THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Let's talk about the big news of the week: Bradley Cooper's face. It was almost enough to make his old "mentor," James Lipton weep … if he weren't dead. Cooper walked the red carpet at the SAG Awards last week and it caused Ukraine-level chatter. Here's what one reporter said: "Showing almost no wrinkles on his beautiful baby-smooth mug, the 47-year-old left everyone wondering what—if anything—has he done to his face?" Lots of things go into looking good. I have a friend who sees someone who's had a good night's sleep and is well-lit, and proclaims that person has had reconstructive surgery. Admittedly, Bradley appeared remarkably refreshed (but not anywhere near wrinkle-free—look around the eyes). But you know what nobody mentioned? How much wider his face was. Comparing now-and-then photos are staggering. And you know what fills in wrinkles best? Extra weight. Yes, you heard me—fat is God's natural filler! One plastic surgeon said it in a nicer way: "His muscles seem to be a lot more relaxed." Oh, my muscles are more relaxed than Sunny von Bulow's!

If it's true that there's no such thing as bad publicity, then Todrick Hall had a fabulous week! The fallout from his Celebrity Big Brother debacle continues. He's doing a delicate balance of blocking all comments on social media while also trying to sell tickets for a national tour. Many old stories about his previous bad behavior have cropped up—non-payment of collaborators, mistreatment of employees, etc. The most heinous story—and one I never heard before—dates back to 2017. Tod was working with adult film star Tommy Italiano on the Zen Blonde podcast. Apparently, this Italiano guy was also Todrick's assistant. They had a tiff, and Todrick allegedly said the following: "If you say anything about me, I'm going to go on my YouTube channel and I'm going to say that you have HIV and that you have unprotected sex with people and you don't tell them and I'm going to destroy your reputation. I'm going to destroy your career, and this will be the last time you ever work again." Talk about #MeToo! To his credit, Todrick never made good on that threat. But, according to Tommy, Todrick called Italiano's mother and revealed her son was HIV-positive. And people think Ellen's mean!

One of my proofreaders was positively giddy when he told me that Colton Underwood got engaged. "So does that mean he literally got engaged to the first guy he ever dated … less than a year after coming out?" asked my well-treated employee. I responded, "Well, that depends how you define 'first.'" Yes, in less than a year, Colton came out to his family, to the world and to a couple dozen viewers on Netflix. He also admitted that his type is a "daddy"—which fiance Jordan C. Brown certainly is. Yeah, this'll last...

Our "Ask Billy" question comes from Roger in San Francisco: "What do you know about the leaked nude photos of Daniel Newman? If anyone can track them down, it's you."

It's amazing to me the amount of chatter a glorified extra on The Walking Dead can cause. Blame it on the internet (or, if you're a bit older, the bossa nova). If Daniel Newman worked as much as he tweeted—well, people other than my fans would know who he is! Instead, he's logged more minutes on social media than on any actual network. With the same handful of racy photos (usually covered by his hand), Newman has deluged his fans with promises of skin shots if they pay for his OnlyFans page—which has the same handful of shots. He recently posted the following: "Ummmm..about that Nude photo of me that got leaked across the internet yesterday (with no one warning me) can all of you please DM it back to me so I can destroy the copies? LOL wow... Well now I guess you know WAY more about me than even my parents omg LMAO**." Let me explain what he's doing. This is a not-so-clever way to get more followers and email addresses. There are two nudes—from the front and the back—which have questionable veracity. The rest are just teases. And they can all be found on BillyMasters.com .

When someone other than me is teasing, it's definitely time to end yet another column. You know where I don't tease? On—the site that is a sure thing. This week, I head back to blustery Boston. So if you'd like to warm me up, drop a note to Billy@BillyMasters.com, and I promise to get back to you before Bradley Cooper writes a book—Eat Your Way to Smoother Skin! So, until next time, remember: One man's filth is another man's bible.