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NEWS > ENTERTAINMENT > CLAY AIKEN ADMITS HE IS GAY, CAREER TEMPORARILY COMES OUT OF CLOSET

CLAY AIKEN ADMITS HE IS GAY, CAREER TEMPORARILY COMES OUT OF CLOSET

September 24 2008

Los Angeles, CA – After years of denial and evasion, former American Idol star Clay Aiken has admitted to People magazine that he is gay. The singer, who recently became a father, will appear on the cover of the magazine due to be published Wednesday.

“Yes I’m gay,” the cover of the magazine reads. “I cannot raise a child to lie or hide things.”

While speculation over the singers sexual preference has been a hotly debated topic in the past, only recently with the birth of his son has the singer come back into the public light and interest in him resurfaced.

“Aiken was one of the bright lights of the early days of ‘American Idol’ but has since faded into almost total obscurity. If it wasn’t for the speculation about his sexuality I doubt anyone would care at all,” said Scrape TV Entertainment analyst Tracey Temple.”Like that fat guy, what was his name? Whatever, he’s been totally forgotten and likely the same thing would have happened with Aiken if he hadn’t milked the speculation so effectively. I have to say he’s got some incredible agents. Not since the days of Ann Nicole Smith has such a moderately talented person been able to stay so famous. Like Smith they didn’t focus on his perceived talents but kept the spotlight on other, um, assets. I think this has been a master stroke of media manipulation.”

While Aiken is likely to insist that his coming out has nothing to do with his career, there is little doubt that it will project him far from the closet and into the media spotlight once again, a place he hasn’t enjoyed for years.

“American Idol is the refuge of the moderately talented. There are tons of people with voices, but its grit and determination that creates long lasting success,” continued Temple. “Aiken leapfrogged that process to get a recording deal and he’s doing it again.”

Aiken in the past has either denied or demurred when asked about his sexual orientation. In a 2006 interview, Diane Sawyer brought up the question and Aiken responded harshly.

“I don't understand why it's any of your business,” he told Sawyer. “For me, part of the reason that I have anxiety is the fact that I feel like people are always staring at me. So it's important for me to make sure that I have my friends and vacation, and what I do at home with my family and that type of thing [stays private].”

While it’s unclear why fatherhood would suddenly alter his desire to keep his personal life personal, what is clear is that Aiken’s recording career is no longer what it once was. The singer is starring in the Broadway production of ‘Monty Python’s Spamalot’.

“Telling people magazine he’s gay, appearing on the cover with his newborn son, that doesn’t sound to me like someone who’s trying to maintain his privacy. It’s going to do wonders for his career, at least in the short term. You have to have talent and work hard to have a long career; you can’t just go around exploiting the media every couple of years. Well, you can but eventually you run out of tricks, and closets. Let’s be straight here, he’s no Justin Guarini. Well, maybe straight was the wrong word.”

Aiken’s latest album was released last May. RCA has announced the album will be re-released “if the gay thing works.”   

Samantha Dryden, Entertainment Correspondent

NEWS > ENTERTAINMENT > CLAY AIKEN ADMITS HE IS GAY, CAREER TEMPORARILY COMES OUT OF CLOSET

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