‘Jeffersons’ Sherman Hemsley Was Private, But The Public Family Drama After Death Was Outraging
Gay Rumors Surfaced After Hemsley’s Passing
Rumors soon surfaced, that Sherman Hemsley was gay and that Flora was acting as his ‘beard’ to cover up Sherman’s ‘secret gay relationship’ with their longtime friend, Ken Johnston. There was never any validity to those rumors, but yet they still ran rampant as the fight over Sherman’s will continued. However, Ken’s son apparently shut those rumors all the way down…
Son Of Sherman’s Friend ‘Set Record Straight’ About Flora & Father
Shortly after Sherman Hemsley was finally buried in November 2012, Ken Johnston’s son, Steven Johnston, reportedly spoke out to Diary of A Street King to ‘set the record straight’ about his father’s relationship to Sherman and Flora. Steven claimed that Flora was really his father, Ken’s, girlfriend. According to Steven, Flora was a ‘gold-digger’ who took advantage of Sherman to ultimately be granted his estate.
Steven Johnston also claimed that Ken was Sherman’s real manager, not Flora:
“The media also erroneously reported that Flora knew Sherman for 20 years, when she didn’t get to really know him until the move in ’99 to El Paso. She became his ‘manager representative’ in helping out my father when he was sidelined by a stroke in 2003, but my father was still the manager. My father told me that they were always talking about getting back to Los Angeles and it was getting close to becoming a reality until my fathers stroke,” wrote Steven Johnston.
In November, Flora was granted Sherman Hemsley’s estate and the legal fight was over.
This drama is probably not what Sherman envisioned the end of his life would have been shrouded in. But thankfully, the man who brought so much joy to the world was finally able to rest peacefully after being buried in a military service in El Paso, TX on November 9, 2012.
