In 1996 Thomas E. Zaremba filed a palimony suit against Cliburn, claiming that because of "an oral and/or implied partnership agreement," he was entitled to a share of Cliburn's income and property. Zaremba said that he had assisted in the management of Cliburn's career and finances as well as performing domestic services such as helping Cliburn care for his aged mother. Zaremba further alleged that Cliburn may have exposed him to AIDS during their seventeen-year relationship, which lasted until around the end of 1994, after which Zaremba moved to Center Line, Michigan, where he found work as a mortician.

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Cliburn called the accusations "salacious" but otherwise had little to say about the case. Indeed, though always described as gracious and polite, Cliburn is known to be notoriously difficult to interview. Music insiders had long been aware of his homosexuality, and he and Zaremba had appeared together at public functions in Fort Worth, but in Cliburn's thirty-plus years as a celebrity, the press had never linked him romantically with anyone.

The public's image of him was still that of the All-American Boy--he seemed almost frozen in time at the moment of his victory in Moscow. He lived with his mother until her death at 97, is a lifelong Baptist and a regular church-goer, does not drink or smoke, and begins his concerts with The Star-Spangled Banner.

Zaremba's lawsuit was eventually dismissed because of the lack of a written agreement, which is required under Texas law.

In December 2001 Cliburn was among the artists feted at the Kennedy Center Honors. National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, herself a pianist, praised Cliburn's "grace and lyricism" and "the power of his music to build bridges across the cultural and political divide."

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