His mistake was not paying up. His punishment was having to see his bloodied, unrecognisable face on the covers of tabloids all over the city. This was the ironic story of Fabian Lavalle, a.k.a. Fabiruchis, the host of Mexican gossip show La Tijera. Fabiruchis was forced to face a flood of gossip and speculation about his own sexuality after he was assaulted by a young man that he accompanied to a hotel room.
The official version of the story, given by the victim himself, was that in November of 2007 a random man offered to take him to a place where he could meet “cool girls” (“chicas buena onda”). Lured by the proposal, Lavalle followed him to a hotel in the Colonia Roma, where the guy took his money and bit him violently. In a city where a kidnapping is always a juicy news story, it was widely reported that Lavalle had been the victim of an “express kidnapping”, the version put forward by Lavalle’s sister after the attack.
However, no chilango bought the Lavalles’ claims, especially after the “kidnapper”, Alfredo Cervantes Landa, turned out to be a male sex-worker. According to Cervantes, they had known each other since 2003, and that he was hired by Lavalle, who took him to the 121 Jalapa street hotel. He defended his violent actions as self-defense, claiming that Lavalle hit him first after refusing to pay for the requested services.
This story was a dream for Mexican paparazzi. The drugs, alcohol, and violence were extras–the real shocker was Lavalle’s persistant attempt to deny what everybody already knew, that he is gay.
Instead of taking Juan Gabriel’s approach–refusing to answer a question everyone already knows the answer to (“lo que se ve no se pregunta”)–Fabiruchis chose to deny his gayness outright. His closet has not served him well. Rumors of blackmail and photographs containing images of him kissing a young man have been some of the fallout of his refusal to publicly comment on, or at least clarify, his sexual orientation. By denying his gayness in the face of this scandal, Fabiruchis allowed the gossip to grow louder and more judgemental.
Further, in light of a legal suit filed by Cervantes, it seems that Fabiruchis has had to worry about his pocketbook as well as his reputation.
Of course, the upside to this scandal is that the continuous gossip has provided plenty of publicity for a new play in which Lavalle plays himself. We’ve seen it work with Britney and Paris in the states. In the play, Lavalle makes fun of himself and the scandal that has launched him into the public eye.
If humor–black humor–gives us strenth in difficult situations, perhaps that is why Lavalle now has the bravery to say that his sexuality is no one’s business, rather than continuing to deny the obvious.
This article is the second in our series “lo que se ve no se pregunta” in which we shamelessly gossip about Mexican celebrities who are rumored to be gay.