When Cory Booker married his partner Alexis Lewis over Thanksgiving week, it should’ve been a simple, joyful update on the senator’s life. Instead, a 16-second TikTok posted by former Biden White House staffer Yemisi Egbewole dragged Booker into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons — reviving old rumors about his sexuality and turning his newlywed moment into viral innuendo. The clip, filmed in the back seat of a car, has already been viewed more than 311,000 times, largely because of Egbewole’s pointed delivery: “Cory Booker got married… to a woman,” she says, smiling into the camera, emphasizing the phrase as if it were a punchline.
That emphasis — not the marriage itself — is what caught fire.
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A Wedding Becomes a Wedge
Booker, 56, wed Lewis, a New Jersey–born finance and philanthropic leader, in two intimate ceremonies: a civil wedding in Newark and a private interfaith celebration in Washington, D.C. Rather than congratulate the couple, many TikTok commenters treated Egbewole’s delivery like coded shade. “‘To a woman’ had me screaming,” one viewer wrote. Another called it
Some quickly jumped to political theories: that the timing meant Booker is gearing up for a 2028 run. Others compared Lewis to Rosario Dawson, whom Booker dated publicly for years before their 2022 split. And several pushed back entirely, saying the obsession with his orientation was unnecessary and invasive: “He’s a good man doing good work. Who he marries is nobody’s business.”
Still, the damage was done. A senator’s happiness became fodder for a viral joke — one dependent on implying queerness is something to snicker about.
@blacknificentnews Issa wedding! Love, legacy and Black excellence! Senator Cory Booker and Alexis Lewis seal the deal with TWO beautiful ceremonies honoring both of their roots. #blacknificentnews #blacklove #celebritynews #TikTokRundownContest #TikTokTheoryContest
Inside the White House: Former Staffers Say This Isn’t New
Egbewole once served as chief of staff to Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, the first openly lesbian woman to hold that position. After leaving the administration, she became a recurring Fox News guest — though the network clarified she’s not a paid contributor.
But former Biden administration colleagues say her TikTok reflects behavior they witnessed privately.
One official told The Advocate:
“She’s nice to people she thinks she needs and bullies everyone else.”
Another staffer, who worked closely with her, went further:
“I was pretty alarmed by the video, but I wasn’t surprised.”
They alleged that Egbewole frequently made anti-LGBTQ+ remarks inside the White House, including complaining there were “too many gay men working there” and making comments about a lesbian staffer’s clothing and sexuality.
To them, the TikTok felt like a public continuation of private prejudice.
As one former aide said:
“It spat in their face.”
They added that joking about Booker’s sexuality not only undermines the Biden-Harris administration’s LGBTQ-inclusive values but also implicitly treats bisexuality as invisible. “It suggests hatred toward any man she believes might be queer,” the staffer noted. And while such comments were once whispered, the video brought them fully into the open.
The Problem With Turning Queerness Into Clickbait
This isn’t just about Booker. It’s about a larger cultural issue — the casual use of LGBTQ+ identity as a teasing device, a gossip hook, or a political chess piece.
When someone frames speculation about a man’s sexuality as political commentary, they’re not analyzing. They’re exploiting. The entire premise of Egbewole’s video relies on the assumption that queerness is something eyebrow-raising, something worth whispering about.
For a community that has spent decades fighting against stigma, innuendo remains a powerful — and harmful — tool.
And it’s especially insidious when the person wielding it claims to be an ally.
Real allyship doesn’t wink.
Real allyship doesn’t shade.
Real allyship doesn’t use LGBTQ+ identity for engagement bait.
Egbewole Responds — and Booker Stays Silent
Egbewole did not respond to The Advocate’s request for comment. On TikTok, when a user said Booker’s marriage was none of her business, she replied:
“I literally talk about politics on television. His business is quite literally my business.”
Booker and Lewis have not addressed the video — nor should they have to.
Allyship Isn’t a Brand. It’s a Behavior.
The LGBTQ+ community doesn’t need fair-weather allies who treat queerness as a gimmick when it benefits them and a punchline when it doesn’t. Being an ally doesn’t require an angle. It requires consistency. Respect. Integrity.
Booker got married. He married a woman. There’s nothing shocking about that — unless someone chooses to twist it into spectacle.
And when allyship becomes opportunistic performance, it stops being allyship at all. It becomes a TikTok with a smirk, designed to rack up views at the expense of people who deserve better.