Maroon 5 lead singer and The Voice judge Adam Levine has signed Glee star Matthew Morrison to his label, 222 Records, Digital Spy reported. Morrison is the first act on the label, where he will release his second solo CD. "I am excited to be working on my next album with such an incredible singer, writer and producer as Adam Levine," said Morrison in a statement. Last year, Morrison released his debut, which included duets with Sir Elton John, Gwyneth Paltrow and Sting.
Singer Kylie Minogue has retaliated against an online stalker, according to the Herald Sun. She tweeted, "I love 1,033,861 of you LOVERS, but 1 is not a lover, just a deluded weirdo making threat #andthat doesnotmakeyouspecial SO..police alerted." More than 300 followers then re-tweeted Minogue's message, saying things such as "We're going to catch him/her" and "Leave Kylie alone."
Alumni of the 24-year Broadway run of The Phantom of the Opera were among those attending the history-making 10,000th Broadway performance of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Feb. 11 at the Majestic Theatre, according to Playbill.com . Phantom, which won the 1988 Tony Award as Best Musical, became the longest-running show in Broadway history Jan. 9, 2006, with its 7,486th performance ( surpassing the previous record-holder, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats. The Feb. 11 curtain call featured the entire cast, including stars Hugh Panaro ( The Phantom ) , Trista Moldovan ( Christine ) and Kyle Barisich ( Raoul ) .
Diana Ross was among those receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys, according to SingersRoom.com . Ross has received 12 Grammy nods, and has had three recordings inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. This year's other recipients included Gil Scott-Heron, Glen Campbell and the Allman Brothers Band, among others. Among previous honorees are Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles, Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin.
Lady Gaga has admitted to having been bulimic, according to Styleite.com . Speaking at the "It's Our Turn" conference at Brentwood School ( an event that also included Maria Shriver and Mary J. Blige ) , Gaga talked about bulimia and bullying she endured as a high school student. She said, "I used to throw up all the time in high school. ... I wanted to be a skinny little ballerina but I was a voluptuous little Italian girl whose dad had meatballs on the table every night. ... I'm gonna say this about girls: The dieting wars have got to stop. Everyone just knock it off."
Singer-turned-designer Victoria Beckham has reportedly been asked to create dresses for some of the biggest stars walking this year's Oscar red carpet, Styleite.com reported. Posh Spice has had requests for dresses for actresses such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Charlize Theron and Cameron Diaz. However, a spokesman said, "Our team is so small we don't have the opportunity to custom make dresses like the bigger fashion houses. ... It's really a waiting game and we won't know until the night if any of our dresses will be worn." The Academy Awards will take place Feb. 26.
Out singer Adam Lambert said that the recent federal court ruling against Prop 8 made him feel better, according to On Top Magazine. On Feb. 7, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's ruling declaring Prop 8 unconstitutional. Lambert tweeted, "Yes I'm feeling much better. A 24 hr bug … brutal. I'm thrilled about prop 8 being ruled unconstitutional!! Best medicine ever!! #equality."
Wrestling legend Hulk Hogan responded to rumors regarding his sexuality while he co-hosted The Wendy Williams Show, the Huffington Post reported. Hogan ex-wife, Linda, has alleged that he had an affair with fellow wrestler Brutus Beefcake. Hogan ( real name: Terry Bollea ) told Williams, "Just to say something spiteful and hurtful, I don't get it. ... If it was true and I was gay, I'd embrace it, and I'd tell you guys about it and I'd celebrate it."
Khloe Kardashian has filed a response to a lawsuit from transgender woman Chantal Spears, according to Reality Rewind. Kardashian filed the reply in L.A. County Superior Court, claiming Spears deserved what she got because she provoked the reality-TV star into getting physical. Spears alleged in a suit filed in December that Kardashian caused major njuries after an altercation outside Playhouse nightclub in 2009. Kardashian is claiming self-defense.
Millionaire Matchmaker Patti Stanger has generated controversy with another provocative comment regarding gay men, according to TheGloss.com . At the Heart Truth Red Dress Fashion Show, Stanger was asked what gay men she'd like to fix up—and she mentioned fashion designers Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs. She said, "Is Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs a fit? 'Cause they both have those muscles and ripped bodies. And they both look straight. I'd date 'em. They're both gorgeous. And I didn't mean that as a generalization, and don't you gay people get all snippy with me. I meant that as a compliment!"
Fox pundit Bill O'Reilly has come to Ellen DeGeneres' defense regarding the backlash in her deal with J.C. Penney, ABC News reported. The conservative group One Million Moms called for a boycott of the retailer hiring DeGeneres as a spokeswoman because she's a lesbian. "This JCPenney thing is a witchhunt and shouldn't happen," O'Reilly recently said on his show, comparing One Million Moms' boycott to the McCarthy era's hunt for pro-Communist individuals.
Tom Cruise's son, 17-year-old Connor, is under fire for an anti-gay tweet, according to Instinct Magazine. After the teen DJ's former publicist, Todd Krim, sent a post-Super Bowl tweet to the New England Patriots fan that read, "Sorry @theConnorCruise maybe next year!!!," Connor responded, "That was a gay ass [ bleeping ] tweet ... U don't say [ bleep ] like that about my team the second they lose. Low." Connor later posted, "What I texted was unacceptable. It is not a reflection of who I am and what I feel, and it certainly won't happen again."
Speaking of Glee, co-star Lea Michele ( who plays Rachel Berry ) may be in the big-screen adaptation of the Broadway show Spring Awakening, according to Digital Spy. Director McG said that he's talking with Michele to play Wendia; Michele had that role on Broadway from 2006 to 2008.
M.I.A.—recently in the news for displaying her middle finger during Madonna's Super Bowl halftime show—has some unique requirements in her rider, according to Digital Spy. The "Paper Planes" rapper has requested cheese, nuts and a bottle of absinthe at each location. She also wants dancers who need to have "stage presence and groove to the music on stage for the full duration of the show wearing full covered burkas."
Two-time Oscar nominee Helena Bonham Carter will play Madame Thenardier in the movie version of the pop musical Les Miserables, Playbill.com reported. Carter will join a cast that includes Hugh Jackman ( as Jean Valjean ) , Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried and Eddie Redmayne. Filming of the movie, which Tom Hooper ( The King's Speech ) will direct, begins next month.
The Oprah Winfrey Network's The Rosie Show, shot in Chicago, is retooling its show yet again, according to the Chicago Tribune. The show cut approximately 30 employees and contract workers recently. However, it has now eliminated its audience section completely after moving from a 260-seat studio to one that has 70 seats. "I loved doing the other show with the audience but, truthfully, I'm 49 years old," O'Donnell said. "It doesn't feel real for who I am today. I don't want to perform or present. ... I just want to talk."
Robert Dewey Hoskins, a stalker who had targeted A-list stars Halle Berry and Madonna, was caught after escaping from an L.A.-area mental facility, according to ABC News. Hoskins was convicted of threatening to kill Madonna in 1996; a member of her security detail shot Hoskins after he jumped the fence of her Hollywood Hills home. This year, the 54-year-old Hoskins—described as "highly psychotic"—had been stalking Berry.
Speaking of Madonna, she is not happy with rapper M.I.A. flipping her middle finger during the Material Girl's Super Bowl halftime show, ABC News reported. Speaking on the radio show On Air with Ryan Seacrest, Madonna said, "I was really surprised. I wasn't happy about it. ... It's such a teenager … irrelevant thing to do … there was such a feeling of love and unity there what was the point? It was just out of place." The rapper's stunt could cost her and/or NBC as much as $650,000.
Openly gay actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson ( half of the gay couple on TV's Modern Family ) performed at the Family Equality Council's 2012 Los Angeles Awards Dinner Feb. 11 at Universal Studios' Globe Theatre in L.A., according to Playbill.com . The event honored children's book author Todd Parr; Chad Griffin, co-founder and board president of the American Foundation for Equal Rights ( which is behind the legal case against Prop 8 ) ; and former Congressman Patrick Murphy. Director Rob Reiner and Eric Stonestreet ( the other half of the Modern Family couple ) were among the awards presenters.
Celebrities immediately reacted to the news of Whitney Houston's death. According to CNN.com, singer Gloria Estefan tweeted, "Shocked we've lost the immensely talented Whitney Houston! Sending prayers of peace & solace 2 her family, friends & fans! Such a loss!" Barbra Streisand said in a statement, "She had everything—beauty, a magnificent voice. How sad her gifts could not bring her the same happiness they brought us."
Oscar-winning actress Marisa Tomei ( My Cousin Vinny ) is being sued over a leak in her New York City apartment that damaged the condos of three neighbors, including film director John Waters ( Hairspray; Pink Flamingos ) , according to the New York Daily News. Three insurance companies claim that Tomei's "negligence" led to more than $128,000 worth of damage from her 11th-floor residence.
Rufus Wainwright's debut opus, "Prima Donna," will make its U.S. debut Feb. 19 for the New York City Opera at the Brooklyn Academy of Music for four shows, according to the New York Post. Wainwright has recorded 10 pop albums, including the upcoming Out of the Game. However, he said that he's loved opera since childhood, saying that after he heard Verdi's Requiem ( which Wainwright described as "operatic ) , "At the end I was completely hooked, and I was transformed into a 75-year-old opera queen."
Frameline, the nation's only non-profit organization solely dedicated to the funding, exhibition, distribution and promotion of LGBT media arts, has announced the recipients of its annual Frameline Completion Fund, according to a press release. The organization awarded a total of $25,000 to seven works in the final stages of production, including the documentary George Takei: Terrestrial Helmsman and the movie The New Black, about homophobia in the Black church.
The Artist's Jean Dujardin won the British Academy Film Award ( BAFTA ) for Best Actor Feb. 12, according to Deadline.com . This latest win—along with Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe awards—gives him momentum over George Clooney to win the Oscar in the same category Feb. 26. Meryl Streep won the BAFTA for Best Actress for portraying Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, making that race an interesting one with The Help's Viola Davis. Christopher Plummer ( playing a gay widower in Beginners ) and Octavia Spencer ( The Help ) added to their caches of awards by winning in the supporting categories.
Bluewater's "Female Force: Cher" comic book is available in comic book stores as well as on Amazon, according to a press release. The 32-page comic book biography is written by Marc Shapiro and drawn by Zach Basset, with a cover by DC Comics artist Joe Phillips. The "Female Force" comic series has featured Madonna, Britney Spears and Ellen DeGeneres, among others.
Matt Bomer—the star of the USA series White Collar—officially came out of the closet, US Magazine reported. Bomer, 34, did so at the Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards Feb. 11, where he was honored with the New Generation Arts and Activism Award for his work in the fight against HIV/AIDS. "I'd really especially like to thank my beautiful family: Simon, Kit, Walker, Henry," Bomer told the crowd. Bomer's partner is publicist Simon Halls, who also represents Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy and actor Neil Patrick Harris.
Oprah Winfrey has apologized after she urged fans—and Nielsen households, especially—to watch her show, Oprah's Next Chapter, instead of the Grammys Feb. 12, according to MyFoxDC.com . She had tweeted, "Every 1 who can please turn to OWN especially if u have a Nielsen box." Most people responded negatively, characterizing Winfrey as "desperate," among other things. She apologized Feb. 13, saying, "I removed the tweet at the request of Nielsen. I intended no harm and apologize for the reference."
British singer Adele said she plans to take a five-year sabbatical from music to improve her personal life, according to Digital Spy. She told Vogue, "I am f**king off for four or five years. If I am constantly working, my relationships fail. So at least now I can have enough time to write a happy record. And be in love and be happy." She also described her Grammy performance as a "really peaceful" return to music.
Legendary singer Dionne Warwick canceled a concert to mourn cousin Whitney Houston's death, Digital Spy wrote. The singer was to perform a special Valentine's Day show in Greensburg, Penn., at The Palace Theater, but she backed out of the gig. Also, Houston's ex-husband Bobby Brown pulled out of concert dates with the group New Edition to comfort their daughter, Bobbi Kristina.
Lance Bass will join George Kotsiopoulos of The Fashion Police to host the second annual "Hollywood Rush" at the Wilshire Ebell Theater Feb. 19, according to a press release. Joining the cast of actors are 90210 actors Trevor Donovan ( who portrayed Teddy, a gay student ) and Gillian Zinser. Proceeds benefit the The Baby Dragon Fund, which supports the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's programs for youth, mental health and crystal meth recovery/prevention.
Actress/producer Fran Drescher will officiate the marriages of three same-sex couples in New York City in support of her "'Love Is Love' Gay Marriage Contest" and to kick off the second season of her TV Land series Happily Divorced, which premieres March 7, according to a press release. The online contest, on the show's Facebook page, will end Feb. 20. Drescher received her minister license in order to perform these special ceremonies.
