Simon Cowell Denies Gay Claim Made at Tulisa Drugs Trial

Simon Cowell has hit back at claims made during the drugs trial of N-Dubz star Tulisa Contostavlos that he is gay.

In a statement made through his lawyer, the music mogul slammed his 'outing' by the singer's personal assistant, Gareth Varey, in a secret recording played in court as "untrue."

"In 2014 the question of whether someone is or is not gay is antiquated [As it happens he isn't, though if he were, he would simply have said so]," the lawyer said.

"However, the issue was the false suggestion made by Mr Varey that Simon — who is renowned for his honesty and candidness — had thus not been truthful in the public arena and this is what we have been obliged to clarify."

During the high-profile case, the jury heard a conversation during which 'Fake Sheikh' Mazher Mahmood was heard asking Varey if Cowell was gay, to which Varey replied: "Yes."

Varey went on to insist that he knew Cowell secretly dated men because he knew people he had slept with.

Cowell's statement on his sexuality come just hours after a judge dismissed the case against Constostavlos, saying there were "strong grounds" to believe Mahmood had lied under oath.

The 26-year-old star had been accused of acting as a fixer by introducing Mahmood to her friend Mike GLC, who supplied £860 worth of cocaine at London's Dorchester Hotel in May 2013.

"This whole case was a horrific and disgusting entrapment by Mazher Mahmood and the Sun on Sunday newspaper," Tulisa said after she was cleared of all charges.