The adoptive father of David Geffen’s husband, who is much younger, was surprised when he found out that his son had married a man. In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, he shared his thoughts on why he believed that the marriage was never going to last.
Patrick Armstrong, aged 68, expressed his astonishment upon discovering that his 32-year-old son, David Armstrong, had tied the knot with the 82-year-old media tycoon. The news of their marriage and subsequent divorce came as a shock to him when it hit the headlines last week.
‘I don’t know where he [Armstrong] is, or what the situation is, first I heard about it one of my sons saw it on TV,’ he said.
‘We kinda didn’t even know about the marriage. But 50 years is a big age gap.
‘I don’t know how you expect it to work out. My soon-to-be former son-in-law is older than me.’
Armstrong mentioned that he had to contact his son by reaching out to Geffen’s business secretary, which he found peculiar. He also disclosed that the last time he spoke to his son was several months ago, during which his son did not mention anything about their separation.
Billionaire David Geffen, 82, has filed for divorce from his much younger husband David Armstrong, 32 – aka Donovan Michaels – after less than two years of marriage; they are pictured in June 2024
Speaking to the Daily Mail from his Michigan home this week, Armstrong’s father, Patrick Armstrong, 68, said he first learned of his son’s marriage to Geffen and their impending divorce in the news
And for the first time, the Daily Mail can lift the lid on Geffen’s ex-lover’s ‘super secretive’ past, with details and previously unseen pictures from his unusual upbringing in Imlay City, Michigan, as one of 16 children Armstrong and his wife Wendy raised in their four-bedroom home over the years.
It comes as a former girlfriend of the model and go-go dancer – also known as Donovan Michaels – also revealed how he ‘always wanted to become rich and famous’ and cast doubt on his motives for marrying Geffen, saying she had known him to have ‘a very strong attraction to women.’
The woman, who did not wish to be named, praised Geffen for divorcing Armstrong rather than leaving his entire $8.7 billion fortune to him – and claimed her ex still owes her thousands of dollars from when they were together.
Geffen and Armstrong reportedly did not sign a pre-nup when they wed in 2023, in a private ceremony in Beverly Hills, California.
But having been retired for 15 years, Geffen’s income is reportedly made up of stocks and other equities, which are considered separate property.
The entertainment boss is set to pay his soon-to-be ex-husband an unspecified amount of spousal support and his attorney’s fees, according to divorce filing documents obtained by the Daily Mail.
Armstrong went by a number of different aliases, most recently Donovan Michaels, while working as go-go dancer at gay clubs in Florida around 2014. He is seen flashing his abs while posing with a drag queen
He grew up in Imlay City, Michigan, as one of 16 children raised by parents Patrick and Wendy
Armstrong’s parents officially adopted him when he was four or five years old, after he was removed from the care of his birth mother, who was reportedly involved in gangs
It can be revealed the pair separated back in February, with Geffen citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split, represented by leading divorce attorney Laura Wasser.
It is unclear where Armstrong was lying low in the aftermath of the split news, but online records show him listed at a chic New York apartment which boasts views of Central Park.
He was nowhere to be found in small town Michigan, where he spent his formative years before moving to Florida as a teen.
A source confirmed reports that he worked as a go-go dancer in clubs before allegedly moving on to cam shows and gay porn.
In Florida, he went by Brandon Foster (one of at least three different aliases) and began working as a dancer and promoter at Miami gay clubs, former friends previously told the New York Post.
He reportedly met Geffen while working as his personal trainer in 2020.
He spent his formative years in the Michigan small town before moving to Florida as a teen; pictured right in his youth
These days, it is unclear where Armstrong is hiding out in the wake of the split, but online records show him listed at a chic New York apartment which boasts views of Central Park
He reportedly met Geffen while working as his personal trainer on his yacht in 2020
In Michigan, Armstrong’s adoptive father said he wasn’t invited to the pair’s nuptials and last saw his son two years ago at a family reunion shortly after he wed Geffen, but he had not revealed his marriage at the time.
He said, ‘For some reason, I Googled his [my son’s] name, and that’s when it came up.
‘I never expected I could Google one of my kids’ names and have them show up.’
Armstrong said he had never met Geffen but had looked him up on the internet too.
‘Some of the stuff I looked up, it kind of sounds like Geffen is a little overbearing. But you can’t believe everything you read. I can’t really have an opinion of him.’
Geffen and Armstrong did not sign a prenup when they wed in 2023; pictured in 2023
The entertainment boss is set to pay his soon-to-be ex-husband an unspecified amount of spousal support and his attorney’s fees, according to divorce filing documents
The couple were pictured dining at a Beverly Hills restaurant with Kris Jenner, Corey Gamble, and other friends in April 2023
He claimed the only number he had to contact his son was through Geffen’s business secretary and that ‘everything that seemed to go through him and then David [would] get back to us’.
Armstrong’s older sisters keep in touch with him, he said, but ‘he got quiet a few couple months ago’, adding, ‘I guess whatever was going on must have been the reason’.
He said a couple of Armstrong’s siblings ‘were happy’ for him, but ‘evidently it looks like it didn’t work out, which would have been my thing at the beginning, because it’s too big an age difference.
‘I don’t know how you can fall for some 50 years older than you, because you don’t even have the same stuff in common, stuff you grew up with.
‘I’m surprised they got together. I Googled [Geffen] and it looked like he had never been married before, so I don’t know why he’d wait till 82 to take the plunge.’
Geffen came out as gay in 1992 after years of being linked to a string of well-known women, including Cher.
His career as a model and performer also ‘surprised’ his father, who said his son didn’t seem that outgoing and ‘kept to himself’
Armstrong’s adoptive father said he wasn’t invited to the pair’s nuptials and last saw his son two years ago at a family reunion; he is pictured with various family members in Michigan. during
Armstrong marrying a man had been ‘kind of a surprise’ to his father and other relatives, according to his dad, who said his son hadn’t shared the news of his marriage. He is pictured with his adoptive mom, right
Armstrong was not Geffen’s first age gap romance.
In 2012, when he was 69, he split from Jeremy Lingvall, who was 41 at the time, after six years together.
The same year, the music mogul also dated 20-year-old former college football player Jamie Kuntz, and at one point filed a restraining order against him.
Armstrong was unsure if his son would call in the wake of the split, but said he’d ask him, ‘How are you doing? Is there anything we can do?
‘We’re just kind of waiting now to see if he mentions it [the divorce], bring it up on his own terms.’
His son marrying a man had been ‘kind of a surprise’, he said, adding that he had ‘never had steady girlfriend around here, but he didn’t seem to be interested in boys either’.
Armstrong’s career as a model and performer also ‘surprised’ his father, who said the young man he knew didn’t seem that outgoing and ‘kept to himself’.
Patrick and his wife had two biological daughters before they later decided to ‘give back a little’ and foster and adopt 14 more children, including David.
He said the couple officially adopted him when he was four or five years old after he was removed from the care of his birth mother, who he claims had been in gangs.
Not all 16 children lived in the house at the same time, with Armstrong overlapping with some of his older siblings and ‘for most part, probably Joe. He passed away a couple years ago,’ Armstrong said.
An online obituary for Joseph ‘Joey’ Armstrong said the ‘social butterfly’ general laborer tragically died aged 31 on January 12, 2023 in Port Huron, Michigan, and names a ‘David Armstrong of New York’ as one of his siblings.
Patrick said growing up, Armstrong ‘had his moments pushing authority now and then’ and getting into a ‘couple of little scraps’, but figured his ‘smart as a whip’ son ‘could do anything’ he set his mind to and encouraged him to work hard.
Geffen came out as gay in 1992 after years of being linked to a string of well-known women, including Cher; pictured together in 1983
Geffen previously dated another much younger man when he was 69. In 2012 he split from Jeremy Lingvall, who was 41 at the time, after six years together. They are seen attending a State Dinner hosted at the White House by President Obama in 2009
Meanwhile, the ex-girlfriend told DailyMail.com that when she saw news of Armstrong’s marriage to Geffen, she thought it was ‘kind of typical’.
‘I just think he got what he was looking for. He cared a lot about the money, in my eyes,’ she said. ‘He always wanted to become rich and famous.
‘He wanted the name brand stuff the Cologne, the sunglasses, the shoes. He wanted to be up a public figure. He had big dreams.’
But she wasn’t surprised by news of the split, saying: ‘I didn’t think they’d end up living the rest of their lives together.
‘It’s quite an age gap, I sure as hell am not marrying someone 50/60 years older than me, so I can watch them die.
‘I guess I’m proud of David Geffen for divorcing him now and not leaving his entire [fortune] to him.’
Geffen made his fortune as co-founder of DreamWorks and as a record executive.
Geffen and producer Jon Peters at the premiere of The Last Boy Scout in December 1991
She claims Armstrong still owes her thousands of dollars from over the course of their relationship and ‘toyed’ with her by promising to repay her but failing to do so.
The young woman says she had a year-long relationship with Armstrong but lost touch with him when she moved away.
She said their relationship ‘wasn’t all peaches and cherries’ and had its ‘toxic moments’ on both sides.
She feared – but had no proof – that he was seeing other people during their relationship, but she says she was young, so found it ‘hard to detach from him’.
‘There was a lot that happened in a very short time, and it was just very disrespectful.’
On conflicting reports over his sexuality, she said, ‘I do not know. Everybody always said before he was pretty, and they always kind of would say that he was [gay or bisexual] and he would deny it.
‘He seemed to have a very strong attraction to women. So when that all came out, I was like, ‘Okay’.
‘I don’t know. I think he just started to do it to gain money. I mean, he might be bisexual, but he is not fully gay.
‘People come out, whatever, they change their lives when they’re 60 years old. I don’t know what he is like now.’
