Former 'NSYNC member Lance Bass and husband Michael Turchin were on hand Feb. 5 as an ambassador at a mass wedding ceremony celebrating 100 LGBT and straight couples in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, according to NBC Miami. Dubbed "Love is Love," the mass wedding was originally slated to take place on the beach; however, inclement weather forced the couples to an indoor venue. Bass and Turchin celebrated alongside couples from across the nation, and as far away as Europe and South America. Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen took a moment during his nightly show to give his "Real Housewives" franchise a lesson in "Gays 101, TheWrap noted. "Even though some of your friends might be gay, which is great, they're not yours," he said. "You do not own them. We are not cattle. We are not purses." He then added, "The next time you feel like saying, 'My gays,' replace it with, 'My Blacks,' and see how that turns out."
Orange Is the New Black star Lea DeLaria is engaged to fashion editor Chelsea Fairless, the actress announced Feb. 6 on Facebook, People.com reported. "Despite their concerns about the patriarchal confines of marriage, actor / singer Lea DeLaria & editrix Chelsea Fairless of Brooklyn, New York are pleased to announce their engagement," she posted, alongside a picture of the happy couple Photoshopped with Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor. DeLaria was first introduced to Fairless through co-star Emma Myles, who appears as Bible-thumper Leanne.
Nine weeks before his death from AIDS complications on Oct. 2, 1985, actor Rock Hudson was in France trying to get treatment not available in the United States, but Nancy Reagan refused his request for the White House to help, according to a Newser item that cites BuzzFeed. After Hudson collapsed on July 21, 1985, shortly after arriving in Paris, he was admitted to the American Hospital. But he wanted to see Dr. Dominique Dormant, the French army doctor who had been working on experimental AIDS treatment HPA-23. Hudson sent a telegram to the White House ( he and Ronald Reagan were friendly from their acting days ) but, ultimately, Nancy Reagan "did not feel this was something the White House should get into."
Ryan Gosling may join Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast alongside Emma Watson, E! News noted. The Tracking Board is claiming that the hunky actor is Disney's top choice to star as the lovable Beast, but as of now the studio will not comment on the casting rumors. Bill Condon ( Gods and Monsters ) is directing the movie.
President Obama lauded both the 2014 Major League Soccer champions, L.A. Galaxy, and the 2014 Stanley Cup winners, L.A. Kings, at the White House recently, according to Out.com . Although the chief executive praised both teams, Obama called out gay Galaxy player Robbie Rogers personally. "I want to recognize what Robbie Rogers of the Galaxy has done for a lot of people by blazing a trail as one of professional sports' first openly gay players," said Obama. "My guess is that as an athlete Robbie wants to win, first and foremost. ... But Robbie, you've also inspired a whole lot of folks here and around the world and we're very proud of you."
Rosie O'Donnell is leaving The View for the second time—this time after just five months—to focus on her family, TheWrap reported. "I can confirm that Rosie and her wife Michelle split in November," O'Donnell's representative told TheWrap in a statement. "Rosie has teens and an infant at home that need her attention. This has been a very stressful situation. She is putting her personal health and family first. ABC has been wonderfully understanding and supportive of her personal decision to leave The View. [The week of Feb. 9] will be her last." ABC said it "respected and understood" the comedian-actress' desire to be with her family amid the breakup from her wife. In a subsequent video, O'donnell cited a recent heart attack, work stress and home as reasons for leaving.
In her first major acting commitment since wrapping the final season of Glee, Naya Rivera has signed on for a recurring role on Marc Cherry's Lifetime series Devious Maids, according to Deadline. Additionally, Rivera has been asked back on The View and will do several more episodes as co-host this month.
Out singer Sam Smith was the star of the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, held Feb. 8. The 22-year-old British crooner won four Grammys, including record and song of the year for his anthemic "Stay With Me." The Broadway production of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical won for Best Musical Theater Album. Additionally, the late Joan Rivers was awarded the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for Diary of a Mad Diva in a ceremony prior to the awards; those she bested were President Jimmy Carter, actor James Franco, filmmaker John Waters, singer Gloria Gaynor and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Among the performers were Madonna; Annie Lennox and Hozier; Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett; and Rihanna, Kanye West and Paul McCartney, among others. Also, during the "in memoriam" segment, openly gay Chicago house-music legend Frankie Knuckles was among those spotlighted.
Singer John Legend is the cover star of Los Angeles Confidential's latest issue and was an honoree at the magazine's big entertainment bash at the Beverly Hills Hotel—an event he boycotted, CNN.com reported. Legend has joined the widespread boycott against the Beverly Hills Hotel launched by Hollywood last spring. The protest is in response to Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, owner of the hotel chain, unveiling Sharia law in Brunei that allows for the stoning, amputation or flogging of those found guilty of adultery or homosexuality.
Madonna's video for "Living for Love" premiered on Snapchat, according to a press release. This marks the first time a top-level artist has premiered a music video through the picture-messaging app. J.A.C.K. ( Julien Choquart and Camille Hirigoyen ) directed the video. Rebel Heart is Madonna's 13th studio album and will be released March 10 courtesy of Interscope Records.
Grammy Award winner Kelly Clarkson has revealed the track list for her upcoming CD, Piece By Piece, which will be out March 3, according to a press release. Clarkson released her first single, "Heartbeat Song," on Jan. 12, and some of the other songs on the 13-track album include "Good Goes the Bye," "Run Run Run" ( with John Legend ), "Invincible" and the title tune. Her last studio album, Stronger, had hits in the title song and "Mr. Know-It-All."
Oscars host Neil Patrick Harris and husband David Burtka shared pictures of their Harlem townhouse with the publication Architectural Digest, according to People. Initially built in 1904 as a speakeasy for Irish millworkers, the couple "just had that feeling" about the space, Burtka told the magazine. Some of the home's features include a music room with an Annie Lapin painting hanging on the wall near a Yamaha piano; a den with magic memorabilia and Art Deco furniture; and a street-level space for Harris' production company and a screening room.
Regarding the movie The Imitation Game, Alan Turing's family members have spoken out about the film for the first time, commenting on its accuracy and the power of star Benedict Cumberbatch's lead performance, Deadline reported. Among those who attended a screening at the U.S. embassy in London were Dermot Turing ( Alan's nephew ); Neville Hunt ( great-nephew ); Rachel Barnes ( great-niece ); Thomas Barnes ( great-great-nephew ); and Ruth Bourne, a veteran of Bletchley Park, where the breakthroughs took place during WWII. Hunt said in a featurette that Cumberbatch "really brought my great-uncle to life."
In an interview with Vulture, James Franco talks about his affinity for projects focused on stories about gay lives and the struggle for queer rights, according to Towleroad. His latest such project is I Am Michael, which tells the story of Michael Glatze, a former editor at XY magazine who suddenly renounced his homosexuality and became an ex-gay activist. Franco said, "It's because of their art, and then their art was partially informed by their sexuality. But then with something like Interior. Leather. Bar or Milk, those are obviously engaging with gay themes, gay rights, gay politics."
Former Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria is striking back at an expose that accuses the charity, Global Gift Galas, for which she serves as co-chair, of misappropriating donated funds, TheWrap noted. Longoria and Trevor Neilson, who runs The Eva Longoria Foundation, told The Wrap exclusively that the report published in The Hollywood Reporter is "inaccurate" and implicated the actress in "an effort to draw readers." Neilson added that the trade magazine named Longoria "Philanthropist of The Year" in 2009.
Speaking of Longoria, she is slated to star in the NBC show Telenovela alongside singer/heartthrob Jencarlos Canela, according to PR Newswire. ( Longoria is also producing the show. ) Canela, whose albums feature songs in both Spanish and English, will make his debut on English-language television.
Sophie B. Hawkins is pregnant with her second child at 50, and plans to welcome the new addition in July, according to People.com . The "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover" singer—who is already mom to a 6-year-old son, Dashiell—is pregnant with a baby girl after being implanted with her own frozen embryo. The newly single Hawkins, who identifies as omnisexual, said now she is more than ready to raise a baby alone.
Tony Award-nominated Rent and If/Then star Anthony Rapp is behind BroadwayCon, a new convention for Broadway fans and theatregoers, which he created along with event organizer Melissa Anelli, according to Playbill. Set to take place Jan. 22-24, 2016, at the New York Hilton Midtown, BroadwayCon was created as a one-of-a-kind weekend that will bring theater fans together with the performers and creators of their favorite shows. Tickets, which go on sale March 15, will include built-in access to autographs and photo opportunities with Broadway professionals; in addition, a portion of all proceeds from tickets benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
"Officer" Jennifer Hudson slapped the cuffs on an "unruly" Iggy Azalea in the streets of downtown Los Angeles while filming a '70s-inspired music video for their new track, "Trouble," according to The New York Post. "Trouble" will be featured on Azalea's Reclassified album, a re-release of her 2014 album The New Classic.
Just one week before Bobbi Kristina Brown was found unresponsive in a bathtub, her famous cousin Dionne Warwick slipped and fell in the shower at her home in New Jersey, E! Online reported. The songstress was rushed to a local hospital, where she stayed for almost two weeks following ankle surgery.
RuPaul has spoken out after Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, compared drag to blackface, Pink News noted. After seeing a promo for RuPaul's Drag Race, Cheney posted, "Why is it socially acceptable ... for men to put on dresses, make up and high heels and act out every offensive stereotype of women, but it is not socially acceptable for a white person to put on blackface and act out offensive stereotypes of African Americans?" In a YouTube clip, RuPaul says, in part, "What is drag? Drag is underground, and over the top. Drag is political, and politically incorrect. ... Drag is a laugh riot, and it can start a revolution. Drag is never having to say you're sorry, because drag is all about being whoever the hell you want to be."
Actress Jane Lynch hosted the 67th Directors Guild of America ( DGA ) Outstanding Directorial Achievement Awards in Los Angeles, according to the DGA website. Among the presenters were openly gay DGA president Paris Barclay, Barbara Streisand, Pierce Brosnan and Jodie Foster, among others. Some of the winners were Alejandro G. Inarritu ( Feature Film, for Birdman ), Lesli Linka Glatter ( Dramatic Series, for Homeland's "From A to B and Back Again" ), Jill Soloway ( Comedy Series, for Transparent's "Best New Girl ) and Lisa Cholodenko ( Movies for Television and Mini-Series, for HBO's Olive Kitteridge ).
Shirley Manson thinks Kanye West's Grammys stunt was, well, garbage, US Weekly noted. After West rushed the stage when Beck beat out Beyonce for Album of the Year—later telling E! that Beck should "respect artistry" and give his award to Beyonce—Manson took to Facebook to blast what she called his "petty" actions. In part, she wrote, "In attempting to reduce the importance of one great talent over another, you make a mockery of all musicians and music from every genre, including your own. Grow up and stop throwing your toys around."
Oscar winner Melissa Leo, Star Trek's Zachary Quinto and Selma's Tom Wilkinson are reportedly in negotiations to play Laura Poitras, Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill in Oliver Stone's untitled Edward Snowden movie, TheWrap published. Joseph Gordon-Levitt will star as the NSA contractor who leaked classified documents, while Shailene Woodley will co-star as his longtime girlfriend Lindsay Mills. Quinto will play Greenwald, a lawyer, author and journalist who Snowden chose to leak sensitive information to, knowing he would handle its publication responsibly. ( Both Quinto and Greenwald are gay. )
Principal photography has ended on the West Hollywood murder-mystery film Kiss Me, Kill Me, directed by Casper Andreas, according to a press release. The film stars Van Hansis and Gale Harold, who is playing a gay character for the first time since his role as Brian Kinney on Showtime's Queer As Folk. Kiss Me, Kill Me is a contemporary Alfred Hitchcock/Agatha Christie-style whodunnit, with the mystery centered on Dusty ( Hansis ), who confronts his unfaithful boyfriend and blacks out—only to wake up to find the boyfriend murdered, with him being the prime suspect.
The Advocate profiled Rob James-Collier, who plays closeted gay villain Thomas Barrow on the PBS show Downton Abbey. Barrow appears to be quite contradictory; for example, he has attempted to blackmail a gay aristocrat but has also fallen in love with a footman. This season, it appears Barrow is undergoing some 1920s version of gay "conversion" therapy. The actor told STV, "It deals with his sexuality and he goes on this huge emotional journey about himself, and it's quite a sad storyline for Thomas. I'm hoping if he makes it through the other side, people will see the other side of Thomas."
Selma co-star and producer Oprah Winfrey has teamed with the film's director Ava DuVernay to create a new original drama OWN new series for OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, Deadline reported. Inspired by the novel "Queen Sugar," DuVernay is set to write, direct and executive produce the project in her TV series debut. Winfrey will executive-produce and have a recurring role on the show, marking the first time Winfrey will act in a series for her network.
Jimmy Fallon continued his trip to Los Angeles by reuniting the cast of the 1989-93 show Saved by the Bell in a skit, TheWrap noted. The hallway set from Bayside High looked almost the same as Fallon greeted original "Bell" cast members Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley, Mario Lopez ( who stripped down to a black unitard ) and Dennis Haskins. The gang even managed to throw out a few nods to the post-"Bell" careers of some of its castmembers, including Berkley's star turn in the cult classic Showgirls.
The CW has added action-adventure mystery-drama project Cheerleader Death Squad to its slate of 2015 pilots, The Wrap noted. The network has given a pilot green light to the project, which is from Desperate Housewives and Devious Maids creator/executive producer Marc Cherry; Under the Dome showrunner Neal Baer; and Blue Bloods executive producer Dan Truly. Cheerleader Death Squad is described as "Heathers meets Alias," and centers on a disgraced CIA agent-turned-teacher at an elite Washington, D.C. prep school who trains students in international espionage.
Yaya DaCosta—coming off playing pop icon Whitney Houston in the Lifetime biopic—is set to star in Chicago Med, the proposed ensemble medical drama spinoff from NBC's Chicago Fire, according to Deadline. DaCosta will play Maggie Seaver, a nurse who begins to date Chicago Fire's Kelly ( Taylor Kinney ), with whom she has a history dating back to high school.
A new study showed that female characters composed just 12 percent of protagonists in the top 100 grossing films of 2014, TheWrap reported. The figure was taken from the 2014 "It's a Man's ( Celluloid ) World" study by San Diego State University's Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film. This figure is 3 percent below 2013's study and 4 percent below the number in 2002. Racial diversity among the female roles also saw a dip in certain areas; Black and Latino female roles declined, while Asian female roles saw a slight increase in number.
Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner was involved ( but not hurt ) in a four-car crash in Malibu, California, that left one driver dead and five hospitalized, ABC News reported. Jenner, who was a driver in one of the cars, passed a field sobriety test and then voluntarily submitted a blood sample to determine whether he was intoxicated. A few hours later, a drunken driver drove into the car-crash site; it remained unclear what role paparazzi might have played in the original crash, TheWrap reported. The fatality was identified as Kim Howe, 69, who was a neighbor of the Kardashian-Jenner clan in Calabasas, California.
A "Fifty Shades of Grey" sexual lubricant has been slapped with a class-action lawsuit claiming it's ineffective, and the unhappy party wants satisfaction in court, TheWrap reported. Tania Warchol has filed papers saying the "Fifty Shades of Grey Come Alive Pleasure Gel For Her" she purchased through LoveHoney.com, in cooperation with book author E.L. James, doesn't work, and may have not been appropriately greenlit by the FDA.
