The internet has been buzzing with speculation about whether Richard Pryor and Marlon Brando had a s**ual relationship back in the day ever since Quincy Jones made the allegation in 2018, claiming that Brando would “f— anything. Anything! He’d f— a mailbox. James Baldwin. Richard Pryor. Marvin Gaye.”

The rumor has been both confirmed and denied by both Pryor and Brando’s family members, leaving the truth unclear.

Pryor’s widow Jennifer confirmed the alleged affair, saying her late husband was always open about his bisexuality with friends and wrote extensively about sleeping with men in diaries that she plans to release later this year.

She also noted that she thinks Pryor would be having a good laugh if he heard Jones had spread the news.

Days later, Rain, Pryor’s daughter with second wife Shelley Bonus, denied the alleged affair, slamming both Jones and Pryor’s widow as “bottom feeders” for spreading the rumor.

“All you who touted Faux News and preach about wanting blacks to be represented in a great light and then posted Q’s interview are irrelevant and full of your own BS,” she wrote.

Brando’s son Miko also disputed claims that his father had a s**ual relationship with Pryor, telling TMZ that his family is “disappointed” after hearing the rumors.

“The Marlon Brando family has heard the recent comments by Quincy Jones and we are disappointed that anyone would make such a wrongful comment about either Marlon Brando or Richard Pryor,” said Miko, Brando’s oldest living son.

While the truth may never be clear, both men had rather chaotic love lives during their time.

Pryor was married seven times to five different women, including Jennifer twice.

He also had relationships with actresses Pam Grier and Margot Kidder and one with a drag queen he said looked like Josephine Baker.

He described the affair in his autobiography, writing, “I discovered that she was actually a he.

For some reason, I didn’t care … But after two weeks of being gay … I went back to life as a heterosexual.”

Brando, on the other hand, was married three times, had numerous girlfriends, and was a father to 11 children.

He was also open about his bisexuality, telling a French journalist in 1976, “Homosexuality is so much in fashion, it no longer makes news.” He added, “Like a large number of men, I, too, have had homosexual experiences, and I am not ashamed.

I have never paid much attention to what people think about me.

But if there is someone who is convinced that Jack Nicholson and I are lovers, may they continue to do so.

I find it amusing.”

The allegations against Pryor and Brando have sparked a debate about the public’s fascination with the private lives of celebrities.

While some argue that discussing these rumors is disrespectful and invades the privacy of those involved, others believe that it’s important to acknowledge the s**ual fluidity of historical figures.

Regardless of where one falls on the issue, it’s clear that the conversation around Pryor and Brando has brought up questions about the way we perceive sexuality and relationships.

As author Roxane Gay wrote in a tweet about the rumors, “the thing about sexuality is that it’s complicated and deeply personal.

We should honor that complexity and refrain from speculation that does nothing but feed our desire for salacious gossip.”

While we may never know for sure whether Pryor and Brando had a s**ual relationship, their legacies as trailblazers in comedy and acting, respectively, will continue to inspire generations to come.

As Pryor once said, “Comedy is the blues for people who can’t sing.” And Brando’s impact on the film industry is undeniable, with his performances in classics like The Godfather and On the Waterfront cementing his place in cinematic history.

In the end, the rumors about Pryor and Brando’s alleged affair may fade away, but their contributions to their respective fields will continue to live on.