‘I Gave Senator Cruz A $2,700 Check’ Gay NYC Hotelier Admits, Contrary To Prior Statements

Gay NYC Hotelier Ian Reisner is coming clean about that infamous dinner he and his partner hosted for Ted Cruz.

So much for letting sleeping dogs lie.

Back in April Mati Weiderpass and Ian Reisner (photo, top left) hosted a dinner for Ted Cruz as the Tea Party Republican Senator was hopping from fundraiser to fundraiser in New York City to bolster his presidential campaign coffers.

The dinner quickly made headlines, likely because the real estate business partners and former boyfriends posted images to their Facebook pages of Cruz in their luxury Manhattan penthouse, and because the very idea of gay men who made their fortunes from the LGBT community hosting a dinner for a virulently anti-gay fire and brimstone politician who claims gays are waging a “jihad” against Christians seemed more like a story from The Onion than the New York Times.

And yet, it was true.

What wasn’t true about that dinner, however, turns out to be a lot.

When the LGBT community and allies expressed their outrage, Weiderpass and Reisner first defended the dinner, insisting it was a tiny gathering of about six or eight people. Turns out, according to a new New York Times article today, 18 people dined in the Central Park South apartment.

LOOK: Gay NYC Hotelier Who Hosted Ted Cruz No Longer Sorry, Calls Gays ‘Extremists’ In New Op-Ed

But perhaps the biggest bit of incorrect information passed on to the public was the pair insisted not only was the dinner not a fundraiser, but there were “no checks given.”

In an early May interview with New York Magazine’s Carl Swanson, Weiderpass said Sen. Cruz “came to my home for a private dinner, not a fund-raiser. That was absolute — it was not a fund-raiser.”

“There were no checks given,” Ian Reisner added, echoing Weiderpass’ insistence. “It was nothing like that.”

Apparently, that’s not exactly accurate.

“As it turns out, Mr. Reisner himself wrote a check to Mr. Cruz’s presidential campaign, making a $2,700 donation — the maximum allowed in a nominating contest — around the time the dinner took place,” the New York Times reports today.

But shortly after The Times reported on the dinner, where about 18 people sat down at two tables in separate areas of the palatial penthouse, Mr. Reisner called the campaign and asked for his check to be refunded.

“In the interest of transparency, I gave Senator Cruz a $2,700 check to show my support for his work on behalf of Israel,” Mr. Reisner said in a statement he provided after The Times learned of the donation from two people with direct knowledge of it. “When I realized his donation could be misconstrued as supporting his anti-gay marriage agenda, I asked for the money back. Senator Cruz’s office gave the money back, and I have no intention of giving any money to any politicians who aren’t in support of L.G.B.T. issues.”

Just yesterday NCRM reported Reisner recently hired Omar Sharif, Jr. to help rehabilitate his reputation. Looks like he’s going to be busy.

 

Related:

Why We Did It: Gay Hoteliers Open Up About Why They Hosted Ted Cruz

US Congressman Slams NYC Gay Hotel Owners: Don’t Support People ‘Who Believe We’ll Burn In Hell’

‘A Terrible Mistake’: Embattled NYC Gay Developers Forced To Issue Apologies For Hosting Ted Cruz

 

Images via Facebook
Hat tip: Towleroad