Kristi Noem’s husband has said he intends to share his side of the story after photos leaked of his secret cross-dressing life.
When approached for comment about the photos, which showed him wearing huge fake breasts while speaking to “bimbofication” fetish models online, Bryon Noem told The New York Times: “I will at some point. Today is not the day. I appreciate your heart.”
His relationship with his wife, President Trump’s former Homeland Security secretary, was the subject of rampant speculation even before The Daily Mail published a bombshell report on Tuesday revealing his fetish for dressing up in comically oversized breasts and tight tops while speaking to women posing as “real-life Barbie dolls.” Kristi Noem has long been rumored to be having an affair with her top aide, Corey Lewandowski, and some of Bryon Noem’s family members were previously quoted saying it had left him “humiliated” even as he felt obligated to stand by her.
After the shocking photos surfaced this week, Bryon Noem admitted to taking part in the “bimbofication” scene by posing as a woman with large breasts, as well as having explicit conversations with other women. Noem—dubbed “ICE Barbie” for her love of playing dress-up in uniformed roles—had claimed she was “blindsided” by the photos of her husband.
“The family was blindsided by this, and they ask for privacy and prayers at this time,” a spokesperson added.
The Times spoke to several people in Noem’s community in South Dakota about their reaction to the revelations about the husband of their former governor.
“Must be AI,” a cattle rancher named Kevin Ruesin suggested. “I grew up playing ball with Bryon. I’ve never known him to be part of stuff like that. I don’t believe that at all.”
Kristi and Byron Noem have been married since 1992 and have three adult children together.
There were also concerns that the photos of Bryon could be used to blackmail Noem, who was fired by Donald Trump from her top DHS role earlier this month. Trump publicly announced her firing shortly after she was grilled at a congressional hearing over her alleged affair with Lewandowski; her husband had dutifully appeared with her at that hearing but had apparently not been present for that particular line of questioning.
“It’s astounding that somebody whose spouse is at that level has that kind of bad judgment,” Jack Barsky, a former Soviet spy turned U.S. counterintelligence asset, told the Daily Mail.
There has also been speculation that Noem and Lewandowski, dubbed the “worst-kept secret in D.C,” was essentially allowed by Bryon.
Political commentator Ryan James Girdusky told the It’s a Numbers Game podcast in August 2025 that there was some “D.C. gossip” that a top Cabinet official, rumored to be Noem, was casually admitting that her husband was gay.
“A reporter walked up to her and said, ‘Why are you having this affair? Why haven’t you met up with your husband? Why aren’t you divorcing your husband?’” Girdusky said. “And she blurted out to this reporter, who I know, and said, ‘Oh, my husband’s gay.’”
Girdusky confirmed on Tuesday that he was talking about Noem but did not name her at the time out of respect for her family’s privacy.
“But to say she had no idea really flies in the face of what she was saying,” Girdusky posted on X. “I have no idea if he is or isn’t, but it was such a known fact in D.C. circles that their marriage [was] all appearances. It could be she said it as justification for her stepping out on her wedding vows. Don’t know.”
The Daily Beast has contacted Kristi Noem for comment.
