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‘Kinky’ NY Dem House candidate doubles down on explicit bondage ads he did as young man

Read the original at New York Post ↗
Cite

Morrison, E. (2026, October 17). ‘Kinky’ NY Dem House candidate doubles down on explicit bondage ads he did as young man. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/17/us-news/kinky-ny-dem-house-candidate-not-ashamed-of-xxx-rated-bdsm-ads-that-make-christian-grey-look-like-amateur-hour-report/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-10-17 · by Ella Morrison

Quick Summary

Chris Gallant, the Democratic candidate for New York's NY-01 congressional district, has defended his past as a bondage model in explicit photos that were uncovered last month. The 37-year-old candidate told The New York Times that posing for such images was consensual and reflects his personal interests. He also noted that these activities have no bearing on his qualifications or judgment for public office. His campaign has used the controversy to draw attention, with a social media ad reading "Make Politics Sexy Again." Gallant's defense includes references to his long-term relationship at the time of the photoshoots and stresses that they were personal and consensual.
Written by AI on 2026-10-18, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Chris Gallant, a 37-year-old Democratic nominee running against Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) in the NY-01 district, recently doubled down on his past as a bondage model for "Mr. S Leather," a San Francisco-based leather-daddy supply company. In a recent interview with The New York Times, Gallant admitted to posing for the racy photos almost 17 years ago because he was into it and not due to manipulation. He described himself as “kinky” and claimed that Christian Grey from "50 Shades of Grey" would look like an amateur in comparison. The Post uncovered these explicit photographs last month, which also appeared on gay porn sites unrelated to Mr. S Leather. Gallant maintains that the photos do not reflect his political qualifications or judgment, despite criticism from opponents who use them as a distraction.

Written for “Bondage Ads Controversy” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Bondage Ads Controversy
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
16
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
12%
2 of 16 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-18 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 16647 article(s) · 36 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 36 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Ella Morrison
97 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Also by Ella Morrison
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 97 articles by Ella Morrison →

Topics

Democratic Long Island Post The Post Times

Subjects

Gallant PERSON · 7× Chris PERSON · 4× Post ORG · 3× Times ORG · 3× Azari PERSON · 2× Democratic NORP · 2× Long Island GPE · 2× The Post ORG · 2× Chris Gallant PERSON · 1× Nick LaLota PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Chris Gallant, 37, the Democratic nominee running against Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) in the NY-01 district says he chose to pose for the racy photos almost 17 years ago because he was into it — not because he was manipulated — and he bragged that he though he looked great, he told The New York Times.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-18
🔮 “Chris was also friends with the owner of Mr. S Leather, and the shoot was intended to be fun and personal, with the understanding that Mr. S could use select images in connection with certain products,” she said, adding the pictures “have no bearing on Chris’s record, qualifications, judgment, or ability to serve.”

Claims (16 extracted, 2 hedged)

A Long Island Democratic congressional hopeful has made it clear in a recent interview that he is not ashamed of his past bondage modelling photos uncovered by The Post last month. asserted
he → make → Post
Chris Gallant, 37, the Democratic nominee running against Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) in the NY-01 district says he chose to pose for the racy photos almost 17 years ago because he was into it — not because he was manipulated — and he bragged that he though he looked great, he told The New York Times. asserted
he → run → Times
“I mean, all my friends know I’m kinky” as hell, he told the newspaper — “except he used a much spicier word than ‘hell,'” the Times noted. asserted
Times → mean → hell
“I make Christian Grey look like amateur hour,” he quipped to the outlet, referencing the erotic billionaire entrepreneur in the bondage romance book and film series “50 Shades of Grey.” asserted
he → make → Grey
In an explosive report last month, The Post uncovered Gallant posed for photos for “Mr. S Leather,” a San Francisco-based purveyor of leather-daddy supplies, modelling collars, leather straps and bondage gear among other things. asserted
Gallant → uncover → things
Other images of Gallant in Mr. S Leather gear appear to have shown up on gay porn sites that do not appear to be affiliated with “Mr. S Leather.” asserted
that → appear → Leather
The congress hopeful’s Los Angeles and New York-based attorney Sara Azari told The Post in September that Gallant’s limited understanding with “Mr. S Leather” was “never intended to authorize unrestricted publication” by third parties. asserted
understanding → base → parties
The images of Gallant are no longer featured on the stores’ site but are still accessible in internet archives, which show they were online between 2011 and 2020. asserted
they → feature → 2011
“The photographs are authentic and were taken during a private, consensual photo session involving Chris and his then-partner, with whom he was in a committed four-year relationship,” Azari noted. asserted
Azari → take → relationship
“Chris was also friends with the owner of Mr. S Leather, and the shoot was intended to be fun and personal, with the understanding that Mr. S could use select images in connection with certain products,” she said, adding the pictures “have no bearing on Chris’s record, qualifications, judgment, or ability to serve.” uncertain
pictures → intend → record
Azari noted: “As Chris began considering a future in public service, he asked that the photographs no longer be used and that they be removed from the company’s website. asserted
they → note → website
Mr. S honored his request.” asserted
S → honor → request
“I just thought, ‘If my family can accept me, the world can,’ and that’s how I lived my entire life,” he told the Times for the new article. asserted
he → think → article
After The Post’s report, Gallant’s campaign then launched a social ad which read: “Make Politics Sexy Again” and joked to the Times that maybe this could be his “Kim Kardashian moment.” Gallant, a Black Hawk helicopter pilot, has served in the Army National Guard since 2006, according to his LinkedIn profile — likely during the time he posed for the kinky images. uncertain
he → launch → images
The Long Island-raised nominee also serves as a volunteer firefighter and previously worked as a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic controller, where he had been a local union chapter leader in the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA). asserted
he → raise → Association
The Post reached out to Gallant’s campaign for comment. asserted
Post → reach → comment
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