Beloved fashion icon André Leon Talley passed away yesterday at the age of 73. News of his death was posted to his official Instagram account, though the cause of death has not been revealed. RIP.
In 2018, Talley appeared on The Wendy Williams Show to promote his bio-doc, The Gospel According to André. When he arrived at the studio for the live taping, he and Williams were friends. But their relationship fell apart shortly after the cameras stopped rolling.
Related: Fashion editor and icon André Leon Talley dies, aged 73
During the interview, Williams asked Talley point blank whether he identifies as heterosexual. Not only was it a rude and invasive question, but Williams presumably already knew the answer, since they had known each other personally for years.
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Talley handled it excellently, replying in a jovial manner, “I’m saying not I’m heterosexual. I’m saying I’m fluid in my sexuality, darling!”
Later in the interview, Williams brought up Talley’s “house boy,” who the fashion icon quickly clarified was his gardener, only for Williams to repeat the word “house boy” a little later on. She also accused him of “sleeping around” with “quite a few designers”, which he emphatically denied.
Related: Fashion icon André Leon Talley: “I don’t think of body shaming. You can’t shame me.”
Not long after his appearance on the show, Talley and Williams had some sort of falling out, though it’s unclear what the catalyst for the fracture was. (We have a pretty good guess!) Then in 2020, he called her “spineless” in an interview with Vulture, adding, “She no longer exists for me as a friend. She tears down people to build herself up.”
Re-live the moment beginning at the 5:30 mark in the video below…
rangerwilcox
that’s crappy of Wendy to ask him that question just to make her interview provocative.
JAWIWA
Have you ever SEEN a Wendy Williams interview?
QJ201
Respecting privacy is BS. He was well known to be gay. Just too ashamed to admit so publicly.
MISTERJETT
that’s his prerogative.
Fname Optional Lname
oh so she must then ask people who are known to be straight the same question right?
GrizzleyMichael
God she is such a zit on society and she is ugly as shit too
Jaquelope
Honestly, when I first saw her picture I thought she was either trans, or just a cross-dresser. Maybe she is a cis-female, but there are very few cis-women with her body type, even though I know it is possible.
Harley
I wouldn’t watch WW if they tied me up, put in a mouth gag and shoved me in front of the tv and forced me to watch it. Girl is a boring bitch and ugly on the inside to boot.
Sanjo
You don’t have to worry about seeing her because she no longer appears on her show due to her Graves’ disease and hyperthyroidism causing her to “take a break.” Rumors of dementia were denied by the family.
rand503
By accusing him of sleeping with designers, that could have serious professional consequences. It would raise questions one whether he has ever promoted a designer merely because they are having sex, or used his position to pressure designers to have sex. Harvey Weinstein is in jail and his career wiped out because of such behavior, so he is right to be quite sensitive over a totally baseless accusation.
She risked his career for a gotcha interview. He was right to drop her as a friend from that moment.
Essie
Sleeping with designers and promoting their careers is EXACTLY what he has been accused of for many, many years. I was in the fashion industry (NOT an insider) and these rumors were widespread for years. I have no clue, personally, if they are true are not, just that I’m not surprised that Ms. Wendy brought it up. Should she have? No. But everyone knows what this woman is like so, be prepared.
fredk3
Wrong of her to ask so bluntly (unless he okayed it in advance) though he could have responded with something like “Sweetie, I’m wearing a Christmas tree skirt & you’re asking me THAT?”
normadesmond
I think Nathan Lane once said to a reporter with a similar question-
“You do the math.”
cuteguy
I never understood why so many gay guys love Wendy? She’s so obviously homophobic and vitriolic. I always guessed that it was bc she looked like a drag queen.
Me2
They don’t really love her. They just love gossip and messiness.
Jere
These types of shows normally have some kind of pre-interview process where a producer sits down before the show with the guest and runs over the kinds of questions likely to be asked on air and clarifies what the guest would like to talk about, usually whatever they are promoting at the time, and any topics that are off limits. Either Talley didn’t make clear that he did not want to be asked about his personal life or Wendy Williams went rogue based on her personal knowledge of Talley. If it was the second, then I wouldn’t blame him for ending his friendship with Williams.
azjeff17
Wendy’s discovered that karma is indeed a bitch. Seems like she’s getting what she’s got coming to her.
She is NOT our ally.
nitejonboy
Every physical affliction that has befallen Wendy is Karma from the gods for being the horror of a human being that she is and has been in the past. How her show has not been permanently cancelled while the equally horrible Ellen Degeneres has lost hers is beyond me!!
Kangol2
ALT was both sexually fluid and, despite his rejection of the label at times, one of the most iconic gay men of his generation in the fashion industry. Empress Mother Tally was unlike any other. Wendy’s false claims that he slept with designers and kept a house boy probably did lead to the destruction of their friendship, but she apparently blew up many of her friendships. Now the poor thing is allegedly in very poor health, without a show and defenders, and many people she attacked over the years are feeling a good deal of schadenfreude.
ShiningSex
he was 100% gay not fluid. he said he once had sex with a woman like 99.9% of gay men before coming out.
ShiningSex
Loved him. So sad. Total queen and if you’re blind and deaf, maybe you might have to ask such a question. Just look at John Travolta and Tom Cruise. Do we really need to ask? LOL
MISTERJETT
John and Tom aren’t gay. just because you want them to be doesn’t mean they are.
Fname Optional Lname
John has had the pole and the hole sooooooo
SDR94103
#1 at the box office. Hysterical.
missvamp
she is ugly- inside & out. so she has to attack people & do hateful shit.
rikard_pearson
he was friends with her? then he knew what she was like. he just failed to realize she would do him dirty too.
iminheatlikeacat
He was also good friends with Anna Wintour until he slammed her in his memoir after she fired him from Vogue for being old and overweight, having spent decades seeing her fire other people from Vogue for being old and/or overweight. It seems there’s a theme here…
Rugby8
He went on TV to be Interviewed!
She asked questions.
Get off your high horses. I think this whole post is a joke trying to act like there was some salacious, or sensational to reveal.
Queerty — really bad post
nunya
Someone had to ask?!
Fahd
Always low-rent, but she seemed to fall apart completely, almost literally, when her husband cheated on her. I wish her long-suffering son well.
Talley was quite the character, and I’m sorry he’s gone. RIP.
Hank31
I had never heard of this person, but based on the pics and vid, he was really grotesque on numerous levels.
mozzer
Why? Because he was large? Flamboyant? A POC? Fagg*ts like you are really grotesque!
Essie
He was very tall (like 6’6) and, at one point, weighed over 400 pounds. I don’t know why Anna took so long to get rid of him. It couldn’t be because he’s Black since she is a profound racist. Maybe he did have something to offer. I actually have no clue what he even did at Vogue.
Fname Optional Lname
You’re speaking ill of someone who just passed. Pretty sure we know who is truly grotesque!
Cam
Awww, the right wing troll took time off from attacking trans people to attack a Black person.
Guess you decided to shake things up today? Now quick sign on under your other screenames like “whateverokok” and “openminded” to defend your comment.
Your troll game is sad and weak.
The real Bruce
As the saying goes, “Nothing to see here”. Really. Mr. Talley came on and Ms. Williams asked some questions, some being more personal than he expected I think. Acting more “tabloid” and with her eyes bulging out several times, I was asking myself, “What the hell is she on?” Sadly, no more Andre’ and maybe soon no more Wendy. End of story. Be well Dear Hearts.
RTG
She was on coke……surely you heard about her living in a sober house? Her “health issues” go way beyond Graves disease.
winemaker
Talley should have answered the question like this. I’ll tell you if you tell me if your tits are real and if you need the wig ’cause you’re as bald as a cue ball. that should have shut her up
winemaker
The wendy wiliams show and the view, on opposite each other daytime and both a waste of time and an insult to your intelligence. And just why has the view been allowed to fester on and on like a boil on somebodys ass? For reference whenthe view originally aired it was interesting, babs walters and the ladies hosting were polite and respectful but over the years it’s become worse than the indigestion from cheap greasy chinese take out.
KRobert57
I, too, knew nothing of him until I read this Queerty article. I am a gay man from the Anita Bryant era where she tried to destroy us using her fame during the late 70s. Not only that, but I did what I could for gay people not to drink Florida orange juice, but instead we all drank Texas orange juice from Chicago to Milwaukee in all the bars and also in all the restaurants we frequented after the bars closed. Does anyone remember Dirty Helen’s? Anita was promoting Florida orange juice at the time. (just a little background to show I was in André Leon Talley’s era.) I just think that we older gay men didn’t like our sexuality broadcasted without our permission. He had his sexuality compromised by Wendy Williams, even though we could all tell his level of “gayness” with our gaydar. That; however, does not let us know with whom or with what he was sleeping. We could only guess.
In short…that bitch had no right!!!!!
Cam
I’m of two minds on this.
First, the closet hurts so many other people, and him refusing to answer still treats it like it’s something to be ashamed of, especially when he was in a position of power and was in zero danger of anything affecting his career. Much the same as Anderson Cooper before he came out.
That said……
She was a friend, and the tone of the interview was a really crappy thing to do to him, talking about him sleeping around. The only thing I can think of that could excuse her is, if that is how they normally spoke to each other all the time, and she was just talking to him like they were together at lunch. But Wendy had been doing that for too long to make that error.
Me2
He didn’t lie, he just didn’t answer. It’s a bit unfair to expect people to make public revelations that they aren’t ready to make. In my opinion, he’d already opened doors for marginalized communities. He was under no obligation to be any more revealing.
RWB
Really Queerty? You want me to pay attention to Wendy Williams, Ivanka rhymes-with-Rump, and Meghan McCain all in the same day? What next? Photos of dog poop in fresh snow?
LumpyPillows
I listened to the piece and did not find it to be that controversial. Leon did not seem upset. It was a game he played his whole life… I think Wendy is a mess, but this isn’t what you all painted it to be.
Tombear
And all these years I thought Wendy was MTF transgender. You mean to say she’s not?
IanHunter
Wendy is garbage. I hope that she doesn’t return to her show. Give it to someone else or cancel it. She has steadily been breaking down from her own toxic personality. There are a lot of A listers that will not do her show. In the area which I live her show now comes on at 1:30AM. So basically it appears that she is losing the affiliates.