By Karu F. Daniels, BlackVoices.com

The man formerly married to ex-TV personality Star Jones is speaking up – and clearing up a few misconceptions while at it.
"I am not a homosexual," Al Scale Reynolds declared on his recently released YouTube channel, which stormed the Internet this week.
Obviously, the media savvy former banker is well aware that some unscrupulous bloggers loosely refer to him as "Big Gay Al."
And, according to him, it has maligned his professional reputation.
"It's really weird to me and it's really kind of upsetting to me that that's where people would go as it related to my sexuality," he explained. "This has affected my professional life. This has affected my personal life. And if anyone knew the damage that it has caused me, they would understand I am very aggressive about this."
The 30-something-year-old Virginia native said he wanted "people to know that I'm more than Star Jones' ex-husband - I'm Al Reynolds" in clip appropriately titled, "The Al Reynolds you don't know."
"I'm about service. I'm about educating. I'm about motivating. I'm about helping. I'm about inspiring. That's what I feel the next chapter for Al Reynolds is going to be about."Speaking of chapters, he's putting the finishing touches on a financial literacy tome geared at the middle-to-low class -- tentatively titled 'Bank On It.'
"I'm not a fade-away type of guy," he proclaimed. "I'm a guy who progresses and moves forward. I was successful before I met Star, and I plan to be successful after Star. I'm in the public eye now. That's the truth. It comes with responsibilities. I'm using it as an opportunity to educate and motivate people."About his former wife, he did say he still loved her.
"I still very much love her," he told the 'Associated Press' in an interview. "I do. I can't lie to you."
And though approached by many media outlets for opportunities to trash her, he decided to honor their relationship by taking the high road. "I wasn't interested in participating in the sensationalism," he said.
The couple wed at Saint Bartholomew's Church in New York City on Nov. 13, 2004. The lavish wedding -- which reportedly had 500 camera-ready guests, three matrons of honor, 12 bridesmaids and four flower girls -- came under scrutiny when Jones discussed its sponsors at length on her ABC show.
She filed divorce papers in late March of this year.
"The fantasy was for every 40-year-old Black woman who was overweight and wanted to get married. That was my fantasy, but the marriage is not," Jones said in an interview with 'Jet' magazine last summer. "It belongs to us ... We're not a Hollywood couple. We may be a couple that people write about, but there is nothing celebrity about us."


Comments: (211)
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By: Rachel on 7/16/2008 9:55PM
Who is this guy anyway ??? Have I been livin in 'hermidity ' for this long ?? My life is fine just where I am..........I need no onlookers or voyeurs peekin around my cabin.
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By: Bart on 7/16/2008 9:55PM
Its an endless circle...We never knew or cared who this dude was.....we only now know who he is because he "married" that serial eater.....Now, in the limelight soley because he "married" that woman, he feels compelled to proclaim that he is more than just Starr Jones's spouse....rewind
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By: JM on 7/16/2008 11:25PM
Wow, we are all so obsessed with every quasi-celebrity-for-no-reason out there. Imagine if we all put that wasted time into doing things that mattered...
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By: Jimmy Cain on 7/16/2008 10:00PM
Look at that sorry bitch, who cares if it is gay or not. He would make a nice vice-presidental choice for Obama.
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By: philo on 7/17/2008 11:51AM
It certainly is a good thing they had no children.
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By: ANITA on 7/16/2008 10:04PM
actually if the man is gay or not...who cares...but is there any possibility that just maybe his sexuality changes onces he married star...the skinner she got the uglier she got....
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By: kim on 7/16/2008 10:03PM
i love this headline on aol homepage: It says" Star clears his name about being gay" Since when is this guy a star? Hello!
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By: Amby on 7/16/2008 10:03PM
Really? Weren't there pictures of him in a diaper entering a Gramercy Park gay club on Halloween while she was with "The View" in Texas, a few weeks before their wedding?
And what about him sharing a house in the gay Fire Island community of Water Island before he met Star?
Really, everyone's sexuality is their own business. But if you feel you must speak about it, don't lie. There's nothing to gain from that.
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By: robert on 7/16/2008 10:07PM
H uses his words carefully. He is not "homosexual" but he likes the excitement of being with men. Unless he ws beating her butt everynight or stung out on drugs, these two should still be married UNLESS there was an issue between them that was not acceptable to Starr. I say he is still a deviant for "strange flesh"..aka the "down low".
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By: Don Herout on 7/16/2008 10:38PM
Hmmmmm---I seem to remember years back when Rock Hudson said he wasn't gay either. Even faking a marriage to throw people off. Does this sound familiar
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