Face of an infamous magazine exposé about “trophy boys” speaks out 30 years later…
He was the face of an infamous cover story about trophy boys. Now three decades later, he's sharing his perspective.
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He was the face of an infamous cover story about kept boys and their sugar daddies. Three decades later, he’s sharing his perspective.
Adam Turner published an essay Tuesday in Vanity Fair about his experience as a cover boy for a salacious 1997 New York exposé titled “Trophy Boys.” In it, journalists Eric Konigsberg and Maer Roshan (who is gay and currently the Editor-in-Chief at The Hollywood Reporter) use the fervor around Gianni Versace’s murder as a jumping off point to explore the lascivious world of stay-at-home boys who latch onto wealthy men in gay enclaves like Miami Beach.
“They adorn the pools, and the private lives of A-list gay men, parlaying muscle tone and conversation into Rolexes, Range Rovers, and (even) real estate,” the article says.
Versace’s murderer was Andrew Cunanan, a 27-year-old serial killer who was suspected of slaying wealthy gay paramours. In 2018, actor Darren Criss won an Emmy for portraying Cunanan in Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story about the case.
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While it was initially reported that Cunanan had targeted older gay men, it came out that he was only involved with one of his five victims, a 33-year-old former lover named David Madson. 30 years later, his motive for targeting Versace, or his other victims, is still unknown. Cunanan shot himself to death on a houseboat near Miami Beach before authorities could capture him.
But in the summer of 1997, suggestive rumors were circulating. That’s the environment in which New York published its now-notorious story, and when Turner received the call to be on the cover.
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Who is Adam Turner?
Turner’s brush with infamy happened innocently enough. He says a friend approached him on the beach and asked if he would be interested in modeling. The following day, he showed up to New York‘s offices in Manhattan and took part in a casting call.
He got offered the cover. At the time, he knew the story was risqué, but that was part of the draw. The aspiring Broadway actor was looking for a way to establish himself.
In the VF piece, Turner is frank about why he was chosen: he was straight out of central casting. As a fit, white, 25-year-old, he fulfilled the period’s gay ideal. Petrified of being ostracized, gays of that era tried to look as robust and clean-cut as possible. A self-described “Chelsea clone,” Turner says he and other men did anything to avoid looking sickly.
The cover shows him lounging in a pool chair, dark sunglasses on and cosmo in hand.
The reaction
The seductive article sparked backlash in the gay community, with many feeling it was overly sensational. But that’s not surprising. Gay sex was still viewed as taboo in 1997. The “trophy boy” angle carried a lecherous tinge.
Turner says he soon began receiving phone calls, with strangers propositioning him for sex. Though the story and its notoriety are associated with some dark themes, Turner is proud to be part of gay history. He says he still has several copies.
“Not out of vanity,” he says,” but because it represents a snapshot in time. “I reflect on [the story] bittersweetly as I ponder my fading visibility as a single, gay, 54‑year‑old man,” he adds.
Gay sex still sells
In 2026, gay sex is fully mainstream. But glossy pubs still explore the genre, often in scandalous tones. Last year, the New Yorker faced criticism for publishing an expose on Sniffies, the subversive cruising app. The article was written by a woman.
Later last summer, New York came out with a piece about a new “peak era of gay sluttiness.” The genesis of the article: as American descends into authoritarianism, rich gays in major metros are doing way more drugs and having way more sex than ever. Spurred by PrEP, Doxy and cushy email jobs, they feel invincible.
Perhaps the worst offender was a piece published by Wired this year. Writer Zoë Bernard penetrated the so-called “gay tech mafia” in Silicon Valley, only to find that gay men socialize with each other.
And lest not forget David Geffen’s nasty split with his sugar baby, who’s 50 years younger.
No matter the cultural climate, gays remain tantalizing subjects.
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