement. “The new ploy for attention seekers seems to be name dropping a famous lawmaker for a few minutes of fame.”

“The new hotness is having Matt Gaetz in your legal drama to grift some news headlines. Sad!”

The congressman also wasted no time posting the story on Twitter, writing: “Months ago I said the truth will prevail. Now, we are seeing the collapse of the Fake News media’s lies.”

And now, the responses…

Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.

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