Actress Kristen Stewart ( Twilight, Eclipse, The Runaways ) has apologized for comparing the experience of being photographed by the paparazzi to being raped, according to EW.com . She made the statement in the British version of Elle magazine. However, she later told People, "I really made an enormous mistake—clearly and obviously,. And I'm really sorry about my choice of words. 'Violated' definitely would have been a better way of expressing the thought." She added, "People thinking that I'm insensitive about this subject rips my guts out. I made a big mistake."
Singer Miley Cyrus is insisting that she did not kiss a girl when she performed on the English show Britain's Got Talent, according to Orange News. Cyrus, 17, was invited to perform her new single, "Can't Be Tamed" in front of show creator Simon Cowell and judge Piers Morgan. Cyrus surprised viewers by singing in a skimpy outfit and supposedly kissing a female dancer. On her official blog, she posted, "promise you I did not kiss her and it is ridiculous that two entertainers can't even rock out with each other without the media making it some type of story. I really hope my fans are not disappointed in me because the truth is I did nothing wrong."
Cheyenne Jackson, Kylie Minogue and Cyndi Lauper were among the celebrities who attended the amfAR Inspiration Gala June 3, which honored fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier and now-out singer Ricky Martin, according to Advocate.com . While accepting the award, Martin spoke about an HIV-positive Cambodian girl he met in 2008 while campaigning against human trafficking: "This award is for her. This award, I'm going to take to Cambodia again. I'm going to give it to her." In his speech, Gaultier said that the condom was the best outfit from the last century. The sold-out gala, which took place in New York City, was the first of three such events; others will be held in Paris and Los Angeles.
Conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh paid Sir Elton John $1 million to perform at his June 5 wedding, according to a TodayShow.com item. Limbaugh, 59, married Kathryn Rogers, 33, in Palm Beach, Fla.; guests at the event included Bush advisor Karl Rove and ex-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. It was the fourth wedding for Limbaugh, an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage.
The 2010 Council of Fashion Designers of America ( CFDA ) Awards took place June 7 at New York City's Lincoln Center, according to MediaBistro.com . The event featured a special tribute to the late out designer Alexander McQueen while gay designer/Project Runway judge Michael Kors received the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award and model/businesswoman Iman got the Fashion Icon Award. Also, Marc Jacobs edged Donna Karan and Alexander Wang ( in the womenswear designer of the year category ) for his ninth CFDA award.
Rosie O'Donnell has taken to her Sirius satellite radio show to defend Helen Thomas, the veteran White House reporter who recently resigned after she made controversial remarks that were publicized on YouTube, according to Advocate.com . Thomas, 89, left her post after saying that Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and go to Poland, Germany or the United States. O'Donnell said, "Now, I think, in the year 2010, what she was saying was not, 'Go back to the ovens.' What she was saying was, the homeland was originally Palestinians' and it's now occupied by Israel, and Palestinians should be afforded human and civil rights."
Legendary actress/gay icon Judy Garland has been immortalized as a wax figure in Madame Tussaud's in Hollywood, Calif., according to Advocate.com . Garland, who died less than a week before the Stonewall riots, would have been 88 years old June 10. She was survived by children Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft and Joey Luft, according to Wikipedia.
Opray Winfrey is developing shows for gay reality-show veterans Cat Cora and Carson Kressley on her OWN network, according to the Hollywood Reporter. In her show, Cora, who has competed on Iron Chef, will visit families who desperately need to alter the way they live. Kressley, who has helmed Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and True Beauty, will helm a makeover show for the network. OWN, a venture involving Winfrey and Discovery Communications, will launch Jan. 1, 2011, in approximately 80 million homes.
Out singer Ricky Martin, 38, will portray Che in the Broadway revival of Evita, according to the New York Times. Evita—whose original run in 1979-83 resulted in seven Tony Awards—is expected to start its run in spring 2012. Argentinian actress Elena Roger will reprise her London performance as Eva Peron.
Speaking of Martin, Angelo Garcia ( who was in the boy band Menudo with the "She Bangs" singer ) has also come out of the closet, according to the New York Times. Garcia, who was in Menudo during the years 1988-90, told TV Notas that Martin, the oldest band member, was the only one to get his own room. "I didn't know if it was because the manager already knew of his sexuality or because he had seniority," Garcia, 34, said. "I thought he was asexual." Garcia continues to perform, and has a nude pictorial upcoming in a gay magazine.
Lady Gaga has many fans—but singer Katy Perry isn't one of them. According to an Advocate.com item, Perry did not like Gaga's "Alejandro" video, which used religious imagery along with sexuality. On Twitter, Perry—who first attained stardom with her song, "I Kissed A Girl'—posted, "Using blasphemy as entertainment is as cheap as a comedian telling a fart joke."
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship competitor and current actor Quinton "Rampage" Jackson wrote on his website that people are making too much of gay-related comments he recently made, according to MMAFighting.com . Jackson, who plays B.A. Baracus in The A-Team movie, wrote, " [ L ] ike most straight guys I joke around with the whole gay thing and I see it as comedy, not saying that's right or wrong but I don't do it out of hate." He also compared the gay-rights movement to the struggle for civil rights and added, "EVERYBODY LIGHTEN THE ( expletive ) UP! LET'S HAVE FUN! THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WE CAN DO RIGHT NOW!"
In an interview with The Advocate, singer Belinda Carlisle said she supports same-sex marriage because her son, James Duke, is gay, according to an On Top Magazine item. Carlisle, 51, said, "My son is gay, and I want the best for him," adding, "I don't understand why gay marriage is such a divisive issue in the first place." She also said that her son's coming-out, at age 15, surprised her and her husband.
Novelist E.M. Forster stopped writing for a period because having sex with another man subdued his creativity, according to a Pink News item. Dickinson College professor Wendy Moffat said that Forster—who wrote Howard's End and A Room with a View—first experienced gay sex at age 38 and felt he could no longer write about middle-class heterosexuals. Maurice was the only one of Forster's works to deal directly with homosexuality. Forster died in 1970 at age 91.
