The internet was abuzz earlier today over a story published by the National Enquirer, which claimed Philip Seymour Hoffman’s friend, the playwright David Bar Katz, had revealed he had an affair with the actor, which had led to the break-up of Hoffman’s 15-year relationship with Mimi O’Donnell. It also said Katz had seen Hoffman taking drugs, and that Philip was “confused about his sexuality” and “wanted heroin and the gay life.” Although it did say Katz was unaware of how bad the situation was, which of course led to Hoffman’s death last Sunday.
Katz has been fast to hit back at the Enquirer, saying the entire story and its alleged interview are a lie. His lawyers have filed a $50 million lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court, which states: “The story is a complete fabrication: There was no interview. 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.”
The playwright’s lawyer, Judd Burstein, added via THR: “This article is just disgusting. Here you have Phil’s family and his friends grieving, and the Enquirer comes along seeking to make a buck through putrid lies. Worse still, it appears that the Enquirer sent out a press release hyping the story so that it could sell more copies of the magazine. I do not know how these people can sleep at night.”
Many were dubious about the story before Katz’s lawsuit, not just because it was published by the notoriously unreliable National Enquirer, but also because it quoted the writer as saying things like “we were homosexual lovers”, a sentence very few gay people would ever use, especially not one paid for his words.
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