Latest news with #RickyMartin
New York Post
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Billy Bush reveals he tried to out Ricky Martin but destroyed footage after singer stormed off: ‘I really feel badly'
Billy Bush was livin' la vida loca when he asked this question. The entertainment host, 53, recently reflected on his first-ever interview with Ricky Martin. The singer, 53, had just released his self-titled debut album in 1999 when he sat down to talk with Bush. The reporter called their conversation 'the most uncomfortable celebrity situation I ever had.' 12 Billy Bush on Rob Lowe's podcast. Team Coco Podcasts/YouTube 'I was young and working out of New York the first couple years on Access Hollywood, East Coast correspondent,' Bush recalled on Thursday's episode of the 'Literally! with Rob Lowe' podcast. 'I got the call to go down and interview Ricky Martin in Miami for his new album and Mariah Carey the night before,' he continued. 'I know Barbara Walters had asked him about his sexuality. I'm like, 'Wouldn't that be a big newsmaker?'' The late journalist, who died in 2022, put the young artist on the spot during a live 2000 television interview. 12 Billy Bush recalls almost outing Ricky Martin. Team Coco Podcasts/YouTube 'You could stop these rumors,' Walters stated. 'You could say, 'Yes, I am gay or no, I'm not.'' Martin was visibly shocked before responding, 'I just don't feel like it.' Bush shared that the night before his interview, he asked people in his hotel lobby what they wanted to know about Martin. He confessed that the majority wanted to know if he was gay. 12 Ricky Martin celebrating the release of his 2000 single 'She Bangs' at VH1 Studios in New York City. WireImage The next day, the television personality asked Martin point-blank. The Puerto Rico native immediately took off his microphone. 'He gets up and he walks off the set,' Bush explained, 'and I'm sitting there going, 'Oh s–t.'' Along with receiving some angry phone calls from his superiors, the Access Hollywood alum felt awful. 12 Ricky Martin performs live on stage during his concert at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on October 17, 2000. Getty Images 'I'm like, 'OK, I really feel badly.' I just feel badly because he was legitimately hurt, and I'm not in the business of hurting people,' Bush confessed. 'I am in the business of figuring out who I am and where I'm going. And you need to be able to make mistakes in life. Remember that people.' He went back and apologized to the pop star. 'I'm like, 'Ricky, I am so sorry for asking that question,'' Bush reminisced. ''I don't know what I was thinking. It was a cowboy question. It was inappropriate. I'm so sorry. And I promise you this will never see the light of day. I will smash that tape with a hammer.'' 12 The infamous Barbara Walters interview with Ricky Martin. CTV The Extra correspondent teased to host Rob Lowe, 61, 'I should have smashed another one.' Bush said Martin told him that he would address his sexuality at some point, but not on Access Hollywood at the time. Bush concluded by stating that he learned a 'valuable lesson' from the altercation. 12 Ricky Martin during his sit down with Barbara Walters in 2000. CTV As he put it, 'Don't be an a–hole. Don't be an idiot.' The Post reached out to a rep for Martin. The Grammy winner rose to fame as a child performer in Puerto Rico. Martin then joined the boy band Menudo in 1984. 12 Ricky Martin with his sons Valentino and Matteo. Getty Images Rumors swirled about his sexuality in the '90s and 2000s. However, he dated TV presenter Rebecca de Alba for seven years, from 1995 to 2002. In 2010, Martin came out publicly in a post on his website, two years after welcoming twins Matteo and Valentino, 16, via surrogate in 2008. Martin went on to marry artist Jwan Yosef in 2017, and the pair welcomed daughter Lucia, 6, and son Renn, 5, via surrogate. Martin and Yosef, 40, split in 2023. 12 Ricky Martin and husband Jwan Yosef with their kids. jwanyosef/Instagram 'Sexuality is one complicated thing,' Martin told People in 2021. 'It's not black and white. It's filled with colors. When I was dating women, I was in love with women. It felt right, it felt beautiful. You can't fake chemistry —the chemistry was there with them. I wasn't misleading anyone.' He also reflected on his uncomfortable encounter with Walters. 'When she dropped the question, I felt violated because I was just not ready to come out,' the musician told the outlet. 'I was very afraid. There's a little PTSD with that.' 12 Jwan Yosef, Ricky Martin, Matteo Martin and Valentino Martin attend the 23rd Annual Human Rights Campaign National Dinner. Getty Images The 'Palm Royale' star pondered, 'A lot of people say, 'What would you do differently?' Well, maybe I would have come out in that interview. It would've been great because when I came out, it just felt amazing.' Martin added, 'When it comes to my sexuality, when it comes to who I am, I want to talk about what I'm made of, about everything that I am. Because if you hide it, it's a life-or-death situation.' Just last year, Martin opened up about how his father, a psychologist named Enrique Martín Negroni, encouraged him to come out. 12 Ricky Martin with his twins. ricky_martin/Instagram 'He said, 'What are you going to teach your kids, to lie? You got to be open,'' he said while on SiriusXM's 'Andy Cohen Live' in 2024. 'I want to help you. How can we do this?' Martin recalled his dad telling him. 'And I'm like, 'All right, dad, I'm working on it. Give me a second. I don't know how. I don't know if it's through an interview. I don't know if I want to write a letter and tweet it. I don't know. Give me a break. It'll come.'' The artist said that coming out on his website 'felt amazing.' 12 Jwan Yosef and Ricky Martin attend the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscar Party. Getty Images 12 Ricky Martin attends the World Premiere of Apple TV+'s 'Palm Royale.' Getty Images 'I wish I could come out 20 times,' Martin gushed. 'Of course, I started crying like a baby. You know, I pressed send and I was like, 'Oh, that's it?' My assistant, who's still my assistant, Paco, he was next to me, and I'm like, 'I think I need a hug.''
News.com.au
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Ricky Martin stormed off set after Billy Bush nearly outed him mid-interview: ‘You motherf**ker'
Ricky Martin was fuming when an American radio host questioned him about his sexuality in the early noughties. Billy Bush — who now regrets the intrusive question — revealed on Literally! With Rob Lowe on Thursday that he told the Latin music superstar at the time that eight people he spoke to in the lobby bar the night prior wanted to know 'if you're gay.' 'He stiffens up in the chair and he goes, 'What?' And I go, 'Oh boy,'' the reporter recalled. 'And he goes, 'You motherf**ker,' rips off his microphone.' Bush, now 53, claimed Martin, also now 53, added, 'You want your headline … You piece of garbage.' The Livin' La Vida Loca singer allegedly then walked off the set, leaving the entertainment reporter to say to himself, 'Oh sh*t,' while his producer also freaked out and said, 'This is terrible.' Bush, who had flown to Miami for the interview, claimed he got a call from his bosses in Los Angeles shortly after, and they reprimanded him for his line of questioning. 'I'm not in the business of hurting people. I am in the business of figuring out who I am and where I'm going. And you need to be able to make mistakes in life,' the Extra host told podcaster Rob Lowe, further reflecting on the incident. Bush said he immediately walked back into the interview location to apologise to Martin, and said, 'Ricky, I am so sorry for asking that question. I don't know what I was thinking. It was a cowboy question. It was inappropriate. I'm so sorry, and I promise you this will never see the light of day.' The Nobody Wants to Be Lonely singer then transparently told him, 'I've been struggling with this my whole life. There will be a time, there will be a place. It will not be here on this program while I'm promoting this album.' He continued, 'It is deeply personal to me. I appreciate you coming back in here. I forgive you.' Martin eventually came out as gay in 2010, approximately seven years after his interview with Bush. He announced on his website at the time that he was a 'fortunate homosexual man.' The She Bangs singer added, 'These years in silence and reflection made me stronger and reminded me that acceptance has to come from within and that this kind of truth gives me the power to conquer emotions I didn't even know existed.' The revelation came after years of speculation about Martin's sexuality from fans and journalists, like Bush, who pried into the details about his personal life. The now-late Barbara Walters infamously asked the She's All I Ever Had singer about the 'rumours' in a sit-down for '20/20' in 2000, which the renowned news anchor later regretted. Martin has said that interview left him feeling 'violated' and with 'a little PTSD' because he wasn't ready to come out. Bush shared that, for his part, he was able to make amends with the Grammy winner two years after their uncomfortable exchange. 'He gave me a great big hug, and we had went through it and I learned a valuable lesson that day,' the Hot Mics with Billy Bush host said. 'Don't be an a**hole, don't be an idiot. You have to find nuance in this business, who people are, where you can go, where you can't.'
Daily Mail
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Ricky Martin stormed off set after Billy Bush nearly outed him mid-interview
Billy Bush opened up about his radio host early career blunder when he nearly outed Ricky Martin, who stormed off angrily mid-interview. From his rise to global stardom with Livin' La Vida Loca in 1999 to the time he went public with his sexuality in 2010, speculation swirled around Ricky's love life. In the early 2000s, Billy was a young reporter at Access Hollywood who landed an interview with Ricky. The night before the taping, Billy asked women in a hotel bar what they wanted to know about the singer and they all responded: 'Is he gay?' SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO But when Billy floated the question to Ricky the next day, he was met with a furious outburst, with the singer calling him a 'motherf***er' before tearing off his mic and storming off set. Now Billy, 53, has apologetically told the story on Literally! with Rob Lowe - but despite his remorse, some social media users were outraged. 'Billy Bush is an a hole,' wrote one Facebook commenter. Another social media user made a sly reference to Billy's leaked hot mic tape with Donald Trump, in which the latter bragged about being able to 'grab' women 'by the p***y' because 'when you're a star, they let you do it'. 'Billy Bush seems to have been very interested in everyone's sex life,' the social media user said. 'He must not have been getting any himself.' However, another user on X said: 'Did he say he's straight? That would be the only shocking "outing" here,' while a Facebook commenter sniggered: 'Should've called him a c***sucker.' At the time when Billy met Ricky, the singer had already given an interview to Barbara Walters, who grilled him about his gay rumors in an uncomfortable exchange that she later expressed remorse for and he later described as having given him 'PTSD'. As a rising television personality himself, Billy was anxious to pursue the 'newsmaker' question of Ricky's sexual orientation. In the lobby bar of his Miami hotel the night before his taping with Ricky was scheduled, Billy asked some of the other patrons: 'All right, ladies, I'm interviewing Ricky Martin tomorrow. What do you wanna know?' They all responded: 'Is he gay?' leaving Billy with the impression that the audience watching the broadcast would also be thinking of the same topic. During the interview, Billy asked: 'Ricky, I asked eight people in a lobby bar last night what they wanted to know about you, and they all said the same thing.' Ricky stiffened and sharply demanded: 'What?' and Billy, screwing up his courage, continued: 'They wanted to know if you're gay.' 'You motherf***er!' Ricky allegedly erupted, tearing off his microphone. 'Barbara Walters asked me this and now you. You don't care at all about me. You want your headline. You want your this - you piece of garbage. Who do you think you are?' Ricky stalked off the set, leaving Billy in shock, wondering: 'What just happened?' while his producer said: 'This is terrible.' Within three minutes, Billy's phone was flooded with calls from Los Angeles as the show bosses lambasted him for fumbling the interview. Billy recalled feeling 'badly' about the way the conversation had gone because Ricky 'was legitimately hurt, and I'm not in the business of hurting people. I'm in the business of figuring out who I am and where I'm going, and you need to be able to make mistakes in life - remember that, people,' he told the podcast host. Shortly after the blunder, Billy approached Ricky for a private conversation and apologized for his handling of the interview. Ricky, I am so sorry for asking that question,' Billy said. 'I don't know what I was thinking. It was a cowboy question. It was inappropriate. I'm so sorry and I promise you this will never see the light of day. I will smash that tape with a hammer.' At that point Ricky told Ricky: 'I've been struggling with this my whole life. There will be a time. There will be a place. It will not be here on this program while I'm promoting this album. It is deeply personal to me. I appreciate you coming back in here. I forgive you, and yes, destroy that tape if you would.' Their talk concluded with a hug, and when they met two years later, the two men embraced again. 'And I learned a valuable lesson that day,' Billy shared on Rob Lowe's podcast. 'Don't be an a**hole. Don't be an idiot. You have to find nuance in this business - who people are, where you can go, where you can't.' In response to the news, Billy told a truncated version of the botched interview story on Access Hollywood and apologized publicly for his indiscreet question. 'I felt terrible. Truth be told, I let my ambition overshadow my sensitivity and judgment,' Billy said during the broadcast. 'I went for the big question. I had no idea it would be at the expense of Ricky's deepest feelings.' They appear to be on good terms now, as Ricky cheerfully gave Billy an interview for Extra on the red carpet of the Emmys this past September.
Daily Mail
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Billy Bush branded a 'snake' and an 'a**hole' for nearly outing legendary gay pop star
Billy Bush has been raked over the coals for nearly outing Ricky Martin, years before the pop star announced he was gay. From his rise to global stardom with Livin' La Vida Loca in 1999 to the time he went public with his sexuality in 2010, speculation swirled around the nature of Ricky's love life, fueled by his flamboyant stage persona. In the early 2000s, Billy - a cousin of then-U.S. President George W. Bush - was a young ambitious reporter at Access Hollywood who landed an interview with Ricky. The night before the taping, Billy asked a claque of women in a hotel bar what they wanted to know about the singer and they all responded: 'Is he gay?' But when Billy floated the question to Ricky the next day, he was met with a furious outburst in which his subject called him a 'motherf***er,' tore off his microphone and stormed off the set in the middle of the interview. Now Billy, 53, has apologetically told the story on Literally! with Rob Lowe - but despite his contrition, some social media users reacted with fury at his indelicacy. 'Billy Bush is an a hole,' wrote one Facebook commenter as another fumed: 'Billy Bush is a Bush and they are all [snake emojis].' Another social media user made what appeared to be a sly reference to Billy's leaked backstage hot mic tape with Donald Trump, in which the latter bragged about being able to 'grab' women 'by the p***y' because 'when you're a star, they let you do it.' 'Billy Bush seems to have been very interested in everyone's sex life,' a Facebook commenter wryly observed. 'He must not have been getting any himself.' Others took a more relaxed view of the encounter, such as an X user who joked: 'Did he say he's straight? That would be the only shocking "outing" here,' or a Facebook commenter who sniggered: 'Should've called him a c***sucker.' At the time when Billy met Ricky, he had already given an interview to Barbara Walters, who grilled him about his gay rumors in an uncomfortable exchange that she later felt remorseful about and he later described as giving him 'PTSD.' As a young ambitious television personality himself, Billy was anxious to pursue the 'newsmaker' question of Ricky's sexual orientation. In the lobby bar of his Miami hotel the night before the interview was scheduled, Billy asked some other patrons: 'All right, ladies, I'm interviewing Ricky Martin tomorrow. What do you wanna know?' They all responded: 'Is he gay?' leaving Billy with the impression that the audience watching the interview would also be harboring the same question. He was conflicted about asking Ricky such a 'personal question,' and when he told his producer: 'I think I'm gonna ask him,' she replied: 'Yeah...I don't know....' During the interview, Billy asked: 'Ricky, I asked eight people in a lobby bar last night what they wanted to know about you, and they all said the same thing.' Ricky stiffened and sharply demanded: 'What?' and Billy, screwing up his courage, continued: 'They wanted to know if you're gay.' 'You motherf***er!' Ricky allegedly erupted, tearing off his microphone. 'Barbara Walters asked me this and now you. You don't care about all about me. You want your headline. You want your this - you piece of garbage. Who do you think you are?' Ricky stalked off the set, leaving Billy in aghast, wondering: 'What just happened?' while his producer agonized: 'This is terrible.' Within three minutes, his phone was flooded with calls from Los Angeles as the show bosses lambasted him for his fumbling of the interview. Billy recalled feeling 'badly' about the way the conversation had gone because Ricky 'was legitimately hurt, and I'm not in the business of hurting people. I'm in the business of figuring out who I am and where I'm going, and you need to be able to make mistakes in life - remember that, people,' he told the podcast listenership. In order to mend fences, Billy approached Ricky shortly thereafter for a private conversation and apologized for his handling of the interview. Now Billy, 53, has apologetically told the story on Literally! with Rob Lowe - but despite his contrition, some social media users reacted with fury at his indelicacy 'Ricky, I am so sorry for asking that question,' Billy told Ricky. 'I don't know what I was thinking. It was a cowboy question. It was inappropriate. I'm so sorry and I promise you this will never see the light of day. I will smash that tape with a hammer.' At that point Ricky told Ricky: 'I've been struggling with this my whole life. There will be a time. There will be a place. It will not be here on this program while I'm promoting this album. It is deeply personal to me. I appreciate your coming back here. I forgive you, and yes, destroy that tape if you would.' The conversation concluded with a hug, and when they met two years later, the two men embraced again, signaling a genuine rapprochement between them. 'And I learned a valuable lesson that day,' Billy shared on Rob Lowe's podcast. 'Don't be an a**hole. Don't be an idiot. You have to find nuance in this business - who people are, where you can go, where you can't.' Ricky came out as a 'fortunate homosexual man' on in 2010, saying: 'Allowing myself to be seduced by fear and insecurity became a self-fulfilling prophecy of sabotage. Today I take full responsibility for my decisions and my actions.' In response to the news, Billy told a truncated version of the botched interview story on Access Hollywood and apologized publicly for his indiscreet question. 'I felt terrible. Truth be told, I let my ambition overshadow my sensitivity and judgment,' Billy said during the broadcast. 'I went for the big question. I had no idea it would be at the expense of Ricky's deepest feelings.'
Travel Weekly
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Travel Weekly
Ritz-Carlton harnessed the power of celebrity and social media for its Luminara debut
Teri West I spent my free time last week playing what I like to call "Luminara, I spy." Here's how you play: View the latest Instagram story from a celebrity aboard the Ritz-Carlton's newest yacht, see what other celebrities they filmed at last night's party on the yacht, and then go to those celebrities' Instagram stories to see which other famous guests you can spot. By the end of the sailing, I couldn't believe the list I had compiled. Ricky Martin, Colman Domingo, Anitta, Martha Stewart, Naomi Campbell and Kendall Jenner were a few of the A-listers I watched live it up together on a European cruise. It was also a highly unusual gathering; cruise ships don't normally have celebrity sailings. Lines will invite celebs on here and there for promotional purposes, be it as godmother at a christening ceremony or to perform a concert. But typically, when we see celebrities partying on boats on social media they are on private yachts, not a debut sailing for a luxury cruise ship. But that's likely why the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection held the event for them: It knows the power of social media, and it wants to be viewed differently than other cruise lines, said Robert Kwortnik, a marketing professor at Cornell University who teaches a course on the cruise industry. In other words, it links the Luminara experience to the celebrity lifestyle, he said. Kwortnik posited the mindset of a consumer viewing these Instagram Stories at home: "'If it's something that they would do, I should think about this," he said. "'I should consider a cruise for my next vacation.'" He noted that the celebrities ran the gamut in both age and industry: Musicians and actors and models and influencers who may have overlapping fan bases, but all represent different glamorous versions of the celebrity life. "It's all about, what do those individuals mean, right?" Kwortnik said. "What do they represent, and how well does that align with the Ritz Carlton brand? ... if you aspire to be like Martha Stewart, then this is something that matches up with that identity that the brand is trying to create." The dream of celebrity meetings This type of marketing also goes beyond encouraging those at home to imagine who they would be on a yacht. Kwortnick suggested that Ritz-Carlton also wants you to dream about who you might meet there, which is an important part of the experience for a smaller ship. "Who am I going to have a drink with?" he said. "Who might I sit in the hot tub with? Who might I do an excursion with? And I think that's the whole yacht concept." The Ritz-Carlton called the star-studded event a "milestone sailing," in a statement accompanied by images of Janelle Monae, Nina Dobrev and other famous guests in colorful, floor length dresses. "The exclusive two-night voyage, embarking from the timeless city of Rome and culminating in Valletta, Malta, marked an unforgettable preview of a new era in luxury sea travel," the brand wrote. "Aboard Luminara, guests experienced The Ritz-Carlton's legendary service elevated by the freedom and intimacy of yachting, with impeccable accommodations, locally inspired culinary offerings, and world-class entertainment." Gathering celebrities for a cruise wasn't Ritz-Carlton's first time making an unusual move: It's the first of what is now several luxury hotel brands to expand into vacations at sea. It's unclear whether celebrity sailings will become a trend, but Kwortnik pointed out that social media remains a powerful force in shaping interest and conversations. "I can see this being something that will really take off," Kwortnik said.
