Billionaire David Geffen’s rumored new husband has a ‘super secretive’ past which includes numerous name changes and a career as a go-go dancer.
Donovan Michaels, 30, is believed to have met the 80-year-old while serving as his personal trainer in 2020, but now his former friends have come forward to provide conflicting tales about his past – including online cam-shows, nude pool parties at gay clubs and ambiguous descriptions about his sexual preferences.
He and Geffen – who is worth about $9 billion – were reportedly wed at a private ceremony in Beverly Hills last month. The pair were spotted arriving at a New York City helipad together in April, and Geffen could be seen wearing a gold wedding band on his finger.
It was unclear whether Michaels was wearing a wedding band, too. The pair have not publicly acknowledged any nuptials.
Geffen made his fortune as co-founder of DreamWorks and as a record executive. Michaels’ career has consisted of stringing together odd-jobs while socializing in NYC modeling circles, sources told The New York Post.
Donovan Michaels flashes his abs while posing with a drag queen. Michaels reportedly worked as a go-go dancer at gay clubs in Florida around 2014
Michaels was born in small town Michigan with the name David Armstrong, a friend told The Post, saying he came from ‘very humble beginnings’ in a family of 13 kids.
He changed his name to Brandon Foster by the time he moved to Florida in 2014, and began working as a dancer and promoter at Miami gay clubs.
Friends told The Post he was frequently seen ‘along with plenty of other hot sexy guys,’ and attending ‘clothing optional’ swim parties.
His social media posts included numerous shirtless shots where he flaunted his fit body, including one from that year that said he would be ‘doing a little camming tonight.’ He noted that for paying customers he would ‘put on a good show.’
Sometime between 2016 and 2017 he moved to New York City and started going by Donovan Michaels.
A former girlfriend said she only knew of him dating women, but that she ‘wouldn’t be surprised’ if he were with men.
I mean, he’s very attractive,’ she told The Post. ‘He would tell me people just assumed that he was into guys from what he posts on Instagram.’
‘I know that he was getting comments like that from gay men, that he was really attractive and in really good shape.’
A friend of Michael’s said he wouldn’t be surprised if he’d married Geffen, noting he was ‘always looking for his next adventure and was really determined to improve his life.’
A modeling consultant recalled Michaels as being a talented model in a 2016 photoshoot
Michaels shows off his abs, one of many raunchy photos that can be found on his social media
Another friend said Michaels was ‘super secretive’ about his life.
‘It took a while to really get to know him because he was really private about his past,’ they told The Post, adding he was ‘always searching for something to help him understand his past and what he experienced.’
‘I think he rebelled a lot when he was younger, and that was a big part of why he left.’
A modeling consultant recalled that working with Michaels in 2016, saying he was a ‘great model,’ but did not get selected for further work.
‘One thing I noticed was he was really into training and fitness, but as for modeling, I haven’t seen him around in years… and we work with a lot of different brands,’ they told The Post.
In December, Geffen shared a picture of himself with Michaels on a boat and captioned it ‘Merry Christmas indeed!’ but deleted it several hours later.
The mogul’s social media has since gone private.
Michaels reportedly met Geffen while working as his personal trainer on his yacht
When knewz.com reported the rumored nuptials last month, a source was cited saying that ‘David has loved Donovan for a while, and they had been talking about taking the next step together.’
‘David waited a long time to find the right partner, and Donovan is definitely the one,’ added the source. ‘David and Donovan opted for a simple but special ceremony to mark their union, and they were surrounded by close family and friends.’
Geffen came out as gay in 1992 after years of being linked to a string of well-known women, including Cher.
Earlier in his storied career, Geffen founded Asylum records, which signed musical sensations like Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, and the Eagles. He later founded Geffen records, which went on to release the work of artists including Elton John, Cher, Aerosmith, Blink-182, Guns N’ Roses, and Nirvana.
Along with Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg, Geffen co-founded DreamWorks in the 1990s.
Michaels did not respond to DailyMail.com requests for comment.
