Jenice Armstrong | Hunk responds to a naked 'lie'

IT WAS A touchy subject to bring up, but how could I let

Shemar Moore

come to town and not ask him about that photo of him emerging from the surf with nothing on his naked body but drops of water?

By the way, in person, the star of the CBS drama "Criminal Minds," more than lives up to his reputation for being one of Hollywood's hottest hunks, as they say. Despite having to fight against being known for his famous six-pack and his pretty-boy looks, the 37-year-old actor has managed to hang onto the spotlight for nearly 20 years, beginning as Malcolm on "The Young and the Restless." Moore's goal is to do more feature films and one day reach Denzel Washington status.

But back to all the tongue-wagging that ensued earlier this summer after the celebrity-watching Web site www.perezhilton.com ran a picture of a nude Moore that it said had been taken on a gay beach in Hawaii.

"I'm not gay. I've got nothing against gay people . . . Me, I love women until the day is done," said Moore, who has been romantically linked over the years to actresses Halle Berry and Lela Rochon among others.

Nor does he have a problem that the Web site posted a photo of him in his birthday suit. What annoys him, though, is the way his visit to a nude beach in Maui was depicted.

" 'Shemar Moore frolics nude on a gay beach,' " is how he recalled the Web site's wording. "I was just, like, 'frolic?' I was sitting my [bottom] on a blanket with some friends of mine who happened to be female."

In other words, what the star of "Criminal Minds" objected to most of all was the idea that he may have been skipping in the surf.

Moore, who spent his early years in Denmark, grew up sunning himself sans clothing on beaches with his mother. For him, sunbathing in the nude is no big thing. But to stand accused of frolicking, well, that's a whole other thing altogether.

"I could just see myself in slow motion and stuff," he added ruefully over coffee yesterday morning at CBS 3's new studio on 16th Street near Spring Garden. "That's so much bull----. But it sells."

"I never heard of Perez Hilton until they caught me 'frolicking.' I wasn't 'caught.' I willingly went on vacation and went to a beach that was a nude beach," Moore said.

Moore's philosophical, though, about it all.

"Once you're successful, everybody has to deal with are-you-gay questions," pointed out Moore. "People are homophobic."

So, what does he make of how celebrities such as Britney Spears are hounded by the paparazzi?

"Celebrities need tabloids and tabloids need celebrities," Moore said matter-of-factly.

"I know that by choosing this profession, a lot of my business is going to be public knowledge," continued Moore, who last month was sentenced to probation and community service in a DUI case. "I don't mind that you publish naked pictures of me."

"Just don't lie." *

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