Scroll To Top
Media

Hoover's Gay-Related Vendetta Against Reporter

Hoover's Gay-Related Vendetta Against Reporter

Jacknelsonhooverx390
trudestress
We need your help
Your support makes The Advocate's original LGBTQ+ reporting possible. Become a member today to help us continue this work.

Longtime FBI head J. Edgar Hoover, subject of a much-anticipated biopic this fall, became obsessed with discrediting a Los Angeles Times reporter he believed was preparing a story asserting that Hoover was gay.

A Times article published Monday says that in the early 1970s, prize-winning investigative journalist Jack Nelson reported on various abuses by the FBI but was not concerned with Hoover's sexuality. While there have been many claims that Hoover and close friend Clyde Tolson were lovers, Hoover always denied he was gay.

Still, convinced that Nelson was going to characterize him as gay, Hoover limited the Times' access to information and complained about the journalist to a variety of sources, calling him an excessive drinker, "a mental case," and "a lice-covered ferret." Hoover died in 1972, and Nelson continued to have a distinguished newspaper career, eventually becoming Washington, D.C., bureau chief for the Times. He died in 2009 at age 80.

Rachel Maddow referred to the matter on the "Debunktion Junction" segment of her MSNBC show Monday night, noting among other things that ferrets do not get lice. Watch here.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Media
trudestress
Be sure to follow Advocate on your favorite social platform
Pride of Broadway Special

From our Sponsors

Most Popular

26 big companies standing up for DEI
News

These 25 major companies still have DEI practices

True
comapnies that stopped DEI programs including Google Target and McDonalds
News

These 34 major companies caved to Trump and rolled back DEI programs

True

Latest Stories

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Read Full Bio