For its 25th season, the MTV program The Real World is embarking on another first—having a gay-porn star in the cast. According to Queerty.com, Dustin Zito, 24—who is featured in the gay-for-pay website Fratmen as "Spencer"—will be joining several other people in the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas for the reality-TV series. Bunim/Murray Productions, which is behind The Real World, reportedly knew about his porn activities but asked that most of Fratmen's Zito-related material be deleted before "World" starts airing.
Kristen Hall, a lesbian singer-songwriter who co-founded the country-music act Sugarland, has settled with former bandmates Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles after suing for profits Hall felt she was owed, according to a New York Times item. Hall, who founded Sugarland with Bush eight years ago, wanted more than one-third of the act's profits; Bush and Nettles claimed there was no profit-sharing agreement with Hall.
Publicist Ronni Chasen, who worked on movies such as Driving Miss Daisy and helped launch the gay TV network here!, was found dead in her car in the early-morning hours of Nov. 16 in Beverly Hills, Calif., after being shot five times, according to Advocate.com . Paul Colichman, CEO of Here Media, said, "Throughout her distinguished career, Ms. Chasen dedicated herself to advancing LGBT visibility through media." Earlier that evening, Chasen had attended the Los Angeles premiere of the Cher/Christina Aguilera film Burlesque.
Elton John is obviously known for his singing but will take on a much different role Wed., Dec. 1, when he will be guest editor of the British publication The Independent, according to NME.com . John will be heading a special World AIDS Day issue, and profits from that day's purchases will go to the Elton John AIDS Foundation. He said, "I'm really looking forward to spending a day in the editor's chair, and I'm pleased to get the chance to put the subject of AIDS at the top of the editorial agenda."
Glee star Lea Michele, 24, will received the Triple Threat Award at the 2010 Billboard Women in Music Event Thursday, Dec. 2, in New York, according to Billboard.com . Michele said, "At work we have a nickname for Matt Morrison [ who plays the glee-club teacher ] —we call him 'Triple Threat,' because he's an incredible singer-dancer-actor. And now I get to borrow that phrase, which is really cool." Others being honored at the event include singers Jazmine Sullivan ( Rising Star Award ) and Fergie ( Woman of the Year ) .
Lesbian actress Jane Lynch, who also stars on Glee ( as acerbic Cheerios coach Sue Sylvester ) , received the Rand Schrader Distinguished Achievement Award from the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center at its 39th annual gala fundraiser Nov. 13, Examiner.com reported. Co-star Matthew Morrison and openly gay creator/writer/director Ryan Murphy presented the award to Lynch. Kathy Griffin and Lily Tomlin also attended the event.
Singer Pink confirmed her pregnancy on The Ellen DeGeneres Show Nov. 17, saying, "I'm eating for two these days," Billboard.com reported. She added that the pregnancy is not a mistake: "I worked for it. It was not an 'oops'!" Pink, who has been married to motocross racer Corey Hart since 2006, said that she didn't initially confirm the pregnancy rumors because "I didn't want to talk about it because I was just really nervous and I have had a miscarriage before."
Speaking of DeGeneres, her wife, Portia DeGeneres, has generated criticism for refusing to speak with male journalists while promoting her memoir, Unbearable Lightness, according to Pink News. Portia rejected an interview with David Koch, who hosts the Australian morning show Sunrise—and asked to speak with his co-host, Melissa Doyle. DeGeneres also refused to talk with reporters Andy Lee and Hamish Blake; Lee arranged for her to speak with a female journalist. Koch said, "If a male said I don't want to be interviewed by a woman, there would be a massive outcry of discrimination."
In England, Beyonce's new advertisement promoting her perfume has been banned from daytime TV for being too sexy, according to UKPA. In the ad, the superstar singer lies around naked, dances seductively and touches her breast—leading the Advertising Standards Authority to rule that the segment is too "sexually provocative" to be viewed before 7:30 p.m. The authority had received 14 complaints about Beyonce's ad.
Adam Lambert will release his "Acoustic Live!" EP—a five-song set—Monday, Dec. 6, according to Billboard.com . The EP will feature unplugged versions of "Soaked," "Aftermath," "Whataya Want From Me" and "Music Again," as well as an acoustic cover of Tears for Fears' "Mad World," which he performed on American Idol. Lambert's first CD, For Your Entertainment, has sold more than 750,000 copies.
Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria Parker has filed for divorce from her husband of three years, pro basketball star Tony Parker, according to People.com . Divorce papers ( citing "irreconcilable differences" ) were filed one day after her rep denied that Parker had filed his papers in a Texas court. The twosome married July 2007 at Chateau of Vaux le Vicomte, a 17th-century castle on the outskirts of Paris.
Oscar-winning director Robert Zemeckis may direct a live-action remake of the classic film The Wizard of Oz, according to TheWrap.com . Warner Bros will be using the original 1939 screenplay, which featured input from almost 20 writers, including Bert Lehr, who played the Cowardly Lion. Warner's plans conflict with Disney, which is developing a movie called The Great and Powerful Oz; regarding Disney's film, director Sam Raimi is hoping to get Robert Downey, Jr., to portray the wizard.
Angelina Jolie has been forced out of Bosnia. According to Newser.com, a film Jolie is directing has caused much controversy because of the theme of inter-ethnic love as well as because of a rumored rape scene. Bosnian rape victims have protested that Jolie's movie reportedly shows a "loving surrender" by women to Serbian rapists during the Bosnian War, which ran from 1992 to 1995; producers deny that the film involves rape. Because of the controversy, Jolie has moved filming to Hungary, adding in a statement, "There has been a great deal of misinformation in the media about my current film project. I am deeply sensitive to the suffering experienced by members of your associations and I would never trivialize what they went through."
U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges has ordered actor Wesley Snipes to surrender to authorities so he can start serving a three-year prison sentence for tax-related infractions, according to the L.A. Times. Snipes, 48—who has starred in such movies as Blade and To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar—was convicted two years ago on three misdemeanor counts of failure to pay his income tax. Snipes had been free on bond since then while appealing.
Kim Zolciak of The Real Housewives of Atlanta has gone from dating another woman to becoming pregnant by her boyfriend, according to People.com . Zolciak, 32, has been dating NFL player Kroy Biermann, 25, for several months. She had previously made headlines for dating female DJ Tracy Young.
Lindsay Lohan has lost her role portraying the title individual in the movie Inferno: A Linda Lovelace Story, a biopic about the former porn queen, according to People.com . The film's producer, Chris Hanley, said, "Lindsay had scheduling issues due to legal obligations and is continuing to focus on getting better in rehabilitation in Palm Springs, and she really had to focus on that in our opinion—and hers." Actress Malin Akerman ( Watchmen ) will replace Lohan.
Actress Anne Hathaway, currently co-starring with Jake Gyllenhaal in the film Love and Other Drugs, said on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon that she has already written herself a part on the TV show Glee, according to AfterElton.com . Hathaway said that he would like to the long-lost lesbian aunt of openly gay character Kurt; she would help him with his sexuality and sing "You Are Not Alone" from the Broadway musical Into the Woods. Earlier this year, Hathaway, who has a gay brother, revealed that her family left the Catholic Church because of its stance on homosexuality.
On Late Night with David Letterman, actor Jim Carrey—who is earning raves playing a real-life gay con man in I Love You, Phillip Morris—indicated to the host that his gay-related questions seemed dated, according to AfterElton.com . Letterman asked such questions as "Do you worry about your image as a heterosexual leading man playing a homosexual?" and "Are homosexuals saying the [ I Love You, Phillip Morris ] part should have gone to a homosexual actor?" At one point, Carrey said, "Boy, we haven't grown at all, have we? We're still children in the schoolyard." Carrey also took time to comically undress Letterman with his eyes.
Yigit Pura, 29, became the first out gay man to win the finale of Top Chef: Just Desserts, nabbing $100,000, according to AfterElton.com . In an interview with AfterElton, he dished on being a sex symbol and the homophobia of fellow contestant Morgan Wilson, who called another male competitor, Zac, a "fairy" ( "You have to realize that making these comments to Zac or to anyone else isn't funny and isn't clever and doesn't prove you to be a bigger man. It's just disgusting and it takes the gay rights movement back about a decade." )
