Singer/actor Nick Jonas was literally in chains for his performance at G-A-Y at London's Heaven club recently, NewNowNext.com noted. "You know we gotta do something special for the G-A-Y audience," he teased, as drag queens Mary Mac and Baga Chipz put his arms in shackles before moving down to put two more around his ankles. Jonas eventually broke free of his chains and made his way into the audience, dancing with some fans in the front row.
Boy George and Culture Club band had two surprise guests at the group's concert in Los Angeles recently—and one of them was Caitlyn Jenner, E! Online noted. The 65-year-old Olympian and star of the new E! docuseries I Am Cait received a standing ovation as she took the stage at the Greek Theatre to introduce the pop group that rose to fame in the '80s with hits like "Miss Me Blind" and "Karma Chameleon." Actor Jack Black was the other surprise guest; he joined George onstage to perform David Bowie's 1972 song "Starman."
Speaking of Caitlyn Jenner, The View co-host Raven-Symone caught the premiere of the E! docuseries I Am Cait—and apparently wasn't impressed, TheWrap noted. While discussing the episode, the former child star, who came out last year but refuses to be identified as "gay," expressed her discomfort at the fact that Caitlyn Jenner has become such a high-profile advocate for the transgender community so soon after transitioning. "When I came out, I didn't go and go hardcore and be like, 'I'm going to save the world for LGBT,'" the co-host said. "You've got to learn it. You've got to learn it first, and she's not, really."
Lucy Lawless has denied that Xena: The Warrior Princess is returning, Digital Spy noted. Her denial follows reports that NBC are in talks to revive the Hercules spin-off for a limited series in 2016. However, she has long been a supporter of revisiting Xena: Warrior Princess, having even called for a movie back in 2010.
Actress Sharon Stone officiated the wedding of Wall Street Journal Magazine publisher Anthony Cenname and fashion designer/creative director David Witkewicz, according to Page Six. Stone—a close friend of the couple and whom Cenname first met in 1996, when he worked at Italian Vogue—wore a red, fringed gown and was "very moved and choked up with tears," said a guest. Before cutting the cake, the couple, who've been together 15 years, tossed their bowties instead of a bouquet.
Madonna recently compared herself to the revered artist Pablo Picasso, Vanity Fair noted. Talking to Page Six about her upcoming Rebel Heart tour, she said, "I like to compare myself to other kinds of artists like Picasso. He kept painting and painting until the day he died. Why? Because I guess he felt inspired to do so." Ask for having comic/actress Amy Schumer as her opening act for her three New York shows in the fall, Madonna said, "She's a role model for women, and I am too, and I think it's a good match."
Logo announced that the show RuPaul's All Stars Drag Race will return for a second season, a press release stated. Several of the most talked-about queens in RuPaul's Drag Race "herstory" will return to battle it out as they try to sashay their way into the "Drag Race Hall of Fame" alongside Chad Michaels, who took home the first season's All Stars crown. Also, RuPaul's Drag Race: Season 4 RuVealed premieres with a special, 90-minute episode on Friday, July 31.
True Trans with Laura Jane Grace has been nominated for an Emmy, according to a press release. The AOL Originals series is nominated in the New Approaches: Arts, Lifestyle, Culture category. It tells the story of Laura Jane Grace, a transgender pioneer and lead singer of the punk band Against Me!, who came out as transgender at the height of her music career in 2012.
Chaz Bono is starring in Lounge Theatres' Down the Road in Los Angeles through Aug. 16, according to a press release. Bono is portraying William Reach, a serial killer serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison for the murders of 19 women; his newest victims could be Dan and Irin Henniman, true-crime writers who are interviewing him for his biography.
After Donald Trump attacked Mexicans during a presidential campaign speech, comedian George Lopez reportedly used an anti-gay slur while criticizing the mogul, according to NewNowNext.com . "This country is better with Latinos in it," Lopez said to his audience at Phoenix, Arizona's Celebrity Theatre. He then began a chant that had him shouting, "Donald Trump!," and the audience yelling, "F—k that puto!," in response. One meaning of "puto" is widely known to be an anti-gay slur.
Back on Board: Greg Louganis—an intimate documentary about the openly gay Olympic diver—will air on HBO on Tuesday, Aug. 4, according to a press release. The movie traces his story from a difficult childhood, through his Olympic conquests, to his post-Olympic life, outlining the discrimination and other obstacles he has faced throughout his journey. Back on Board won the audience award at the Outfest Los Angeles Film Festival and the Connecticut LGBT Film Festival, and was named best documentary feature film at the Annapolis Film Festival, in addition to capturing the award for best editing at the Salem Film Festival.
Vocal-polyp surgery a few days earlier forced David Burtka—an actor who is also Neil Patrick Harris' husband—to be completely silent at Jessica Seinfeld's Baby Buggy luncheon in the Hamptons, according to Page Six. Burtka used a wipe board ( as well as Harris, who translated ) to chat with guests such as Gayle King and Mamie Gummer. Designer Alessandra Facchinetti hosted the event at Seinfeld's home.
Marlee Matlin is joining the Deaf West Theatre production of Spring Awakening on Broadway, according to Page Six. The Oscar and Golden Globe winner will make her Broadway debut in the upcoming revival, which will feature a cast of 27 that blends hearing and deaf performers. Previews begin Sept. 8 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, and it will be performed simultaneously in English and American Sign Language. Matlin is the only deaf performer to win an Academy Award, which she did for Children of a Lesser God.
Sherri Shepherd is returning to The View, according to TheWrap. The former regular co-host has closed her deal to come back to the ABC talker as a contributor. Shepherd was previously a co-host on the program for seven seasons before departing with friend Jenny McCarthy last summer. Michelle Collins is joining The View as a permanent co-host for the upcoming season 19. Whoopi Goldberg and Raven-Symone will also be back; Rosie Perez will not be.
Ingrid Sischy—a fashion editor and writer with 50 years of experience in the industry—died in New York City after a long battle with breast cancer at the age of 63, TheWrap reported. In 1990, she took over Andy Warhol's Interview magazine, staying there for almost two decades. In 2013, Sischy snagged the first interview with fashion designer John Galliano after he was ousted from the house of Dior for making anti-Semitic statements. Her spoouse was editor Sandra Brant, according to LGBTQ Nation.
Canadian filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallee's Demolition—starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts and Chris Cooper—will open the 40th edition of the Toronto Film Festival, Deadline reported. The 40th edition of the festival kicks runs Sept. 10-20, and will include a host of special events marking the four decades of the festival. Demolition follows an investment banker who, struggling to understand his emotional disconnect after the tragic death of his wife, begins to tear apart his life in an effort to see where he went wrong and is ultimately rescued by a woman he meets in a chance encounter.
Angelina Jolie Pitt will be helming her next project for a late-2016 release on Netflix and festivals worldwide, Deadline noted. The Oscar winner will co-write and direct an adaptation of Cambodian author and human-rights activist Loung Ung's 2000 memoir First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers as a Netflix Original film. The actress and Unbroken director has been working on the adaptation of the book of life under the murderous Khmer Rouge for several years since reading it and reaching out to Ung more than 10 years ago.
The Arizona Cardinals hired Jen Welter as an assistant coaching intern for training camp and the preseason to work with inside linebackers, ESPN reported. She is believed to be the first female coach of any kind in the NFL. Welter, 37, tweeted, "I'm honored to be part of the #BIRDGANG! Love the #footballfamily here with the #ArizonaCardinals #NFL..." Welter played professional football for more than 14 years as a linebacker, mostly with the Dallas Diamonds of the Women's Football Alliance.
There may be some insight as to why the marriage of WNBA stars Brittney Griner and Glory Johnson only lasted 28 days, according to Gay Star News. Griner, the WNBA's 2014 defensive player of the year, alleges that Johnson was involved "sexually and emotionally" with a "former male companion" during their courtship in 2013 and 2014. Griner stated that had she known about the continuing relationship with the man, "she would never have proposed, let alone marry" Johnson. Johnson has not yet responded.
The story of Emmett Till—who was only 14 when the Black teen was brutally murdered after allegedly flirting with a white woman in Mississippi in 1955—is the subject of an HBO miniseries from a A-list producing team that includes Jay-Z, Will Smith and Aaron Kaplan, according to Deadline. Chicago native Till was visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi, in August 1955 when he spoke and possibly flirted with Carolyn Bryant, the 21-year-old White co-owner of a local grocery store. Several nights later, Bryant's husband, Roy, and his half-brother, J. W. Milam, went to Till's great-uncle's house, forcefully took him and tortured him before shooting him in the head and throwing his body in the Tallahatchie River.
The Andy Warhol Museum announces "Warhol by the Book," the first U.S. exhibition to concentrate on Andy Warhol's book work, a press release noted. "Warhol by the Book" opens at The Warhol ( in Pittsburgh ) Saturday, Oct. 10, and it is on view through Sunday, Jan. 10, 2016. This exhibition, curated by the museum's chief archivist, Matt Wrbican, presents Warhol's book work from early student-work illustrations of the late 1940s through his photography in the 1970s—80s.
Bobbi Kristina "Krissy" Brown, daughter of the late legendary singer Whitney Houston and R&B musician Bobby Brown, died at Peachtree Christian Hospice in Duluth, Georgia, at age 22, TheWrap reported. The celebrity offspring's death followed months of medical treatment after she was found face down and unresponsive in a bathtub at her Roswell, Georgia, home on Jan. 31. In an April interview, grandmother Cissy Houston revealed that the 22-year-old had suffered "global and irreversible brain damage," and there was little chance of recovery.
Homeland has announced that the fifth season of Homeland will premiere Sunday, Oct. 4, a press release stated. The show will pick up two years after Carrie Mathison's ( played by Claire Danes ) tenure as Islamabad station chief; Carrie finds herself in a self-imposed exile in Berlin, estranged from the CIA and working as the head of security for a German philanthropist. Also, season two of The Affair will debut on the same date. This season, the drama will be told separately from four different perspectives, revealing four distinct truths.
Universal Pictures has announced a sequel to its record-breaking hit Jurassic World, and it will reunite stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. The film will hit theaters Friday June 22, 2018. Frank Marshall and Steven Spielberg will return as producers.
Khloe Kardashian is getting her own show, Deadline noted. Unlike Caitlyn Jenner's I Am Cait reality series on E!, Kocktails With Khloe will be a studio-based talk show, with eight one-hour episodes scheduled so far. A statement says that celebrities and friends will "join Khloe in the kitchen and around the table for an intimate dinner party filled with cooking, pop culture, conversation and outrageously fun party games."
