Everyone remembers their first New York Pride.
For Jeremy Pope, it was dancing on a table in a swelteringly hot Manhattan bar, Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own” blaring over the speakers as a friendly queen clacked her fan loudly in approval. “We were all there to see the parade,” he recalls, “but also just to lift each other up and love on each other.”
One of Pope’s first jobs back in those days? Working retail at the Hollister in SoHo, one of many side hustles that helped him stay afloat as he finished a degree in musical theater. “I was working that floor, folding them clothes,” he says with a grin. “But when you’d leave every night going to that D train on Broadway-Lafayette, there was that huge Calvin Klein billboard.”
Now, in a full circle moment, both of those indelible New York memories are coming together for Pope, who today has been unveiled as the star of Calvin Klein Underwear’s latest Pride campaign. Soon, the multitalented performer will appear on New York’s most famous billboard, letting his glorious physique shine in a pair of Calvins.
Courtesy of Calvin Klein
A longtime Calvin Klein wearer (“I am a boxer-brief [guy]—let them know, let the streets talk,” he says), Pope isn’t shy about admitting he’s long wanted to be part of the campaign.
“When the email came through, I was super, super excited. I immediately texted my dad—because my dad is a professional bodybuilder—and he responded to it with a meal plan,” he says, laughing. “Basically, what that meant for him was, you’re going to represent the Popes, so do it well.”
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