All About Laughs
Remember when Star Jones revealed she had found love in her ex-husband Al Reynolds? Remember the highly publicized relationship and multi-million dollar wedding filled with sponsorships back in November 2004 that also had 15 bridesmaids, a reception at the Waldorf-Astoria? Also, remember all the rumors that surrounded Al Reynolds’s sexuality that followed him for years once he hit the public eye, and their ultimate divorce? Reynolds just dropped a bombshell, as he seems tired of being the villain.
In the beginning, when rumors of Reynold’s sexuality began to swirl, he confronted it with a statement. “My fiancee and I have discussed all relevant parts of our personal histories,” he said. Just as their marriage and relationship were highly publicized, so was the divorce. Sources spread information to the press that Reynolds had been leeching off of her money, causing their marriage to end, but at the time neither party themselves said exactly why the marriage was over. However, Star spoke to Entertainment Tonight to give further insight.
“Several years ago I made an error in judgment by inviting the media into the most intimate area of my life,” she said. ”A month ago I filed for divorce. The dissolution of a marriage is a difficult time in anyone’s life that requires privacy with one’s thoughts. I have committed myself to handling this situation with dignity and grace and look forward to emerging from this period as a stronger and wiser woman.”
After their divorce, Reynolds began to speak out on his life, as he had still been in the public eye but kept the respect for his ex-wife. However, he shared with Essence in 2009 that the rumors surrounding his sexuality still affected him. “When it comes to people discussing my sexuality I’ve always taken the higher road, but I get very emotional about it. I’m tired of the disrespect,” Reynolds admitted. “It has affected my professional career and life. It’s difficult when people are making up stories about you and lying about your sexuality. I have 14 nephews, five brothers, and sisters, and they read the comments and so do their friends. It’s difficult when my 8-year-old nephew has to go to school and hear kids call his uncle names and then question him about his sexuality or when reporters call and berate my 80-year-old mother who has dementia.”
He added, “There was a time I could go play basketball with my boys, but then it’s reported that I’m dating one of them so you begin to lose friendships because who wants to deal with that? It’s a little too much. It’s this kind of unfair scrutiny that made me think, Okay, I have to create a force and protect my family and friends as much as I can and keep everything personal.”
It would be years later before Reynolds found the courage to come to terms with his sexuality, removing all speculations. Revealing it in depth to Radar Online, he began his candid post. “Ever since I have been in the public eye, people have been speculating on my sexuality. And ‘speculating’ is a kind word for how it actually played out. With anger and disdain, people have been calling me out as gay, closeted, a sham and even nastier; much nastier,” Reynolds wrote.
He continued, “I have come to a point in my life where I am ready to discuss my truth. I wasn’t ready to do this then — I wasn’t even ready to think about it, let alone process it. To understand my journey and how I got to this point, you need to understand a little about me.”
It was then that he made his admission. “Today I accept myself as a bisexual man. I have learned that sexual orientation is not binary, at least for me. I am capable of loving both sexes, and I have done both,” he continued. “My relationships, all of them, have been honest and based on my attraction to the other person. When I am in love I don’t equivocate, nor do I waver.”
Adding that he would no longer be living in fear or shame, he said “I tell this story to both encourage my personal path, as well as give some small measure of hope to others that no matter your beginnings, no matter the obstacles, there is nothing so fulfilling and Godlike as living the life that was destined.”
Reynolds, who is now a regular on Fox Soul’s Tea-G-I-F: Breaking Down Today’s Current Events was a recent guest on the Shaun Allen Live podcast where he was brought on to discuss his new partnership with the new streaming network. While on the podcast he also dished on his relationship with Star Jones, admitting that she was well aware of his sexuality while they were together.
Not only is he dropping that she knew of his bisexuality, but he also drops that the former “View” co-host had been involved with other men that dabble in both sexes. “I was not the first bi-sexual man she was involved with,” Reynolds stated. “The guy she was engaged with before she met me was a bisexual man.” The Fox Soul host also claims that “some women like it”, and some men will nurture the relationship just as they would if they were with the same sex.
Check out the full podcast below where he also answers more questions and even touches on his friendship with Donald Trump.
