Allegedly deep in the closet
Published in the Advocate magazine in 1998
"
A HOT TIME AT THE FIREHOUSE BAR
Fledging Hollywood actor Scott Caan, son of big-screen tough guy James
Caan, didn't make his father
proud by getting arrested after a boozy bar brawl last week. Caan, 23, was
arrested after a punch-up with James Alleyna in a West Hollywood bar called
the Firehouse.
Reports following the incident claimed Caan had gone ballistic after Alleyna
attempted to hit on Caan's date. In fact, the Firehouse draws a primarily
gay clientele, and the date referred to in police reports
was Caan's companion. New police details indicate that Caan and the man he
was with that evening, Ross Porterfield, were both arrested for assaulting
Alleyna and a friend, Joshua Sher.
Shortly before 2 a.m., Sher allegedly tried to put the moves on Caan's pal
by asking him to dance. Caan then approached Sher, who was sitting at a
table, and began yelling, police say. One witness claims Caan shouted, This
is my lover - what are you doing? Before long, fisticuffs ensued. According
to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's office, when Alleyna tried to intervene,
he was knocked to the ground, at which point club security stepped in. But
as Caan and Porterfield were being shown the door, the couple and several
other unidentified men jumped on Alleyna and Sher, rendering Alleyna
unconscious and knocking Sher to the ground.
Deputies caught Caan and Porterfield as they tried to flee the scene. Caan
and Porterfield were held on $20,000 bail each, which they both posted the
next day. Following the incident, articles referred simply
to Caan's date - making no mention of his companion's gender. But when word
got out that the fight had broken out at the Firehouse, club insiders
quickly started putting two and two together.
Scoffed one late-night denizen: That boy was there with his man, and
everyone got into a good 'ol catfight. Police reports also refer to Caan's
lover only as his date, but Deputy Sheriff Boris Nikolof
commented that the phrasing certainly is interesting. While I can't say that
occurred to me, now that you mention it, there are a lot of gay bars in West
Hollywood. In 1995, Caan starred in A Boy Called Hate, a box office bomb in
which he played the leading man role to buxom beauty Missy Crider. Laughs
one critic who saw the film, It was just totally implausible. Caan is so
incredibly handsome, but you just never in a million years believed he was
interested in this girl. You could tell something was up. Neither Caan nor
Porterfield could be reached for comment. Calls placed to the Firehouse were
not returned."
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-10-01-9810010088-story.html
