An article in "The Sunday Times Magazine" in 1999 stated that Spacey's "love affair with acting, and the absence of a visible partner in the life of an attractive 40-year-old, has resulted in "Esquire" magazine asserting two years ago that he must be gay". Spacey responded to the rumors by telling "Playboy" and other interviewers that he was not gay, and telling Lesley White of "The Sunday Times":I chose for a long time not to answer these questions because of the manner in which they were asked, and because I was never talking to someone I trusted, so why should I? Recently I chose to participate because it's a little hard on the people I love.