Kyle Bradford
Kyle Bradford is the stage name of American gay [...] star Chad Slater, who specialised in movies featuring [...] wrestling. Some of the movies also included submission matches where the loser was forced to masturbate and/or engage in oral or anal [...] . Bradford dominated his matches and performed sexually as a top .
The controversy
The French magazineActustar on Mar 13, 2001 published an alleged interview with Bradford in which he claimed that he and actor Tom Cruise had a homosexual affair . The story also appeared in the mexican tabloid TVyNovelas. The affair supposedly occurred during Cruise's marriage to Nicole Kidman and Kidman's discovery of this secret relationship was related to their separation . Cruise categorically denied the story and sued Bradford (Chad Slater) for $100 million .
Legal actions
In addition to the $100 million lawsuit against Slater, Cruise also sued Kristina Ann Kirstin, Slater's ex-wife, alleging she had tried to sell her own story about a Bradford-Cruise affair to the National Enquirer. Superior Court Judge Aurelio Muñoz raised questions about the logic of Cruise's complaint against Kirstin. Included in the four-page amendment was a declaration from Slater saying he didn't know Cruise at all—supposedly meant to show that Kirstin fabricated her tale. But Judge Muñoz said the statement seemed to contradict Cruise's complaint ; his ruling ordered Cruise to pay Kirstin $27,900 in legal fees. Part of Muñoz's ruling states,
- "Plaintiff is blowing both hot and cold in this same proceeding . This [declaration from Slater] is the only evidence to indicate [Kirstin] knew the story was false when she sold it. Plaintiff cannot have it both ways."
Cruise eventually dropped the lawsuit against Kirstin.
Bradford response
In an interview with Ethan Clarke for Rad Video, Bradford denied ever having talked to Actustar, and the magazine has since printed a retraction. Bradford stated:
- "This whole thing is ridiculous. A French magazine, Actustar claims that I sat down with them and gave them this whole story. It's totally untrue, I've never been to France and my passport proves it. A Spanish magazine reprinted the story and it's all untrue. I have no idea how this magazine could say I was there talking about to them this. Actustar Magazine has since retracted the story. My lawyer put out a statement saying it's untrue and we don't know how or why this rumor was started but now I'm damaged being thrust in the middle of international headlines. Now my family knows I have a [...] career and, up to this point, they had no idea about it."
As a result of the controversy, Bradford retired from [...]. A message on his personal website thanked his supporters and proffered life lessons learned during "the very public ordeal I've been through."
Lawsuit outcome
Slater defaulted on the $100 million lawsuit in August 2001. In a statement at that time, Slater said:
- "I hope by defaulting, Mr. Cruise will finally get what he is after and I can finally start to put my life back in order".
The default motion was an acknowledgment that Slater did not have the money to fight the lawsuit and would not contest it; the motion did not indicate that he admitted any wrongdoing
In December 2002 Cruise won a $10 million defamation judgment against Slater, at which time Ricardo Cestero, Cruise's attorney, stated:
- "We don't have any idea whether he'll ever have means to pay, but we've obtained the judgment, which will hopefully make it clear that demeaning Mr. Cruise will not be a successful endeavor".
He added that any money Cruise received would be donated to charity.
Videography
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See also
- List of gay [...] stars
- Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography
External links
- Original Actustar story on March 13, 2001 (in French)
- National Enquirer story on May 3, 2001
- National Enquirer story on June 5, 2001
- BBC account on Jan 16, 2003
- cnn.com account on May 3, 2001
- www.findarticles.com, The Advocate account on Feb 18, 2003