Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - He Made Will Smith Gay? - The David Hampton story

Episode Date: March 8, 2025

David Hampton was an American con artist who, in the early 1980s, deceived numerous affluent New Yorkers by posing as the son of actor Sidney Poitier. He leveraged this fabricated identity to obtain money, food, and shelter from unsuspecting individuals, including notable figures like Inger McCabe Elliott and Osborn Elliott. His exploits inspired John Guare's 1990 play "Six Degrees of Separation," which was later adapted into a 1993 film. This eventually lead to the rumor that Will Smith is gay.

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maybe even scrolling home listings on Redfin, saving homes without expecting to get them. But Redfin isn't just built for endless browsing. It's built to help you find and own a home. With agents who close twice as many deals, when you find the one, you've got a real shot at getting it. Get started at Redfin.com. Own the dream. So this guy pretends to be the son of a famous celebrity, and that somehow made Will Smith gay. Wait, let me explain.

So there's this dude, his name's David, and David is 19, he's living in New York City, and one night in 1983, he and his friend are out, and they're trying to get into a club, Studio 54. So they wait in line for like an hour, and when they finally get to the door, the bouncer tells them, it's going to be $50 each. And David's like, well, we ain't got $50. Because, you know, they're teenagers, they're broke, they can't pay that entry fee. And so they leave. But then, as they're leaving, David gets an idea.

He's like, why don't we pretend to be celebrities' kids? Then they'll have to let us in. And then he's like, you pretend to be Gregory Peck's son, and I'll pretend to be Sidney Portier's son. And his friend hears this crazy idea, and he's like, all right. Now, if you don't know, Sydney Portier is an actor. And this is 1983, so he's super famous at this time. He's the first black actor to win the Oscar for Best Actor, so his name carries a lot of weight during this period.

And so David and his friend, they get back in line, and it takes like an hour and a half for them to get to the door again, and somehow the bouncer doesn't recognize them. And David tells them that they're the sons of these famous actors, and just like that, boom, the bouncer ushers them into the club. And let me tell you, this club is popping, so everyone is looking good and there are celebrities and famous people everywhere. This is the kind of life David has always wanted.

And immediately he's like, well, I got to keep doing this. And that's what he does. Because three days later, he tries again. He walks into a nice bistro and he tells the doorman that he wants a table for two because his dad, Sidney Poitier, is going to be joining him later. And kaboom, they immediately give him a table, and the restaurant staff is all nice to him and they're giving him immaculate service. He's ordering all this food and they send over free drinks to the table.

Now, obviously Sidney Portier never shows up and the staff is like, ah, your dad's probably busy, whatever, your meal is on the house. And so it worked again, flawlessly. And that is when David decides he's going to keep going as long as possible. Hell, he might even try and get rich off this. But then, Bro has a crazy stroke of luck, because one day he's visiting a friend up at Connecticut College. And there he steals another student's address.

book out of his dorm room. And that student just happens to be kind of rich and has well-connected parents. So now David has the addresses and phone numbers of all these rich people. Some of them happen to live back in New York City. And this is when he really starts making a name for himself. He starts calling all these well-connected people and basically telling them a bullshit story about how he's Sidney Poitiers kid. And they believe him and they let him hang out. And so he gets to hang out with like Calvin Klein and Melanie Griffith and Gary Seney. He's the guy who later played Lieutenant Dan and Forrest Gump. Gary Senees let him stay the night in the apartment he was living in. And sometimes David will get them to lend him money. So he's like making money off of this.

And it just continues to work. Like he'll hit up another rich person and then another one and then another one. And soon he's hit up a dozen houses out of this address book that he stole. And every time they'll let him hang out or stay the night or they'll give him cash. And as stupid as that sound, bro is pulling it off. No one really questions him and no one seems to suspect a thing. Until. One day, all that changes. Because David is flipping through that address book when he comes across the name of this couple, Mr. and Mrs. Island.

And Mr. Island is the president of a television station, so they got money. They're kind of important people. So David cold calls them and he tells them he's David Poitier and that he's a friend of their daughters and that he was just mugged and that he really needs a place to stay the night while he waits for his famous dad to get home. And Mr. and Mrs. Island are like, oh, you're Sidney Poitier, son? Sure, you can come stay with us. And so David goes over to their place and he has a nice dinner with them, he stays the night. And of course, when he's leaving the next day, he asks them to loan him some cash because, you know, he just got mugged. And they're like, sure, here's some money. Then the next day, David hits up another wealthy couple from the address book,

Mr. and Mrs. Elliott. And he tells them the same bullshit story that he got mugged and that he's Sidney Poitier's son and that he just needs somewhere to crash for the night while he waits for his famous father to get home. And the Elliot's are like, sure, come over. And so then David is at the Elliott's place and he eats dinner with them and they're super nice to him and they give him a guest room to sleep in. But this is where he screwed. up. He asks the Elliot's to wake him up early the next morning so that he can go for a jog.

But here's the thing. At some point during the night, I guess David feels like smashing. So he low-key invites a friend over, like a booty call, and sneaks that friend into the Elliot's guest bedroom to smash. And he's openly gay, by the way, which in the 80s is a lot more taboo than it is now. Now it's really not. But regardless, the next morning, Mrs. Elliott heads over to the bedroom to wake him up. And kaboom, she catches him, all snuggled up in bed with some scruffy-looking dude, and she's like, oh my heavens! And so the Elliot's are pissed. And they're like, you're not Sidney Portier's son, who are you? Get the fuck out of our house. And so David leaves. Here's the thing, though. David doesn't realize that the Elliot's just happen to be close friends

with the Islands. And Mrs. Elliott is super upset, and she wants to vent. So she calls her good friend, Mrs. Island. And she tells her about how they got conned by this teenager claiming to be Sidney Poitiers' son. And Mrs. Islin is like, holy shit, we got conned by that same kid just the night before. But whatever, they shrug it off thinking, yeah, we'll never hear from that kid ever again, probably. But then, the Elliot's phone rings. And it's David. And he's like all apologizing to them for lying, saying that he feels bad. And then he asks Mr. Elliott if he would meet him in Greenwich Village, I guess so he can apologize in person. Although he's probably just trying to finesse them out of money again. Anyway, so Mr. Elliot's like, sure, buddy, let's meet. But after he hangs

up the phone, he calls the police. Later, David shows up to Greenwich Village to meet Mr. Elliott, and police are already there, and bam, they arrest him. Here's a mugshot of him. And so he takes a plea deal, and he's ordered to pay any money back to the victims that he had conned, But lucky for him, he does avoid prison time. But then he fails to pay his victims back, and they catch him conning again, still telling people that he's Sidney Poitiers son. And so, bam, they throw his ass in prison for about two years. Here's the crazy part, though. The Elliot's actually end up being friends with this playwright.

And the playwright loves this story, and he offers to turn it into a play. And so he does, and the play actually becomes a big hit. Who knows Sidney Poitiers? So we can just call him up and ask him. Then, in 1990, they turned that play into a movie called Six Degrees of Separation, starring Will Smith. And Will Smith plays a character based on David, who is openly gay, just like David. Hey, Paul, come on, stop that. I was wondering if I could fuck you.

And so there's like this whole kissing scene that Will Smith has to participate in. And, you know, here it is, it's whatever. Now, this was apparently Will Smith's first breakthrough movie. role. And allegedly, this role started this rumor that Will is secretly gay or bisexual. And search it up. That rumor still persists to this day, 35 years later. Like, people are still like, oh, I heard Will Smith is secretly gay. Which, by the way, there's not any credible evidence to suggest that he is, nor do I really care. It's just, you know, an interesting story.