Jan 27, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. (17) against the Phoenix Suns at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Michael Porter Jr. seems to have finally addressed the viral rumor around his encounter with a transgender influencer in Taiwan, as he shared his belief that transgender people should disclose their gender identity before a relationship becomes intimate in any way.
During an appearance on the Curious Mike podcast with Jason Lee, Porter spoke about meeting a woman while visiting Taiwan for appearances. The two initially connected through direct messaging before spending approximately an hour together, as they communicated primarily through Google Translate because of the language barrier.
Three years later, Porter learned that the photograph of the encounter had resurfaced and sparked speculation that the woman was transgender.
“I’ve never acknowledged this, but I feel like this might be the episode to acknowledge it. So basically, I was out in Taiwan, and, like, one thing about the women out there is they stay very petite and they, you know, they don’t have a lot going on. They basically don’t have a lot going on, right?”
“So I was out there doing some appearances, and I get a DM from some woman out there, and she got—she got something going on. Like, she looks kind of good to me, like more like my type physically. And I respond to the DM. We ended up kicking it, but I, like, was having to talk to her through Google Translate because we didn’t speak the same language.”
“And we kicked it for, like, maybe an hour, and someone had taken a picture. And, like, three years later, the picture came out. I guess it went viral in Taiwan first, and it never, like, reached over here. And people were DMing me saying, ‘Yo, you’re going viral in Taiwan right now. People are saying that you were spotted with a transgender woman.'”
“And I was like, ‘Oh.’ But then it reached over here, went viral here, and everyone thought I got caught with a transgender woman. I had no—I don’t even know who this woman was. And I don’t know if she was a transgender woman. We never got that far into speaking. We’re talking on Google Translate. Someone took a picture.”
“But to this day, I don’t technically know because some people, especially over there, the surgeries are so good. You really can’t tell if someone’s a woman or a man these days in some of these places in the world.”
“My question to you is, do you think if someone is transgender, if they’ve transitioned and they are, like, approaching a man or DMing a man, and the guy links up with them and they do whatever they do, and then he finds out later on, but he’s a straight man, do you think that that person should get in trouble for not, like, disclosing that?”
“Because I remember there was a certain case. I think a football player found out that the woman he slept with was a transgender woman, and he got hot. I think he beat her up or something happened, and he got let off. I don’t know what ended up happening in the court case.”
“What is your thoughts on that? Because the surgeries and everything that’s going on is so good. I had no idea. To this day, I don’t know if that was a transgender woman or, you know?”
The comments seem to address a report that came out in August 2025. At that time, it was reported that influencer Xiao A La had met an NBA player at a five-star hotel in Taiwan a few years ago. A blurred photograph led fans to think that the player was Porter Jr., who visited Taiwan in September 2023.
That report remained based on speculation regarding the player’s identity.
Porter used this experience to ask Li a broader question about disclosure in relationships, as he wondered whether transgender people actually have a responsibility to tell their potential partners about their gender history before any encounter.
Lee also kind of seemed to agree that people have a right to know what they’re getting into, but also emphasized the safety concerns for transgender women and the dangers that they can face when they disclose their identity.
“Well, to some men, they wouldn’t care if you put a wig on a pig because they use that all as an excuse to be very comfortable doing what they internally want to do.”
“I think that people need to just accept the fact that human attraction is human attraction. If you find yourself attracted to your friend who happens to be a man, that’s something you need to sit with and acknowledge and understand instead of fight off until something eventually happens later.”
“I think if you find yourself in a situation where you meet a trans lady or trans woman who you think is attractive, I think you need to sit with the idea that you are attracted to a person who is presenting as a woman.”
“To your question, I think that everybody has a right to know. That’s why sometimes I’ll get flack because people will be like, ‘Yo, Jason hollered at me, and I’m straight.’ Well, if I’m attracted to you and I want to holler at you, I’m going to holler at you.”
“No man walks in a club and sees an attractive woman and hits on her if she’s a lesbian or not a lesbian. She just finds me attractive. I find people attractive, and I will shoot my shot. It’s your job to say, ‘I’m not interested,’ and then I’ll move on. But it’s my job as a whole man to shoot my shot.”
“You’re a basketball player. You don’t make every shot, but sometimes you make a shot that you didn’t think you were going to make.”
“I do think that everybody, though, has a right to know what they’re getting into. I never get into anything—obviously, I’m not trans—but I never get into anything, and I never ever want to get into anything with somebody and them not know what’s going on.”
“I’ve always said this, even when I’ve had trans on my show, that I feel like everybody who gets into a relationship with a person has a right to know. I had T.S. Madison on my show a few times, and I always say to her, I think it’s important that they do.”
“Now, some people will say, some trans will say, ‘Well, it is a very dangerous environment,’ and there are some men who will beat them up just because you see a woman, you find her attractive, and then you find out she’s trans, and now you beat her up because you’re mad that you were attracted to that trans.”
“Some trans women may not feel, in the environment, in the state of the world we’re in right now, to even disclose right away. Maybe they want to get to know you. Maybe they want you to get comfortable.”
“I’ve always said that the minute we start expressing interest in, like—not we—you and a trans person start expressing interest, even if you don’t tell them right in that moment, before, when you leave and you get home, there should be a text message and a conversation, right? So that way you’re in a safe environment. They now know, and now you make a choice on what you want to do.”
Porter seemed to agree with Li’s position and returned to the Taiwan speculation, explaining just how surprised he was when the story eventually reached the United States.
“Yeah, I agree. Because when that story came out, it caught me completely off guard. Like, I had no idea. And I still don’t think that the woman that I was kicking it with was transgender to this day.”
“To me, that’s juicy. I haven’t acknowledged it. Like, when it went viral over here and people were hitting me up like, ‘Yo, what do you—’ My homies are hitting me up like, ‘Yo, what do you want? This is what you’re on.’ And I’m like, ‘I had no idea.’ I don’t—I still don’t care.”
The discussion ultimately provided Porter’s first extensive response to a rumor that had followed him for more than a year.
Most importantly, Porter did not confirm the central claim behind the original viral story. Even after publicly addressing the encounter, he maintained that he doesn’t know whether the woman he met in Taiwan was transgender or not.