Speaking to Ronald Martinetti for his biography The James Dean Story, advertising manager Rogers Brackett declared, “I loved him, and Jimmy loved me.” In the book James Dean: The Biography, writer Val Holley claimed Brackett “took in when almost no one else believed in him.” Marilyn Monroe Composer Alec Wilder alleged “they were definitely a couple,” continuing, “Of course, the words ‘sexual fidelity’ would be unknown in each of their vocabularies.” Brando wasn’t the only one Dean had a relationship with.

Salon published that Dean declared, “No, I’m not homosexual, but I am also not going through life with one hand tied behind my back.” In the biography James Dean: Tomorrow Never Comes, writers Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince claimed that Dean liked “kinky sado-masochistic sex” with actor Marlon Brando.