By Loveth 
Back in 2002, former Mets catcher Mike Piazza made headlines when he held a press conference just to tell the world he wasn’t gay. The rumors had been swirling after people thought he was in a relationship with a local TV personality. At the time, Piazza firmly said, “I’m not gay. I’m heterosexual. I date women. End of story.”
But it wasn’t quite the end. More than a decade later, in his 2013 book, he brought it up again, saying it felt insulting that people thought he was faking being straight. “If I was gay, I’d be gay all the way,” he wrote.
Fast-forward to now, Piazza’s in a very different headspace. In a recent New York Magazine interview, he was asked about the whole thing again—specifically about the Belle and Sebastian song that mentioned him and posed the question, “Are you straight or are you gay?”
His response? Super chill. “Flattered, obviously,” he said. “As you get older, you just don’t get as wrapped up in those things, or you just don’t have the energy, really.”
These days, Piazza lives in Italy with his wife and kids, far from the media glare. He seems way more relaxed about being part of pop culture, even when it comes with baggage. At this point, he’s just rolling with it.
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