Richard DuPont, of the infamous DuPont twins, was sexually assaulted as a young gay man at Studio 54, and now says he never should have allowed himself to be exploited.
At the Los Angeles premiere of the Matt Tyrnauer documentary “Studio 54,” the twins, who appear in the film, were asked about telling Truman Capote[1] off, an incident that was mentioned in “The Andy Warhol Diaries” book.
DuPont said it’s true he called the author a “tired old queen,” but only because “Truman grabbed me by my crotch and said to me, ‘You’ll go far in this town with that.’ ”
DuPont added, “I slapped him.”
Warhol later made DuPont apologize to Capote, telling him, “It’s all in fun,” DuPont recalled. “But I didn’t think it was fun at all. I went along with it because these were powerful men, and I was an 18-year-old kid and scared to say ‘No.’ ”
The now-50-something DuPont applauds the victims of sexual misconduct who have come forward as part of the #MeToo movement. “I wish I was brave enough back then. I wouldn’t let it happen today.”
References
- ^ Truman Capote (pagesix.com)