David Bar Katz, the man The National Enquirer said was Philip Seymour Hoffman’s secret gay lover, plans to sue the publication for $50 million. The Enquirer claimed to have a taped interview of Katz admitting the fact but Katz says that’s a lie. “I never said that, no,” Katz said as he walked out of his West Village apartment.
“There was no interview,” Katz’s lawyer claimed in the suit. “Bar Katz and Hoffman were never lovers. Bar Katz did not see Hoffman freebasing cocaine the night before he died or at any other time. Bar Katz never saw Hoffman use heroin or cocaine.”
Katz is seeking $5 million in damages and $45 million in punitive damages.
The “editor in chief” of the National Enquirer said “this is news to me” when asked about the lawsuit. Adding, “As far as I know, the interview was done on Sunday by a staff reporter.” Asked to confirm if he was Tony Frost, the head of National Enquirer, the man said “I’ll get right back to you” before hanging up.
If there was in fact no interview and TNE or a staff reporter made it up, their lawyer should just show up to court and object to everything with, “Your honor. This is gayeee.” “If you’re going to go down, go down flaming,” my grandpa used to say.