Portland, OR--Car mogul Scott Thomason, of Thomason Auto Group, issued a statement today emphatically denying that he is a hippie.

Rumors of Thomason's closeted, counter-culture connections have circulated for some time but only recently became public when The Portland Business Journal broke a story revealing Thomason as the sole financial backer of the "Oregon Legalize Hemp" foundation. The article quoted an anonymous source who claimed that Thomason owned several Crosby, Stills & Nash CDs, as well as being a frequent contributor (under a pseudonym) to High Times magazine. In his denial, Thomason refuted the allegations and cast suspicions upon the authenticity of a photograph that appeared to show Thomason wearing a t-shirt with the slogan "Powered By Love." The photo also depicted Thomason burning one down with the musician Ben Harper and a drunken Peter Fonda.

In a related story, Thomason recently announced that he would be closing his car dealerships in order to devote his energy to making organic, artisan soap, which he plans to sell through the Whole Earth Catalog. Proceeds will go to research promoting alternatives to the internal combustion engine.