Rugby Icon Ian Roberts Battled Slurs with Kisses

Gay rugby icon-turned-actor Ian Roberts is looking fantastic in the pages of the upcoming "Sex" issue of The Advocate, where he's featured in a cover story.

Roberts discusses the difficulties of breaking into Hollywood, and goes into great detail about his recently-wrapped up involvement in trials surrounding the murder of gay teen Arron Light, which I've posted about here extensively.

Roberts also discusses his coming out in 1995, which was prompted by a "degrading" article in an Australian tabloid:

"I enjoyed the actual moment. It was empowering to be out. All the confusion that had been part of my life suddenly vanished. When the whole world knew I was gay, I wasn't angry anymore. It's a whole clash about what it means to be a man, about masculinity. People would say, 'You must be the exception to the rule [of what gay men are like]. You don't swish around, you're not a cross-dresser.'"

Also noted is the strategy he used when fans would shout "faggot" or "cocksucker" from the stands. He'd return the slurs with a wink, or something more direct:

"If anything, I took it as a compliment. If they were, by any chance, cute, I'd give them a cute kiss at some point during the game. It became a rugby league story—if you got kissed by me on the field, you weren't half bad to look at."

The issue hits newsstands on July 17th.

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Ian Roberts Cleared of Assaulting Ex-Boyfriend

A Sydney magistrate today cleared gay rugby icon-turned-actor Ian Roberts of any wrongdoing in accusations brought by a former boyfriend that Roberts had assaulted him when Roberts came to his hotel room to try and retrieve a laptop and a digital camera that were in the ex-boyfriend's possession.

The former boyfriend, Ben Prideaux, had his side of the story disproven by another friend and former boyfriend of Roberts, and apparently did not help his case by becoming somewhat hysterical on the witness stand. Said the magistrate: "I mean no disrespect when I say this: he tended to become agitated in the witness box."

It was a three day court case that stretched over a period of six months, and cost Roberts $100,000 he says.

But Roberts, who is now seeing someone identified only as 'Daniel', had only kind words for Mr. Prideaux following the decision.

Said Roberts: "I care about the boy very much. I am so not bitter with Ben. I love him, I have no bad feelings towards him whatsoever."

Roberts, who had a small part as one of Lex Luthor's henchmen in Superman Returns, says he'll now return to L.A. to continue pursuing his acting career.

Said Prideaux after the decision: "I am happy it is over.''

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Former rugby icon-turned-actor Ian Roberts appeared in court in Sydney yesterday to dispute assault charges made by former boyfriend, Ben Prideaux.

In the mix of this gay potboiler are a misplaced laptop computer, a sleeping stranger, a best friend who heard a different story, acting showreels, and an angry boyfriend who likes to scratch. It's a "he said, she said" story that Roberts says has been "a thorn in [his] side."

Roberts explained to a Sydney court that his former boyfriend was in hysterics at the time of the alleged assault after finding a stranger in Roberts' bed: "Ben still had not calmed down. It was a no-win situation for me...He was fanatical. He had worked himself up … I tried to calm him down. I said: 'Babe, it's me; it's all good.'"

According to Roberts' best friend, Prideaux called him following the incident and said that "Roberts was just a 'big, cuddly softie' and had not hit him."

The drama resumes, along with the trial, at the end of May.

Ex-league star 'fearful of scratches' [courier-mail]
Big softy Roberts a lover not a fighter, court told [sydney morning herald]

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