The leisure journalist sat down with Rob Lowe for his podcast Actually! With Rob Lowe, the place he opened up about “probably the most uncomfortable superstar state of affairs” he’d ever had — with Bush citing Martin.

“He had simply achieved residing ‘Livin’ la Vida Loca’,” Bush stated, earlier than explaining how he went right down to the resort bar the evening earlier than the interview and requested some individuals what they needed to know in regards to the singer.

“‘Is he homosexual? Is he homosexual? Is he homosexual? Is he homosexual? Is he homosexual?,’” he recalled them asking, as this was earlier than Martin formally got here out. “And I am like, ‘So right here I’m, I am gonna sit in entrance of this man, everybody’s gonna be questioning, is he homosexual?’”

He then determined to ask the controversial query — even telling his producers on the time his plan.

“‘Ricky, I requested eight individuals in a foyer bar final evening what they needed to find out about you,’” he recalled asking. “I pinned it on the individuals. ‘And so they all stated the identical factor.’ He stiffens up within the chair and he goes, ‘What?’ And I am going, ‘Oh boy. They needed to know… When you’re homosexual?’”

Bush continued: “And he goes, ‘You motherf–ker!’ Rips off his microphone. ‘Barbara Walters requested me this, and now you, you do not care in any respect about me. You need your headline, you piece of rubbish who do you assume you might be?!’”

The reporter than described Martin getting up and strolling off set, as Bush sat in a state of shock, rapidly gathering his issues after which leaving the room.

As soon as outdoors the studio in Miami, Bush’s cellphone rang and it was his govt producer in Los Angeles.

“‘What did you?! My cellphone has been blowing up like a Christmas tree. Persons are yelling at me,’” he stated his producer requested. “I am going, ‘I requested him if he was homosexual. I advised you I used to be gonna do it.’”

Bush stated he felt “badly” in regards to the query, as Martin was “legitimately damage.”

“I am not within the enterprise of wounding individuals,” Bush advised Lowe. “I’m within the enterprise of determining who I’m and the place I am going. And also you want to have the ability to make errors in life.”

Bush stated he then circled and walked again into the studio and requested to talk to Martin privately.

“And I am like, ‘Ricky, I’m so sorry for asking that query. I do not know what I used to be considering. It was a cowboy query. It was inappropriate. I am so sorry, and I promise you this may by no means see the sunshine of day. I’ll smash that tape with a hammer,’” he advised the Grammy-award profitable artist, earlier than asking for his forgiveness.

“And he principally comes out of the closet to me,” he added. “He says, ‘I have been fighting this my complete life. There might be a time, there might be a spot. It won’t be right here on this program whereas I am selling this album. It’s deeply private to me. I respect you coming again in right here. I forgive you. And sure, destroy that tape.’”

The pair hugged it out, with Bush including he has seen him since they usually hugged once more.

“I realized a precious lesson that day,” Bush recalled to Lowe. “Do not be an asshole, do not be an fool. You must discover nuance on this enterprise, who individuals are, the place you’ll be able to go, the place you’ll be able to’t.”

Walters beforehand requested Martin if he was homosexual in 2000 on nationwide tv — and pushed additional when he did not give a definitive reply — which has been labelled as controversial second in her profession. On the time, Martin was 29 and had not but come out as homosexual publicly and was residing with quite a lot of anxiousness.

“When she dropped the query, I felt violated as a result of I used to be simply not prepared to come back out. I used to be very afraid,” Ricky admitted to Folks in 2021. “There’s a little bit PTSD with that.”

Martin ended up popping out in 2010, and he stated he hoped to be a supply of inspiration for younger individuals on the market.

Walters additionally admitted the wuestion was a mistake, later noting that it was one in every of her greatest regrets as a celeb interviewer.