Rod Stewart once cleared up a vile – and homophobic – urban legend that had become attached to him. The rocker, 81, might have been married to three different women and fathered eight children over the years, but the rumour persisted that he had once performed so much oral sex on male sailors in a San Diego bar that he had needed his stomach pumped afterwards.
The disgusting rumour – which isn’t even a physical possibility – led to speculation on Rod’s sexuality, which he finally addressed in his 2012 autobiography. He explained that the rumour actually came from a place of revenge carried out by his then-publicist Tony Toon.
Rod was on a trip to Hawaii when a shortage of hotel rooms meant Toon had to share with Rod’s seven-year-old stepson. Despite the room arrangements, Rod alleged Toon “pulled some bloke in the bar that evening and took him back to the room” where the child was staying. Rod fired him the next morning for the conduct.
He wrote: “Toon’s revenge was absolutely inspired. He fed the press a story in which, as a consequence of an evening spent orally servicing a gang of sailors in a gay bar in San Diego, I had been required to check into a hospital emergency room to have my stomach pumped.
“I have never orally pleasured even a solitary sailor, let alone a ship’s worth in one evening. And I have never had my stomach pumped, either of naval-issue semen or of any other kind of semen.
“With minor variations… this story has stayed with me ever since. Say what you like about Tony Toon — and God rest his soul — but he was good at his job.”
He later clarified during an interview with Katie Couric that he is “as heterosexual as they come”, explaining Toon’s revenge “was horrible because my kids were at school. So that is definitely not true.”
Rod has long since been a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, and explained that he would be unfazed if his son Aiden – who enjoyed dressing up in his mum’s clothes – turned out to be gay.
He said in 2016: “If he turns out to be a homosexual, that's okay with me. As long as he's happy."
