John Owen Lowe likens finding out about dad Rob Lowe’s sex tape to learning the truth about Santa Claus
As John Owen Lowe puts it: "A kid just figures it out."
Aux News Lowe
For all the talk of rampant nepotism in Hollywood, there’s at least one area where the children of the famous are at a disadvantage: it’s way too easy to know way too much about your parents’ past. It’s a dicey scenario Rob Lowe’s son, John Owen Lowe, faced as an impressionable middle schooler, and it arrived in the form of a schoolmate introducing him to the reality that his dad has a sex tape (somewhat) easily available for viewing.
“I was in eighth grade or freshman year of high school, and some kid said, ‘You know, your dad has a sex tape online,’ ” John Owen, who stars alongside his father in the upcoming Netflix comedy Unstable, tells Men’s Health’s Ryan D’Agostino in a new interview. “I was like, ‘What?’”
For the uninitiated: the Rob Lowe sex tape is an infamous relic from the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta, featuring Lowe and two partners, one of whom was only 16 years of age at the time, per the Los Angeles Times. After the tape was leaked, Lowe claimed he did not know the girl was underage—he ultimately served 20 hours of community service to avoid any additional legal proceedings.
As a teen, John Owen took the news as best he could, and found solace in connecting the experience to a slightly more widely applicable loss of innocence: the realization that Santa Claus is more of a wish your heart makes than a real, rosy-cheeked guy.
“You know what it’s kind of like? Santa Claus,” John Owen continues. “I don’t think most parents ever have that moment where they sit the kids down and go, ‘Okay, we’ve got to tell you something.’ A kid just figures it out. There weren’t milestone markers, like, ‘Okay, he’s 16 now, time for them to learn about this part of our life!’”
As far as Rob can see it, not having to be the one to reveal the truth to John Owen set him free—thank god for the internet age. “Wikipedia and Google took care of that for us,” he jokes.
26 Comments
“A kid just figures it out.”Title of your sex tape!
Let…the boy…watch.
The story writes itself…
Santa Claus, Rob Lowe, and an agouti gerbil walked into a bar. The bartender looked at them and said, “Is this some kind of joke?” Rob Lowe replied, “No, it’s just a Christmas miracle and a furry friend tagging along.” The agouti gerbil chimed in, “And don’t forget the presents, Santa has them covered!”
Santa Claus, Rob Lowe, and an agouti gerbil walk into a bar. The bartender looks at them and asks, “What is this, some kind of joke?” Santa Claus responds, “No, we’re just here for a quick drink and to spread some holiday cheer.” The bartender is still skeptical and asks, “Why did the agouti gerbil come along?” Rob Lowe chimes in, “He’s our designated driver, of course!”
“A kid just figures it out.”OK. “I was in eighth grade or freshman year of high school, and some kid said, ‘You know, your dad has a sex tape online,’”
So, you just figured it out by having someone tell you?I don’t think you understand the Santa thing.
I would be more upset that my dad is still ridiculously handsome & I’m just a average looking kid.
With enough plastic surgery, he too can look handsome like his dad.
He was incredibly attractive, nearly 35 years ago.
The /s was pretty obvious…
See also: Behind the Candelabra
Rob Lowe fucked Liberace?
In the movie, Lowe plays a doctor who’s hilariously had an awful lot of work done.
Ok, but doesn’t answer my question.
His friends called him “Lee.”
Take these candles to Mother, George.
No one tell the kid about Snow White incident.
Rob Lowe made a sex tape with a 16 year old girl, and it’s not even the most regrettable moment of his career!!!!
Well done Hattie! Easily, like not even close, the best f’n title and byline I’ve read this year. WD 👏 👏 👏
I still remember being a kid and finding out Santa had made a sex tape.
I saw your mommy kissing Santa Claus
One of the best memories of my school days is when we, the entire Year 7 & 8 grades, were tasked with singing “Jingle Bell Rock” for some sort of Christmas do. The teacher behind it was the deputy principal, if you want a measure of the woman, was kinda like an Aussie Betty Bowers. Same sort of…aethetic, slightly less religious.Anyway, we’re in the hall, rehearsing, and the Dep Principal’s on piano. We’ve got lyric sheets, we’re all mumblesinging away as you do when you don’t give a shit, and get to the chorus.And everyone, in some unbidden adolescent teamwork, belts out:Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle bell rockSanta’s got a hickey on the end of his cockNo one planned this. We didn’t discuss it beforehand – we didn’t even know what songs she had planned until we got in there and were handed the lyrics.We just…knew. It was instinctual, like a salmon swimming up stream or a caterpillar spinning a cocoon. No one sung it properly – the good girls, the nerds, the squares, everyone.DP stands up, mid-chord, abso-fuckin’-lutely ropeable. Her pearls clattered in white-hot rage, fists clenched.“THAT IS DISGUSTING! I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR THAT FILTH! YOU WILL SING IT PROPERLY, AS WRITTEN!”She chews up out for like another minute and then goes “Now. Again – properly.”And we take it from the top. And again we get to the chorus.Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle bell rockSanta’s got a hickey on the end of his coc-And there’s that massive, resonant “KLUNG” as the DP slams the piano lid lid and storms out. We got out of singing the song.
Glorious!
cool story, bro.
The thing about the sex tape is that it wasn’t illegal to have sex with 16 year old girls in Georgia, but filming it was.
I’m about 2/3 way thru Unstable first episode. My review: Skip it and watch The Grinder instead.