What If Paris Hilton Was Elected To The Florida Legislature?
I’m going to guess Rep. Fabián Basabe (R-Miami Beach) is supporting Trump, not DeSantis, for president. Just a guess based on who the 3 gentlemen are. After you read this post, see if you agree. Basabe is a freshman Representative... but much better known as a celebrity socialite, closeted TV personality, both a bad boy and an it boy. Now 45, Basabe grew up the handsome but otherwise mediocre and spoiled, entitled son of Florida rich people.
A self-described socially liberal fiscal conservative, he bought his seat in the state House ($250,000), beating Democrat Jordan Leonard for HD-106, which includes barrier island communities from Miami Beach north to Sunny Isles. It’s a blue district but Basabe campaigned by sounding pretty Democratic— pledging to support LGBTQ rights and a pro-Choice position for example, with endorsements from prominent Democrats.
Just before the 2022 election, the New Times ran a profile, noting that “Basabe spent his youth in Miami Beach, where his parents owned the Boulevard and Breakwater hotels. He had a stint studying international relations at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, before moving to New York City and becoming a ‘fixture on the social and nightlife scenes,’ as he describes it. He made a name for himself on E! Entertainment's Young, Rich and Famous in 2003 and later appeared on the reality TV show Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive, which featured children born into wealthy families working on a ranch. Basabe has tried hard to distance himself from his image as a temperamental child of wealth, which dominated past tabloid coverage of him. But his run for public office has stirred up debate over controversial incidents in which he's been involved over the past several years.”
The 44-year-old Basabe's political background is sparser than his opponent's, he concedes. He spent much of his adult life sleeping in, imbibing, and enjoying "all the pleasures of life," he tells New Times.
But he says he has turned over a new leaf and is doing his "very best from sunrise to sunset" to engage with his community. In his own words, he's a family man and devotes his time to his wife, Martina Borgomanero Basabe, heiress to the La Perla lingerie fortune, and their teenage son.
Basabe vied for a Miami Beach City Commission seat last year but was disqualified when it came to light that he hadn't been a resident long enough to be eligible to run.
Nowadays, he can be found courting the electorate and meeting with local council members throughout District 106. In recent months, he has helped out with Favela Miami's homelessness relief programs, attended dozens of community events, and posed for photos alongside U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.
Why would anyone possibly care? Glad you asked. Once Basabe got into office, he turned right and even voted for DeSantis’ Don’t Say Gay legislation— even while he was trying to get young men to fuck him. Not just young men, but young men who worked in his legislative office. Yesterday, Jim Defede reported that 2 former staffers have formally accused Basabe “of making repeated, unwanted sexual advances on them. The first aide, Nicolas Frevola, 25, claims that while Basabe was visiting North Beach Elementary for Career Day, he was standing with Basabe in the back of a classroom full of children when Basabe told him ‘I want all of that butt’ and proceeded to smack Frevola on his backside. The second staff member, Jacob Cutbirth, worked as an unpaid intern in Basabe's office and claims Basabe told him he was required to flirt with the state representative whenever he was at the Capitol. The 24-year-old also claims Basabe counseled him to break off his engagement to his girlfriend and ‘explore his sexuality by having sex with men.’ Both men said they were subjected to graphic conversations about sex and that Basabe showed them a naked picture of a man he kept on his phone.”
The allegations are part of a lawsuit filed Thursday in Leon County Circuit Court by Frevola and Cutbirth against Basabe and comes amidst a joint investigation into Basabe's conduct by CBS News Miami and the Miami Herald.
Attorneys for Frevola and Cutbirth said they will also be filing separate complaints for each of them with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission seeking a formal investigation.
…When asked by CBS Miami in April if he had slapped Frevola, Basabe responded: "I don't remember anything like that. Nicolas Frevola is a good kid. He's been doing good work. I'm very surprised to hear that."
After the report was released in late June, Basabe's opinion of Frevola had changed and he addressed Frevola in a lengthy statement on social media, decrying a "false accusation" made by "lazy, entitled, unscrupulous, self-involved, ungrateful, lying scum." Basabe also wrote about Frevola's mother, also a plaintiff in the lawsuit, referring to the two of them as "this conning, scheming mother and son duo" who "appear to be making suing a profession. They have a reported history of lawsuits against anyone who they think can or will pay."
Following Basabe's social media post, Basabe was asked by CBS Miami and the Miami Herald to provide details to support his charge that Nicolas Frevola and his mother, Janette, have "a reported history of lawsuits against anyone who they think can or will pay."
Basabe, however, failed to provide any specifics. Attorneys for the Frevolas said there have been no such lawsuits. And a review of court filings across the state found no record of the type of lawsuits described by Basabe.
…The lawsuit filed Thursday by Nicolas Frevola, Cutbirth, and Janette Frevola against Basabe detailing the sexual harassment, also includes one count of defamation, on behalf of Nicolas and Janette Frevola [a retired law enforcement officer].
"As offensive as the statement [made by Basabe] are, it is even more shocking that they were made by a public official in response to an investigation of his misconduct while in public office," the lawsuit states, adding Basabe's social media post was retaliatory and intended to keep others from coming forward.
But it is the allegations of sexual harassment that are potentially the most explosive for the embattled freshman legislator.
Basabe, who won his race in 2022 in a narrow victory, was already facing widespread criticism from the gay community for his support of Governor Ron DeSantis's conservative agenda.
Basabe, who represents Miami Beach, campaigned in 2022 as a moderate who was supportive of LGBTQ issues. After arriving in Tallahassee, however, Basabe voted in favor of a bill expanding the so-called Don't Say Gay law, barring instruction on sexual orientation through the eighth grade; backed a measure preventing public school teachers from asking students their preferred pronouns through the 12th grade; and defended a bill making it a crime to host a live performance with "risqué content" in which anyone under the age of 18 attends, even if they are accompanied by a parent. Although it does not mention drag shows, the bill's supporters cited drag shows as the impetus for the new law.
Following his votes in Tallahassee, Basabe rode in Miami Beach's Gay Pride parade with his car flanked by police. Throughout the route, Basabe was booed and heckled by parade goers and gay rights groups have roundly condemned him for his support of Governor Ron DeSantis's agenda.
Basabe, a former reality TV performer who is married to the heiress of the La Perla lingerie fortune, avoids questions about his own sexual orientation, and has offered different answers over the years.
According to attorneys for Frevola and Cutbirth, Cutbirth first met Basabe in a bar in Tallahassee on December 14. When Frevola and Basabe arrived, according to the attorneys, they were introduced to Cutbirth through mutual friends.
According to the complaint, Basabe became intoxicated, and he was asked to drive the newly elected legislator back to his hotel.
"While Cutbirth was driving, Basabe began to physically touch and grope him and to grab at him to try to kiss him," the lawsuit states. "Cutbirth found this touching to be offensive, and he told Basabe to stop touching him."
"When Cutbirth and Basabe arrived at Basabe's hotel, Basabe attempted to entice Cutbirth to come up to his hotel room with him to have sex. Cutbirth refused to go to the hotel room with Basabe."
"Cutbirth recognized that Basabe was intoxicated, and he believed that when Basabe became sober, he would be embarrassed by his behavior and refrain from engaging in such acts and comments in the future," according to the complaint.
On January 24, 2023, Cutbirth was hired as an unpaid intern, working for Basabe at the Capitol two days a week.
"Cutbirth believed the invitation to serve as Basabe's intern was an apology for the offensive touching and comments," the lawsuit states.
But within a week, Cutbirth said Basabe started making inappropriate sexual comments. He alleges Basabe described Cutbirth as "eye candy" and on several occasions, Basabe called Cutbirth into his office and "told Cutbirth that he needed to flirt with him (Basabe) while he was in the office."
In the lawsuit, Cutbirth said Basabe started giving him advice about his personal life.
"Basabe told Cutbirth that he should not marry his girlfriend/fiancée," the lawsuit states, "because the marriage would never last, and that Cutbirth should explore his sexuality by having sex with men."
"On February 21, 2023, Basabe showed Cutbirth and Nicolas Frevola a photograph of a naked man on his (Basabe's) phone."
Basabe's comments allegedly grew even more explicit.
On March 7, according to the suit, Basabe went into graphic detail regarding the type of sex he enjoys, describing himself as a "bottom" and encouraging Frevola and Cutbirth to be "tops."
The lawsuit says after that comment on March 7, Cutbirth left the office and never returned.
Cutbirth provided a copy of a text message he says he sent to a friend on that same day, saying "I quit the capital" adding "I won't be going to the capital anymore and will be doing any [work] from home to avoid being sexually harassed."
…Prior to his internship with Basabe in 2023, Cutbirth worked as an intern in 2021 for State Senator Debbie Mayfield, a Republican from Vero Beach. She said she remembered Cutbirth as being always on time, attentive and eager to volunteer to do extra work.
"I had no issues with him," Mayfield said.
Asked if Cutbirth seemed like the type of person who would falsify an accusation of sexual harassment, Mayfield said: "Based on my brief time with him, no. I never experienced any issues or problems where he was not telling the truth or being honest."
Carl Bengston, the owner of 926 Bar & Grill, where Cutbirth works as a bartender, recalled Cutbirth coming to him during the legislative session to discuss Basabe's alleged behavior.
"It just raised a bunch of red flags for me," Bengston said.
He said he grew increasingly concerned when Cutbirth told him that Basabe would ask him the types of sexual positions he likes and asked him to describe the size of his penis.
"It takes a lot for my skin to crawl, and it was making my skin crawl," he said.
Bengston, who is gay, said he warned Cutbirth that Basabe's actions seemed predatory and that Cutbirth should try to get another internship.
"It seemed to me like it was escalating, this was one of those people who just wasn't gonna take no for an answer," Bengston said.