Escort Throws Cold Water On Lott Rumor

A San Antonio-based gay male escort categorically denied Monday that outgoing GOP Sen. Trent Lott had ever procured his services, putting to bed one of the more stunning rumors to emerge following Lott's announcement earlier in the day that he was leaving Congress.

The charge was first published by the Washington DC blog Big Head DC, which claimed to have emails where the escort, Benjamin Nicholas, allegedly playing coy, declined to go on the record because "Trent is going through his fair share of scrutiny right now and I don't want to add to it."

But in an email message, Nicholas himself said the item was false.

"There's nothing to be said, as Lott and I have no connection whatsoever," Nicholas wrote in an email to The Huffington Post. "How these 'quotes' have been fabricated are beyond me. The Senator is someone I have had no personal dealings with, ever."

In a subsequent posting on his own Web site, Nicholas wrote, "I have not, nor have I ever seen or had contact with Senator Trent Lott. It's as simple as that. It never happened."

Big Head DC's founder, Rob Capriccioso, is no stranger to allegations of sloppy sleuthing.

Earlier this month, Radar Magazine dropped Capriccioso as a freelancer after he reported that veteran newsman Sam Donaldson's phone number was in the records of infamous DC Madam Deborah Jean Palfrey.

What Capriccioso failed to note, Radar wrote in an online post, was that Palfrey insisted that the single telephone call to Donaldson had nothing to do with prostitution, and was simply a wrong number.

Capriccioso defended the Lott piece, telling The Huffington Post "Big Head DC stands by our quotes and item 100 per cent," but he declined to share any of the emails Nicholas allegedly sent to the blog.

The item, peppered with links to YouTube videos of Nicholas flexing for the camera, quickly made the rounds of email inboxes inside the Beltway and beyond. It was even picked up by the wildly popular celebrity gossip site PerezHilton.com.

"The boy happens to be real, and his "stage name" is Benjamin Nicholas. One of the politicos Big Head DC has learned he's alleged to have been involved with is the married Sen. Trent Lott," read the original post on Big Head DC.

Nicholas later said the quotes attributed to him in the Big Head DC item were "falsely pieced-together" to "sensationalize a completely fabricated scoop."

Comments

[souris]

02:38 PM on 12/02/2007

.....sure would like a gander at Ben's bank account these days to see if it reflects a BIG FAT deposit of hush $$$$$$$...........

[GraceAlexis]

03:35 PM on 11/29/2007

the Big head has just updated it's story on the trent lott gay male escort story and they have published all email communications with the male escort invovled...it's is obvious that the male escort has lied to Max Follmer and hopefully max will correct the lies.here is the link to the emails...
http://bigheaddc.com/2007/11/27/the-e-mails-benjamin-nicholas-says-he-didnt-send/

[GraceAlexis]

01:45 PM on 11/29/2007

it's sad that this writer left out the fact that Larry Flint has confirmed that he has been investigating Trent Lott and the gay escort scandal for a long time just go to larryflint.com to see the confirmation.
the writer of this story also left out the other numerous statements that the male escort had made on his own site originally that would have definately lead one to believe he knew trent lott well enough to address him by his first name "trent is going through a lot right now and i don't want to pile on"

[npeldon]

10:08 PM on 11/28/2007

Trent resigns on Monday.
FBI raids his brother in laws law firm on Tues.
Brother in law indicted on Wednesday?

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5337134.html

[fourex]

03:50 PM on 11/28/2007

Why do escorts think they are the one and only plaything.

[Felicty]

03:27 PM on 11/28/2007

Manwhile, the BigHeadDC site seems to have been mysteriously shut down.

Free Speech in Amerika? Who are we kidding?

[mocca]

12:03 PM on 11/28/2007

Did anyone stop to wonder how Nicholas got on a first name basis with Senator Lott? Yes, Trent certainly does have a lot on his plate! I bet Nicholas took Larry Flint's reward for exposing congressmen and now, after publicly castigating another escort for exposing his preacher client, is rather ineptly trying to cover his own perfidy.

[Clarabell]

11:31 AM on 11/28/2007

When this is probably just all about MONEY, why is everyone so obsessed with his sexual orientation? But if that's the case, let's deal with it when we get more information -- all of the speculation is just stupid.

[Steamboater]

11:15 AM on 11/28/2007

Hmmmmm....my Gaydar tells me Lott isn't gay or even bisexual. Now if this was Lindsey Woolsey Graham, I'd believe it!

[dwillisno1]

11:03 AM on 11/28/2007

The only people who care that any of these guys are gay are Republicans who will then be required to hate them. Democrats only care whether they are hypocritical.

[Dehrenstein]

10:18 AM on 11/28/2007

Unless Flynt has something to add -- and soon -- this story is dead.

[vegasobserver]

10:02 AM on 11/28/2007

Benjamin Nicholas was obviously paid by the RNC to shut up. LOOK AT HIS COMMENTS BEFORE THE DENIAL. How does he know Lott enough to call him "Trent" repeatedly??? How would a gay male escort know what's going on in Lott's life???

Trent Lott is yet another closeted, ego-dystonic gay Republican politician who needs help. I am not buying his sudden decision to resign based on not enjoying being in the minority. He was the Senate minority leader for a long stretch before 2000, remember?

[starrianna]

09:03 AM on 11/28/2007

This entire story is TOTALLY IRONIC
now that Trent Lott is outing himself as a whore.

[UltraClassic]

11:48 PM on 11/27/2007

Ok Max, remember you printed this nonsense when you begin to complain of the garbage about to be thrown on Obama. It's not right what is about to be done to Obama and it's not right to repeat this kind of crap about Lott

[Shizzlewhizzle]

11:24 PM on 11/27/2007

Hows many more Republicans that "smoke the one-eyed worm" thats not been exposed.