Yahoo News ‘Styling Hollywood’ Couple Jason Bolden and Adair Curtis on Their Courtship and Inspiring LGBTQ Youth
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For the Power of Pride issue, Variety talked to eight LGBTQ couples in entertainment about their love stories. To read more, click here.
Ten years ago, Jason Bolden — the owner of an interior design shop in Manhattan — was getting a shave when his barber decided to set him up with another client. The eligible bachelor was Adair Curtis, a music industry executive. They met for a cocktail “under the guise of business,” Curtis recalls.
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The two hit it off. “I knew early on in the relationship where this was going to end,” Bolden says.
Their courtship included a date at New York’s Pierre hotel, where they talked for five hours, and a Korean barbecue dinner in the East Village. Things escalated with a trip to the Hamptons, where they “solidified the relationship,” Bolden says. Within days of returning to the city, the pair stopped at Cartier on Fifth Avenue and bought engagement rings for a summer 2012 wedding.
The one question everyone had for Bolden, a fashion stylist to the stars (clients include Ava DuVernay and Yara Shahidi), was what to wear. They asked their guests to choose one item of clothing that fit this criterion: “Where would I ever wear this? This is the event to wear it to.” La La Anthony featured the rooftop nuptials on her series, “La La’s Full Court Life,” as millions of viewers saw two black men get married on TV.
Soon, they became business partners in addition to life partners. In Hollywood, they set up JSN Studio, a multidisciplinary company that specializes in designing interiors, products and fashion. Their 2019 Netflix reality series, “Styling Hollywood,” gave viewers an insight into their lives, as Bolden readies A-listers for the red carpet and Curtis decorates celebrity homes.
When it came to putting their life on camera, nothing was off limits, including their desire to have a baby. The pair were in
the middle of taking steps toward surrogacy, but COVID-19 caused a delay. Bolden is still optimistic. “We’ll be fine,” he says.
As an African American gay couple, representation and inclusion are important to them. With some LGBTQ youth and teenagers still struggling with finding their voices, Curtis says his advice is “Love yourself. There is nothing wrong with you. Find your tribe, and find the people who will accept you for who you are.”
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