TORONTO — David Bar Katz, who found the body of Philip Seymour Hoffman, has settled his lawsuit against a tabloid that claimed he was the late actor’s lover.
The National Enquirer will fund Katz’s American Playwriting Foundation, which will provide $45,000 a year for an unproduced play.
The tabloid also published a full-page apology in Wednesday’s New York Times.
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Only days after Hoffman’s death of an apparent heroin overdose, the Enquirer published a story claiming it had an exclusive interview with Katz.
The Enquirer quoted him saying: “We were homosexual lovers. We had a relationship.”
The report also quoted Katz saying he saw Hoffman freebase cocaine the night before his death.
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Katz, a 48-year-old married father of four, said he never spoke to the Enquirer. He filed a lawsuit against the publication and its parent company American Media Inc.
“The issue was never me being outraged at being accused of being gay — we’re theater guys, who cares?” Katz told the Times. “The issue was lying about the drugs, that I would betray my friend by telling confidences.”
In its apology, the Enquirer claims it was misled by someone claiming to be Katz.
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