"I'm almost positive a certain beloved daytime talk-show host once had me kicked out of a backstage dressing room at the Emmy Awards. I can't prove it, but this person, who has short blonde hair, has a mean streak that all of Hollywood knows about."—Kathy Griffin's clearly afraid to name Ellen DeGeneres. But we're not—because we have positive stories about both funny ladies in this week's column.
It was a sad Thanksgiving in the Masters household when we got word that Florence Henderson had died only days earlier she appeared on the season finale of Dancing with the Stars. Flo was a helluva gal. Actually, she liked to be called a "dame," apropos of her starring role in the 1967 revival of South Pacific. In fact, Henderson performed "There Is Nothing Like a Dame" at last year's Broadway Backwards, which raised money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and the NYC Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center.
Yes, Mrs. Brady was always there for us. I have a plethora of stories that I could share, but my most treasured anecdote is from two years ago after her show at the Catalina Bar & Grill. I told her about a friend who had been a child actor and had fond memories of appearing opposite her in the 1970 musical, "The Song of Norway"—her first film. A week or so later, I ran into Flo at a party. She told me she couldn't stop thinking about my friend and how sweet it was that he still thought about her. She then pointed to my phone and said, "Can you record a video on that thing?" I said, "Yes." She asked me to film her sending a message to my friend. That was Flo. RIP.
Social media was all a-twitter with rumors that Mike Pence may have done gay porn in the past. The allegation was accompanied by a photo of a very hot man, indeed. But it's not Pence. The porn pup in question is Brad Patton, aka Joel Mangs. First off, Mangs/Patton was born in 1972—Pence hails from the late '50s. Patton ended his porn career with a bang ( or a mang ) in 2007, and then continued working as a professional ice skater. He's won two gold medals at the Gay Games and two silver medals at the World OutGames. He's also been a member of "Disney on Ice" and appeared on "Dancing on Ice" in the Netherlands.
Time to set the record straight—Elton John will not be singing at Donald Trump's inauguration. I repeat, Elton John will NOT be singing at Donald Trump's inauguration, despite a claim made by Anthony Scaramucci, a member of Trump's transition team: "This will be the first American president in U.S. history that enters the White House with a pro-gay-rights stance. Elton John is going to be doing our concert on the mall for the inauguration." Really? A mouthpiece for the singer stated, "Elton will not be performing at Trump's inauguration."
A couple months ago, I reported about a married Republican politician in Louisiana who allegedly picked up a kid at a high school luncheon, started sexting with him, met him at his job at the mall food court, brought him a gift of some undies, and then made out with him in the men's room. Does any of that ring a bell? Well, it doesn't with the politician in question. In an interview, Mike Yenni claims that much of the story was made up. While he doesn't want to go through it "line by line," he says he never saw the lad at any high school function. In fact, they first met when they were both a part of a "group text." When asked why he was sending explicit texts to a 17-year-old, he says it was "a stupid decision to send a text to, in my opinion, another consenting adult that we had, we had, we had some off-color texts." When asked if he meant the things he said in the texts, Yenni says, "Probably not, 'cause nothing was acted upon. There was no sex." When asked if he bought the boy underwear, Mike said, "There are fictional elements to this story." When asked if they kissed, Yenni said, "There was no sex. There was no sexual contact." Well, I guess it depends on how you define "sexual contact."
Believe it or not, it's time for Billy's Holiday Gift Giving Suggestions. Let me start by telling all potential vendors that my endorsement can be bought. But until the payola starts rolling in, let's start off with something that should make everyone happy. If you've gotten this far, I'm gonna assume you enjoy reading. Not heavy reading—my fans like reading trash. Something you can breeze through and get a bit of a chuckle out of. If you know someone like-minded, then buy them Kathy Griffin's new best-seller, Celebrity Run-Ins: My A-Z Index. It's exactly what you want from Kathy—dish about celebrities. And it's alphabetized! Here's a little tip—if don't like reading, get the audio book! It's available through Audible, or you can go really old-school and buy the CDs—read by the author, naturally!
We can squeeze in a very short "Ask Billy" question. Thomas in Baltimore asks, "What do you know about Tom Ellis from 'Lucifer'? He looks so familiar. Or maybe it's just because he's SO hot."
You may remember the handsome Welsh actor from when he played Robin Hood on Once Upon a Time. Nope, not the Robin of Sean Maguire. Ellis played the role first, but had to bow out when the character became a regular the following season because he'd been cast in the USA series Rush—which was swiftly cancelled. But you're in luck. During our research, we learned that Ellis appeared nude in the British series The Fades. And in the spirit of giving, you can check him out on BillyMasters.com .
When we can go from Netherlands to nether regions, it's time to end yet another column. With the holiday season upon us, you can get lots of ho, ho, hos atBillyMasters.com, the site that would make one helluva stocking stuffer. If you'd like some stuffing personally, send me a note ( and a photo ) to Billy@BillyMasters.com and I promise to get back to you before Elton and Hillary sing "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" at the inauguration! So, until next time, remember: One man's filth is another man's bible.
