From the June 9th New York Times:
A Self-Described Steroid User Loses Job as Fitness Model
By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD
Published: June 9, 2008
With the camera rolling, Christian Boeving, a fitness model who is paid to endorse bodybuilding products, freely admitted he had used steroids since he was 16.
That was two years ago, when a friend from the gym he uses, Christopher Bell, was filming �??Bigger, Stronger, Faster,�?? a documentary on steroids that was released on May 30.
Mr. Boeving said he had nearly forgotten about the interview until he heard from the film�??s representatives just before it was shown in January at the Sundance Film Festival. �??They said, �??Look, we�??re just letting you know you mentioned the word steroids in it,�?? �?? Mr. Boeving said. �??But I didn�??t think I would get into that much trouble, because I thought it was pretty apparent that the top people in the industry use steroids to look like we do.�??
A company whose products he endorsed, Iovate Health Sciences, apparently did not think so, and promptly severed Mr. Boeving�??s contract. Iovate Health Sciences did not return calls for comment last week.
Mr. Boeving had represented over-the-counter dietary supplements. But the type of performance-enhancing steroids Mr. Boeving referred to in the movie are legal only with a doctor�??s prescription; he said in an interview that he had a prescription for testosterone.
While he may not been breaking the law, Mr. Boeving was apparently breaking a taboo in the bodybuilding world, one that Mr. Bell�??s documentary was aiming to expose. �??Ever since I was a kid, I�??ve been looking at muscle magazines,�?? Mr. Bell said in an interview. �??I would see these guys that are huge, and they�??d say, take this pill and you�??ll look like this. We know that�??s not the case.�??
Mr. Boeving said he had worked with Iovate for nearly nine years and was in the midst of renegotiating his contract when �??Bigger, Stronger, Faster�?? had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Mr. Boeving said that after the premiere, he was suspended without pay; he flew to the Iovate headquarters in Ontario to plead his case, but, he said, the company has not renewed his contract.
Mr. Boeving said he was not allowed to say how much the contract was worth, but said the company�??s contracts for athletes typically ranged from $36,000 to $300,000 a year. �??I was able to live off my contract, put it that way,�?? he said.
Though the loss of income is tough, Mr. Boeving said, he does not regret his on-screen candor.
�??Even in the film, I said, �??look, I do take the products I said I take �?? I do take fat burners, I do take protein, but I take other things as well,�?? �?? he said. �??They felt like people were going to walk away feeling like steroids, not supplements, made my physique what it is, and they have built this industry on telling people, �??This is what I did to build my physique,�?? �?? Mr. Boeving said.