Accomplice to "JT
LeRoy" spills the beans

A key player in the "JT LeRoy" literary scam has stepped forward and confessed, reports The New York Times. Geoffrey Knoop told the Times in a phone interview on Sunday that his partner of 16 years, Laura Albert, wrote the books and stories attributed to LeRoy and that she conducted phone conversations in a West Virginia accent as LeRoy when speaking to editors, journalists, and fans. "The jig is up," said Knoop, 39. "I do want to apologize to people who were hurt," he added. "It got to a level I didn't expect." Knoop says Albert created the guise of a gay teen runaway to attract the attention of novelist Dennis Cooper, thinking that Cooper would be less interested in helping a woman in her 30s. Cooper was one of the first champions of LeRoy, whose original pieces were published under the name "Terminator."

Knoop said he ran a lot of the day-to-day affairs for LeRoy and that his half-sister, Savannah Knoop, portrayed LeRoy in public appearances. He and Laura Albert separated in December, partially over the stress caused by the hoax, and they are embroiled in a custody battle over their son. Knoop also told the Times he has engaged an entertainment lawyer in the hopes of selling the story of the JT LeRoy con job as a movie. (Advocate.com)