--- description: A man, identified as "Miguel," spoke to Univision telling them that he had a "friends with benefits" relationship with Omar Mateen. title: Man Claims He Was Orlando Shooter's Lover image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6943ebba7bcdd15d/698898a3cd1bba7f587012cd/omar-mateen1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Orlando Shooting](/tag/orlando-shooting/) ## Orlando Shooting Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Man Claims He Was Orlando Shooter's Lover by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 7:39 AM CUTPublished: Jun 22, 2016 12:28 PM CUT  Omar Mateen, who authorities say killed dozens of people inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., on June 12, 2016. Omar Mateen, who authorities say killed dozens of people inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., on June 12, 2016.AP by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 7:39 AM CUTPublished: Jun 22, 2016 12:28 PM CUT A man claiming he had a sexual relationship with Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen has [stepped forward](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/orlando-shooting-man-who-says-he-was-omar-mateen-gay-lover-speaks-out-univision/ "undefined"). The man, called “Miguel” to protect his identity, told _Univision_ that he and Mateen sparked a sexual relationship through the gay dating app Grindr. Miguel says that Mateen, [who killed 49 people during a rampage at a gay nightclub more than a week ago](http://time.com/4376356/orlando-shooting-loretta-lynch-attorney-general-visit/ "undefined"), was gay. He described their relationship as “friends with benefits,” saying that the two met in an Orlando hotel more than 15 times. While _Univision_ reported that the FBI told the network that it had spoken with Miguel, CBS News reported it could neither confirm nor deny this.. A law enforcement official did tell CBS that Mateen was [a frequent user of online dating sites](http://time.com/4369471/orlando-shooting-omar-mateen-wife-gay-secret/ "undefined"), engaging in relationships with both men and women. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4377880/omar-mateen-gay-lover-orlando-shooting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4377880/omar-mateen-gay-lover-orlando-shooting/"},"headline":"Man Claims He Was Orlando Shooter's Lover","datePublished":"2016-06-22T12:28:25.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T07:39:22.000Z","description":"The man says he and Omar Mateen were \"friends with benefits\"","url":"https://time.com/4377880/omar-mateen-gay-lover-orlando-shooting/","keywords":["Orlando Shooting","Crime","Florida"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6943ebba7bcdd15d/698898a3cd1bba7f587012cd/omar-mateen1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6943ebba7bcdd15d/698898a3cd1bba7f587012cd/omar-mateen1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Omar Mateen","caption":"FILE - This undated file image shows Omar Mateen, who authorities say killed dozens of people inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., on Sunday, June 12, 2016. A bartender told The Associated Press that Mateen stalked her nearly a decade ago when he","creditText":"AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/orlando-shooting/","name":"Orlando Shooting"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4377880/omar-mateen-gay-lover-orlando-shooting/","name":"Man Claims He Was Orlando Shooter's Lover"}}]}] ```