August 20, 2013
Calvin Klein's Ex: I'm Straight and Gays Can't Touch Me
Jason St. Amand READ TIME: 4 MIN.
Calvin Klein's on-and-off-again boy toy Nick Gruber is making headlines this week for allegedly crashing a party on Fire Island, claiming that he is straight and that gay men cannot touch him, the New York Daily News reports.
Gay porn star/producer and CEO of Lucas Entertainment, Michael Lucas, claims that he rented a VIP party tent for Ascension, a circuit party on Fire Island, and that Gruber showed up, unannounced.
As Gawker reports, Lucas took to Facebook to explain the incident:
"I saw this arrogant guy who was being rude to people, shoving two guys away after they bumped into him," Lucas wrote. "I heard him say, 'Keep your hands away from me! I'm straight!' I went up to him and he said, 'I am straight and I don't want any gay people to touch me!' I said, 'You're leaving.' He said, 'Do you know who I am?' I had security haul him away. Then someone explained to me that this is the ex boyfriend of Calvin Klein, and he just 'came out' as 'straight'."
Lucas also talked with the Huffington Post about the incident and said he didn't know why Gruber was at the party, which was to raise money for the Fund in the Sun charity.
"I have no idea why he was there in the first place but some how he made his way into my tent," Lucas told HuffPo. "I've never heard about him, I just witnessed him acting incredibly rude to other people. Also... [he] was very vocal about the fact that he is straight and doesn't want gays ... touching him. And it's not that they were touching him, it's just that it was crowded, so people bumped in to each other. He came to the party to obviously make some statement.
"It's funny that people were telling me how they love my 'guts' for kicking him out but, for me it was a no brainer to kick a raging homophobe out of a gay event," Lucas added. "It didn't matter to me who the guy was. I would kick him out whether he was famous or not. I've never been intimidated by anyone."
However, Gruber's representative Matt Rich told a different story. He told HuffPo that Ascension officials invited Gruber and that he walked into a particular tent and was asked to leave. Gruber said he had a "great time" and that he apologized for the incident.
Rich also mentioned Gruber's "I'm straight" comments, saying, "After about the fifth guy grabs your ass, you say, 'Look, I'm not interested.' He apologized. He didn't know what kind of party this was going to be."
Rich also described Gruber and Klein's relationship as a "close companionship."
On Monday, Gruber talked to Gawker and said he doesn't want to be called "gay" because "that information is false.
"I don't believe in labels, I believe in what my heart tells me I love. If people say, 'What are you?' I say, 'I'm not gay. I'm straight, but I believe in love,'" he said. "The only [relationship with a man] I had was with Calvin. I don't believe in labels. I believe in love. If someone asks me what I am, I'd say primarily straight."
Just last week Gruber made similar comments to New York Magazine.
"I'm not gay, but I don't believe in labels, I believe in love. So the gay community in Fort Riley, Kansas, was really bad ... A lot of people, they would get beat up, or you'll be sleeping in a bunk and the next thing you know your roommate could come over and smash your head in, and no one really knows about it."