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Jennifer Hudson and HRC; Transparent; Annie Lennox on Beyonce
Entertainment news: Special to the online edition of Windy City Times
by Andrew Davis, Windy City Times
2014-10-14

This article shared 5761 times since Tue Oct 14, 2014
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The Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) released a Web video featuring Grammy and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson for its "Americans for Marriage Equality" campaign, according to a press release. In the video, Hudson discusses her longtime support for LGBT equality and announced a new partnership with HRC. She also broke the news that she will be performing at the organization's 18th Annual National Dinner on Saturday, Oct. 25, in Washington, D.C.

Amazon has renewed original series Transparent for a second season, The Wrap revealed. The dark comedy—created by Jill Soloway, and starring Jeffrey Tambor, Judith Light, Gaby Hoffman, Amy Landecker and Jay Duplass—is currently the top-ranked series on the website's Prime Instant Video. It's also been the most binge-watched show in Prime Instant Video history.

Houston radio station 92.1 FM suddenly ceased all local news operations—and started airing around-the-clock Beyonce songs instead of informational reports, traffic updates and weather conditions, according to ABC13.com . The transition was certainly a surprise to the 47 employees who were laid off at almost the same time. The change was reportedly made because of poor ratings and shrinking revenue.

In another Beyonce-related development, legendary singer Annie Lennox recently was asked to talk about Beyonce considering herself a feminist, Just Jared noted. "I would call that 'feminist lite,'" Lennox responded. "L-I-T-E. I'm sorry. It's tokenistic to me. I mean, I think she's a phenomenal artist—I just love her performances—but I'd like to sit down [with her]. I think I'd like to sit down with quite a few artists and talk to them. ... Sex always sells. And there's nothing wrong with sex selling, but it depends on your audience. If they're 7-year-old kids, I have issues with it."

Britain's Queen Elizabeth made actress Angelina Jolie an honorary dame at a private ceremony at Buckingham Palace in recognition of Jolie's campaigning to end sexual violence in war zones and for services to UK foreign policy, according to Yahoo! News. The queen presented the Oscar-winning Jolie, who is special envoy to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR ), with the Insignia of an Honorary Dame Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George. Jolie is not a British citizen and, therefore ,cannot be addressed as "Dame."

Coinciding with the launch of his latest monograph, Fractured ( out Oct. 30 ), photographer Jeremy Kost has partnered with Calvin Klein Collection for a special art installation at the brand's Madison Avenue flagship store in New York City, according to Out.com . An exclusive edition of Kost's book, Fractured: Jeremy Kost for Calvin Klein Collection, is also available for purchase at the store. In addition, all of the artwork shown at Calvin Klein will can be bought through online auction house Paddle8; a portion of the proceeds will go toward ACRIA, a leading research and education organization working to help people with HIV/AIDS.

Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, The Smiths and Bill Withers are among the first-time nominees for 2015 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, USA Today noted. The field also includes German electronic band Kraftwerk, hip-hop collective N.W.A., the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, the R&B group The Spinners, blues singer/guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, War, Sting and Motown girl group The Marvelettes. The induction ceremony will be held April 18, 2015, in Cleveland, home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

Actress Viola Davis ( TV's How to Get Away with Murder ) recently spoke at Variety's Power of Women event about struggling with poverty early on in life, US Weekly noted. "Although my childhood was filled with many happy memories, it was also spent in abject poverty," she tearfully said. "I have stolen for food. I have jumped in huge garbage bins with maggots for food. ... And I sacrificed a childhood for food and grew up in immense shame." It was her painful past that led Davis to get involved with the Hunger Is campaign. Davis was just one of the big names who spoke at the event, which also included Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Lopez.

Katy Perry will perform at next year's Super Bowl halftime show, The Wrap reported. In August, reports started spreading that the NFL had asked Perry as well as Coldplay and Rihanna to perform the halftime show—with a catch: The NFL asked the performers if they'd be willing to offer a percentage of their future tour earnings or "some other type of financial contribution" to perform at the big game in February. Perry has sold 11 million albums and 81 million singles worldwide, making her one of the best-selling artists of all time.

The legendary singer Aretha Franklin has set a record, according to Billboard. She has become the first female, and just the fourth artist overall, to place 100 career titles on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, as her cover of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" debuted at number 47. Franklin trails only Lil Wayne ( 135 entries ), Jay-Z ( 127 ) and James Brown ( 111 ). "Rolling" is the first cut from Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics, due Oct. 21 on RCA Records.

Days of Our Lives actor Freddie Smith ( who plays gay character Sonny Kiriakis ) was taken to a hospital after the star reportedly lost control of his car in Kingsville Township, Ohio, according to the Soap Opera Network. His passenger, Alyssa Tabit of North Hollywood, was seriously injured in the crash and in critical condition. At last report, Ohio State Highway Patrol suspected speed and alcohol as factors leading to the accident.

Comedian Sarah Silverman addressed the issue of the wage gap between men and women in a video while promoting the Equal Payback Project, according to E! Online. In the thought-provoking, NSFW video, the comedienne says she'll stop at nothing to ensure she's paid the same amount as a man—even if she has to undergo gender-reassignment surgery to make it happen. "Every year the average woman loses around $11,000 to the wage gap," Silverman explains. "Over the course of her working life, that's almost $500,000. That's a $500,000 vagina tax!"

To mark the launch of BBC Music, all of BBC's television, radio and online networks premiered the track and video for a reworking of the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows," The Huffington Post reported. The 1966 classic was given new life thanks to a star-studded line-up of 27 artists, including Sir Elton John, Lorde, Pharrell Williams, One Direction, Stevie Wonder, Emeli Sande, Sam Smith—and the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson. The promotional film was shot in the Alexandra Palace Theatre, home of the first ever BBC broadcast more than 90 years ago.

Singer-songwriter Nick Deutsch has come out as gay while releasing his new single and video for the song "Run," The Huffington Post noted. On his blog earlier this month, Deutsch wrote, "I believe that regardless of career, being open is still very much a big deal, although I do appreciate and empathize with the over-arching view that 'it's no longer a big deal to be gay.' Even with Sam Smith sitting tall at the billboard top ten, we are sorely in need of supportive voices to counter the awful statistics and narratives that have historically plagued the LGBTQ community."

On behalf of GLAAD and Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights ( PACER ), Emmy-nominated actress and transgender advocate Laverne Cox will light the iconic Empire State Building in purple Oct. 16, in recognition of Spirit Day and National Bullying Prevention Month, according to a press release. Cox will be joined by GLAAD and youth featured in the new documentary Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word, which will premiere on MTV and Logo TV Oct. 17.

The Hamptons International Film Festival's ( HIFF ) signature "A Conversation With" series had an impressive list of Hollywood heavyweights taking part, Hamptons.com reported. Hilary Swank, Mark Ruffalo, Patricia Clarkson, Laura Dern and Joel Schumacher headlined the lectures, which took place at Bay Street Theater. The openly gay Schumacher ( St. Elmo's Fire, Tigerland, A Time to Kill and Flawless ) received this year's Golden Starfish Lifetime Achievement in Directing Award.

Oscar-winning actress Jodie Foster has sold her Hollywood Hills Spanish-style home, but it wasn't easy, Today.com reported. She listed it twice, first in June 2013 for $6.399 million before dropping the price to $5.995 million last September. She then relisted the home for $5.75 million this spring—but finally sold it for $5 million. The house has five bedrooms and six bathrooms, dark beamed ceilings and a wall off the dining room that opens to a secluded courtyard.

Taylor Swift, Pharrell Williams and Maroon 5 are among the acts set to perform at radio station Z100's Jingle Ball 2014 concert in New York City, according to Page Six. Other performers announced Thursday for the Dec. 12 concert at Madison Square Garden include Ariana Grande, Iggy Azalea, 5 Seconds of Summer, Charli XCX, Jessie J, Rita Ora, Meghan Trainor and Rixton. The concert will be streamed live at Yahoo.com and later broadcast as a two-hour special Dec. 18 on the CW.

Former intern Anthony Tart says he and others were made to work like full-time employees on the syndicated Wendy Williams daytime talk show—and now he's suing Lionsgate and producers Debmar-Mercury, Deadline.com reported. The potential class-action suit, filed in federal court, claims, "Named Plaintiff Tart was hired by Defendants in or about August 2012 and performed various tasks including, but not limited to, washing dishes, getting coffee, picking up art supplies, stocking printers, throwing out garbage, and creating a tape library." Last year, Fox renewed The Wendy Williams Show on its stations until the 2016-2017 season.

Gay actor Wentworth Miller ( TV's Prison Break ) has gotten his first major acting role since coming out last year, according to NewNowNext.com . Miller will portray the villainous Captain Cold, a.k.a. Leonard Snart, on the new CW series The Flash. Show co-producer Geoff Johns said of Cold/Snart, "He's just this guy who pulls jobs very carefully and certainly there's something in the city and he has to change his game up."

Also on The Flash is out actor Victor Garber. According to EW.com, Garber ( from TV shows Alias and Eli Stone ) has landed a recurring role as Dr. Martin Stein, one-half of the Firestorm entity from DC Comics. Stein is a brilliant but arrogant nuclear physicist who has sacrificed everything, including a marriage, for his work in transmutation. After he discovers the particle accelerator fused him with the younger, more impulsive Ronnie Raymond ( Robbie Amell ), he races to find a way to separate the two before it's too late.

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. and The Creative Coalition will support GLAAD's Spirit Day ( Oct. 16 ) by "going purple" through their joint "Be a STAR ( Show Tolerance And Respect )" anti-bullying initiative, according to WrestingNewsSource.com . Support kicked off with a Be a STAR anti-bullying rally in New York, and will continue through Spirit Day with promotion on TheCreativeCoalition.org, WWE.com, WWECommunity.com and on WWE and Be a STAR social-media assets, reaching more than 400 million people globally. Millions wear purple on Spirit Day as a sign of support for LGBT youth and to speak out against bullying.

Nominations for the American Music Awards have been announced—and relative newcomer Iggy Azalea ( "Fancy" ) leads the pack of stars up for this year's honors, with six nods, USA Today noted. She has been nominated for artist, new artist and single of the year, as well as favorite female artist in the pop/rock and rap/hip-hop categories and favorite rap/hip-hop album. John Legend and Katy Perry each nabbed five nominations, while Pharrell Williams got four. The American Music Awards will broadcast live from the NOKIA Theatre L.A. live on Nov. 23 on ABC.

American Horror Show: Freak Show producer Ryan Murphy recently discussed one of the most talked-about segments of the premiere: when Jessica Lange sings David Bowie's "Life on Mars" in a powder-blue suit while flaunting a German accent, according to E! Online. Murphy said, "I really wanted to do an homage to my friend and idol Baz Luhrmann, who does such amazing things with music and period. We didn't want to do Happy Days, we didn't want to do all '50s music." The show is set in 1952, and Bowie's song wasn't released until 1971.

The people behind the movie Kiss Me, Kill Me are attempting to raise $100,000 for their film, which stars Van Hansis ( As the World Turns ) and Gale Harold, playing his first gay role since portraying Brian Kinney in the U.S. version of Queer As Folk, according to a press release. The film is a contemporary Alfred Hitchcock/Agatha Christie-style whodunit, with the mystery centered on Dusty, who confronts his unfaithful boyfriend and blacks out—only to wake up to find the boyfriend murdered and he's the prime suspect. Visit www.KissMeKillMeMovie.com .

Speaking of this series, trans actress Erika Ervin is on the show as as "Amazon Eve," a role she says was originally written for a man, The Huffington Post reported. "I auditioned for the part as a guy, slicked back my hair, no make-up ... flannel shirt, bound my breasts, dropped my voice and walked in, and nailed it," Ervin says in an FX clip. In addition, she hopes her American Horror Story role will allow her estranged father to see her "make it on TV and film," and believes the transgender community at large could stand to learn from the show's overall message of family.

After receiving inquiries from Deadline, Warner Bros. ( WB ) has canceled plans to "paint down" a white stuntwoman to double for a Black actress on its hit Fox show Gotham. WB initially downplayed the significance of the story, but after looking into it said that it had made a "mistake" and would hire a Black stuntwoman instead. "Painting down" white stunt performers so that they can pass for Black has been going on for decades, even though SAG-AFTRA calls the practice "unacceptable" and "improper."

Dance Moms host Abby Lee Miller is being sued for a second time by a member of the Hyland family, which has also been featured on the show, according to Inquisitr.com . Kelly Hyland had two dancers at the Abby Lee Dance Center: Paige and her older sister Brooke. Now, the new lawsuit filed on behalf of Paige alleges that Miller was cruel to the dancers and caused emotional distress. The suit also says that sometimes Miller pinched the girls until they bled, insulted their looks, and tore into them for being emotionally weak.

Jesse Plemons and Oscar winner Sissy Spacek are attached to star in Other People, an indie movie that Adam Scott and his wife Naomi Scott are producing, The Wrap revealed. Plemons will play a gay Saturday Night Live writer who returns home to Sacramento to be with his mother ( Spacek ), who is in the final stages of terminal cancer. While home, he struggles to deal with a painful recent breakup and reconcile with his conservative father's disapproving attitude regarding his sexuality.

British rock icons Queen have announced a UK tour with American singer-songwriter Adam Lambert throughout January 2015, the UK Mirror noted. The "Don't Stop Me Now" rockers will perform seven shows nationwide, including a date at London's O2 Arena, with Lambert replacing the late Freddie Mercury on vocals. The tour will cover Newcastle, Glasgow, London, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and Nottingham.

Bob Zmuda, the best friends and former writer partner of the late comedian Andy Kaufman, said that Kaufman was quite unique in the bedroom, The Huffington Post revealed. "At first, he was a pioneer in being the first celebrity to support legalized prostitution," Zmuda told HuffPost Live. However, Lynne Margulies—Zmuda's co-author on Andy Kaufman: The Truth, Finally—writes in the book about how she discovered Kaufman's bisexuality. Kaufman felt that his sexuality and sexual choices would be a "career-killer" at the time, but he was more concerned about his family.

Saturday Night Live alum Jan Hooks has died at age 57, E! Online reported. Hooks grew up in Georgia before getting her comedy start in the L.A.-based comedy group The Groundlings. Hooks later starred as a regular cast member on SNL alongside celebs like Chris Farley, Mike Myers, Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey and Dennis Miller from 1986 to 1991. She also appeared on shows such as Designing Women and 30 Rock.

Barbara Walters revealed at the recent Breast Cancer Research Symposium and Awards luncheon that she underwent a lumpectomy—a surgery to remove cancerous or other abnormal tissue from her breast, Page Six noted. "Some years back, more than five now, I discovered a small lump in my breast," she shared with the crowd at the Waldorf Astoria event. Walters, who was honored, shared her award with the event's host, Good Morning America ‰anchor Amy Robach, who discovered she had cancer after an on-air mammogram.

Cast members from Alan Bennett's The History Boys are being lined up for the film adaptation of Bennett's The Lady in the Van, starring Dame Maggie Smith ( Downton Abbey ), according to a Playbill item. Tony winner Nicholas Hytner—who directed The History Boys and The Lady In The Van on stage —will direct the film adaptation of the memoir by Tony winner Bennett, which is based on the playwright's experiences with Miss Shepherd, a vagrant who parked her old van in his driveway and stayed for 15 years. Also slated for the film adaptation are Dominic Cooper, Samuel Anderson, James Corden, Samuel Barnett, Jamie Parker, Russell Tovey, Jim Broadbent and Gwen Taylor.

Iconic model Kate Moss celebrated her 25 years in the fashion industry with an intimate party at posh London restaurant 34, Page Six noted. However, in lieu of ordinary champagne flutes, revelers sipped bubbly from glasses molded from Moss' left breast. British artist Jane McAdam Freud designed the glasses, which were inspired by Marie Antoinette.

Striking Shahs of Sunset editors have called an end to the protest after reaching a deal, according to The Wrap. "The crew of 'Shahs of Sunset' voted unanimously to ratify a union agreement, ending the month-long strike," the Motion Pictures Editors Guild announced on its official Facebook page. The deal arrives after the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the union representing striking editors on the Bravo production, filed charges against the cable network with the National Labor Relations Board.

Former teen singing sensation Debbie Gibson recently talked with People magazine about her situation regarding Lyme disease. Gibson said she's seen marked improvements in her health since being diagnosed last year; at one point, she couldn't lift her head but now she goes to yoga and is "on zero medications and two supplements." She also prefers people to say she's "overcoming" the disease instead of "battling" it. Gibson will be inducted into the Long Island Hall of Fame alongside Clive Davis and Patti LuPone on Oct. 23.


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