NFL player Kerry Rhodes has been battling rumors of his alleged homosexuality since last week when Media Takeout published a series of photos with Rhodes and a fellow man. In the photos, Rhodes has his arm around the man and is also carrying him. Last week, however, Rhodes addressed the rumors matter-of-factly.

“I am not gay,” Rhodes told TMZ.

Rhodes maintained that the photos were from a vacation with his whole business team, and that the man he was pictured with his arm around was his assistant. He also added his support for athletes struggling with coming out.

“I know a lot of people are recently talking about athletes struggling to come out to their fans right now, and I support them, as well as wish those individuals comfort.”

But more recent photos from Media Takeout show Rhodes kissing the man on the head.

The man in the photo, Russell “Hollywood” Simpson claims to have been in a relationship with Rhodes. Simpson alleges that he met Rhodes at an Arizona Cardinals game when Rhodes was injured, and later became his assistant.

“I got to know Kerry and we became very close,” Simpson told Baller Alert. “I moved in with Kerry at his home in Arizona. At first we were just friends and we were getting to know each other. Then we got into a relationship. We were in a relationship for a whole year. I was there, people knew who I was, they saw me as his top assistant. I handled everything for him. No one went to Kerry for anything.”

Simpson said Rhodes flirted with him first, and Simpson told Bossip that he “was like his [Rhodes’s] wife.”

Rhodes, 30, has played eight seasons in the NFL for the Arizona Cardinals and New York Jets. He is now a free agent.

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