{"id":51215,"date":"2021-02-05T08:31:04","date_gmt":"2021-02-05T12:31:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=51215"},"modified":"2021-02-05T08:38:52","modified_gmt":"2021-02-05T12:38:52","slug":"former-fl-guv-candidate-andrew-gillum-admits-to-being-bisexual-recovering-drug-addict-before-next-political-run-wow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=51215","title":{"rendered":"Former FL Governor Candidate Andrew Gillum Admits to Being Bisexual and Recovering Drug Addict Before Next Political Run&#8212;WOW!"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Ex-Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum talks marriage, hotel scandal in GQ &#8216;Modern Lovers&#8217; issue<\/h1>\n<p><!--more-->Jeff Burlew | Tallahassee Democrat<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"TALLAHASSEE-Embed Player\" src=\"https:\/\/uw-media.tallahassee.com\/embed\/video\/1915714002?placement=snow-embed\" width=\"540\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum and his wife, R. Jai, are the focus of a lengthy GQ article that delves into the trials their marriage faced as he ran for Florida governor and after he was later found unresponsive in a Miami hotel room with a male escort and drugs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">\u201cHow Andrew Gillum\u2019s Marriage Survived a Night of Scandal\u201d is the headline atop the nearly 5,000-word piece, written by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Wesley Lowery as part of the style magazine\u2019s \u201cModern Lovers\u201d issue.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The feature, including a splashy photo spread, is\u00a0<a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tallahassee.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2020\/10\/20\/andrew-gillum-florida-joe-biden-voting-facebook-broadcast-donald-trump\/5990555002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">just the latest sign of the Gillums\u2019<\/a>\u00a0return to the spotlight after exiting public life following the March 13, 2020, incident in a room at the Mondrian South Beach hotel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Last fall, they both re-emerged for an emotional interview on Tamron Hall\u2019s syndicated talk show in which he came out as bisexual.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_gl gnt_em__el\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tallahassee.com\/picture-gallery\/news\/2017\/03\/30\/photos-andrew-gillum-through-the-years\/99833530\/\" data-t-l=\"|inlinePhotoGalleryPromo|viewGallery\" aria-label=\"View Gallery - Photos: Andrew Gillum through the years\" data-g-r=\"nav_mo\" data-g-tn=\"pgcss\" data-g-mtn=\"pg99833530\" data-g-moh=\"hpgm\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-expanded=\"false\" data-c-id=\"99833530\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"gnt_em_gl_i\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/74cd121322c4cb00955d3c7184c815b93db711ae\/c=0-278-5472-3370\/local\/-\/media\/2018\/08\/28\/Tallahassee\/Tallahassee\/636710923137652308-B49I2240.jpg?width=660&amp;height=372&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/74cd121322c4cb00955d3c7184c815b93db711ae\/c=0-278-5472-3370\/local\/-\/media\/2018\/08\/28\/Tallahassee\/Tallahassee\/636710923137652308-B49I2240.jpg?width=1320&amp;height=744&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"372\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The GQ article includes glimpses into happy moments from their life \u2014 their meeting at Florida A&amp;M University, their first kiss outside a Bennigan\u2019s restaurant \u2014 and tougher ones, including the former mayor\u2019s descent into depression and alcoholism following his razor-thin 2018 gubernatorial election loss.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The Gillums told GQ their marriage survived through couples therapy and &#8220;radical honesty&#8221; during talks that happened at home during the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">&#8220;I think that the pandemic probably saved our marriage,&#8221; R. Jai Gillum said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">There\u2019s also new reporting on that night in Miami, including conflicting accounts by the former mayor and Travis Dyson, the male escort found with Gillum in the hotel room.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Police were called to the 11th floor hotel room around 1 a.m., finding Gillum, who\u2019d passed out on the bathroom floor, too inebriated to speak. Paramedics were working on Dyson, who had apparently overdosed. A third man in the room had called 911.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">No charges were ever filed, despite the fact that baggies of suspected methamphetamine were found in the room. But the scandal put at least a temporary end to Gillum\u2019s political ambitions. Hours after he left the hotel, photos leaked of Gillum naked and passed out next to a pool of vomit.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_vp__tp gnt_em__el\" aria-label=\"Video - Andrew Gillum: Video of police at Miami Beach hotel room\">\n<div class=\"gnt_em_vp_w\" data-g-r=\"vp_tp\" data-c-vt=\"teal\" data-t-pl=\"teal-storyinline\" aria-live=\"polite\" data-g-s=\"vp_ld\">\n<div id=\"TealPlayerDefault-5274739\" class=\"teal-video-wrap\">\n<div class=\"tealplayer-control-wrap\">\n<div class=\"tealplayer-progress\">\n<div class=\"tealplayer-progress-bar\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Gillum has said he and Dyson met months prior to the hotel incident and that he wandered up to the hotel room after a day of drinking on Miami Beach. He said he had too much to drink that night but denied taking meth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Dyson, however, told GQ that he and the former mayor connected on the gay hookup app Grindr a week or two earlier and after that met multiple times for paid sexual encounters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">\u201cHe said Andrew passed out after taking \u2018G,\u2019 an ecstasy-type drug often used by gay men to enhance their sex drives, which when combined with alcohol can knock people out,\u201d the article reads. \u201cHe said that on that night and others, both he and Andrew used G and other drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The Tallahassee Democrat contacted a spokesman for Gillum, who did not immediately comment on the article.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Gillum told GQ that Dyson offered him a drink that night and suggested it might have been laced with something. He said he had no recollection of any &#8220;tryst&#8221; in the hotel or even meeting the third man.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">&#8220;So at this point I&#8217;m like, &#8216;This is a set up,&#8217; &#8221; Gillum said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">But Dyson said the third man showed up at the room for a separate appointment with him. He said that the man and Gillum had never met before.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Dyson acknowledged taking photos and videos of a passed-out Gillum, but he denied leaking them. He said the scandal took a toll on his own life, leading to separation from his fiance and forcing him to bow out of a nursing program. He said he makes money now selling porn online.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">A member of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, told GQ someone sent him a screenshot of the photo of Gillum unconscious. He in turn contacted Jacob Engels, a conservative Florida blogger, who posted it online. Neither of them revealed to GQ the source of the photo but indicated it wasn\u2019t Dyson.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_img\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"gnt_em_img_i\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2021\/01\/05\/USAT\/9bef476f-5b93-49dd-8d46-113e22862171-GTY_1229673891.jpg?width=660&amp;height=440&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2021\/01\/05\/USAT\/9bef476f-5b93-49dd-8d46-113e22862171-GTY_1229673891.jpg?width=1320&amp;height=880&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp 2x\" alt=\"Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, a far-right group, is seen at a &quot;Stop the Steal&quot; rally against the results of the U.S. Presidential election outside the Georgia State Capitol on Nov. 18, 2020, in Atlanta.\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"gnt_em_img_ccw gnt_em_img_ccw__cap gnt_em_img_ccw__crd\" data-c-caption=\"Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, a far-right group, is seen at a &quot;Stop the Steal&quot; rally against the results of the U.S. Presidential election outside the Georgia State Capitol on Nov. 18, 2020, in Atlanta.\" data-c-credit=\"Elijah Nouvelage, Getty Images\"><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">GQ also reported that the Miami Beach Police Department closed its investigation into how the police report was leaked in the immediate aftermath of the incident to conservative commentator Candace Owens, who posted it on her Twitter feed. The department could not find the source.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The article points out that what really happened that night &#8220;remains unclear.&#8221; The Gillums canceled follow-up interviews with the magazine after learning that Lowery contacted Dyson. They also declined to talk on the record about Dyson&#8217;s account, GQ reported.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Gillum, meanwhile, said he\u2019s not considering any run for office. But he didn\u2019t close the door to one.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">\u201cNo,\u201d he told the magazine, \u201cand that\u2019s not to say not ever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The article details the celebrity help Gillum got in the aftermath of the scandal. Van Jones of CNN connected the couple with life coach Iyanla Vanzant, and director Tyler Perry served as a prayer partner, getting them in touch with Judy Smith, famed damage-control specialist. Even former President Bill Clinton gave him a recent pep talk.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_gl gnt_em__el\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tallahassee.com\/picture-gallery\/news\/2018\/09\/27\/andrew-gillums-governor-star-power-photos\/1447082002\/\" data-t-l=\"|inlinePhotoGalleryPromo|viewGallery\" aria-label=\"View Gallery - Gubernatorial star power: A roll call of those who support or donate to Andrew Gillum\" data-g-r=\"nav_mo\" data-g-tn=\"pgcss\" data-g-mtn=\"pg1447082002\" data-g-moh=\"hpgm\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-expanded=\"false\" data-c-id=\"1447082002\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"gnt_em_gl_i\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/75c3c817493332ea3035f1c9241269e82691505c\/c=108-153-2920-1742\/local\/-\/media\/2017\/09\/21\/USATODAY\/USATODAY\/636416063769845470-DAY030.JPG?width=660&amp;height=372&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/75c3c817493332ea3035f1c9241269e82691505c\/c=108-153-2920-1742\/local\/-\/media\/2017\/09\/21\/USATODAY\/USATODAY\/636416063769845470-DAY030.JPG?width=1320&amp;height=744&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp 2x\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"372\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">\u201cAs you know,\u201d Gillum said Clinton told him, \u201cI\u2019ve been there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><em>Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tallahassee.com\/story\/news\/local\/2021\/02\/04\/andrew-gillum-gq-article-former-tallahassee-mayor-marriage-scandal-florida-governor\/4388986001\/\">https:\/\/www.tallahassee.com\/story\/news\/local\/2021\/02\/04\/andrew-gillum-gq-article-former-tallahassee-mayor-marriage-scandal-florida-governor\/4388986001\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ex-Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum talks marriage, hotel scandal in GQ &#8216;Modern Lovers&#8217; issue<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51215\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}