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

Rapidly rising pop singer Ariana Grande quit Catholicism and joined Madonna-approved Kabbalah after her gay brother, Big Brother's Frankie Grande, was rejected by the Church, according to NewNowNext.com . She told The Telegraph, "When my brother was told that God didn't love him I was like, 'OK, that's not cool.' They were building a Kabbalah centre in Florida so we both checked it out and really had a connection with it." Ariana also said, "[The church] said Spongebob Squarepants is gay and he's a sinner and he should burn in hell. And Harry Potter was a sin. And working women. I was, like, 'Enough!'"

Mark Wahlberg admitted he has a major bro crush on Tom Brady during an interview with Bill Simmons' B.S. Report, US Weekly reported. After discussing the NFL player's team the Patriots, Wahlberg reminisced about what it was like to stare into his "bluer than Daytona Beach" eyes while filming a scene for the movie Ted 2.

Julien's Auctions held its highly anticipated Icons of Rock n' Roll auction event Nov. 7-8, according to a press release. Madonna, Elvis and Michael Jackson memorabilia were among the highlights of the two-day event. Highlights of the Madonna collection included her Desperately Seeking Susan jacket, which for a record $252,000. In addition, John Lennon's spectacles sold for $25,000, James Brown's red sequined cape sold for $43,750 and Prince's original handwritten lyrics for "Erotic City" sold for $44,800.

A decade after their movie debuted in theaters, the cast of Mean Girls ( Lindsay Lohan, Tina Fey, Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried and Lacey Chabert ) reunited once again in a new Entertainment Weekly photo shoot, The Wrap noted. Among the revelations during their discussion were that Fey now regrets not doing a Mean Girls sequel, Lohan wanted to be Regina Georg and singer Mariah Carey loves the film.

Former Disney marketing executive Josh Sabarra has written a tell-all memoir about his sexual exploits with stars such as actor Alan Cumming and Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir, The Daily Mail reported. Sabarra, 39, gushes about his numerous liaisons since losing his virginity at 31 in a new book titled Porn Again: A Memoir. However, Sabarra reserves his wrath for Ricki Lake, who allegedly had him fired when her talk show flopped. The tales are just a fraction of Sabarra's revelations—but many of his Hollywood friends are spared being named.

Actress Rose McGowan ( Jawbreaker; TV's Charmed ) has apologized to the gay community, CNN noted. McGowan recently spoke with filmmaker Bret Easton Ellis on his podcast about sexism and misogyny, and the topic turned to her frustration with what she sees as a lack of support from the gay community for women's rights, saying, "[G]ays are as misogynistic [as straight men], if not more so. ... I have an indictment of the gay community right now; I'm actually really upset with them." After getting backlash on social media, McGowan apologized for making "a dumb generalization," but added, "Gay men certainly aren't MORE misogynistic than heteros, but I've met some that have come damn close."

The Cartoon Network almost aired the first lip-locked kiss on a child-oriented cartoon series between two men—but it was changed to a quick peck on the cheek, according to AJC.com . The new animated show Clarence was supposed to feature two animated characters kissing on the lips. However, writer Spencer Rothbell on Twitter confirmed that it was reduced to a more innocuous cheek kiss. ( His tweets were later made private. ) Clarence—which debuted in the spring—featured the titular boy who is optimistic about everything, and his two best friends Jeff and Sumo.

On Nov. 30 on PBS, Downton Abbey Rediscovered will show some of the best-loved moments from the first four seasons and a sneak peek at the fifth one, according to a press release. The program also includes a mix of behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with producers and cast members and video clips of favorite scenes. The fifth season will premiere Jan. 4, 2015, on PBS.

Downton Abbey has been given a sixth season on PBS's "Masterpiece," The Wrap reported. Season five completed its UK run Nov. 9, and premieres on PBS Sunday, Jan. 4, 2015. The British period drama is written and created by Julian Fellowes, with Fellowes, Gareth Neame, Liz Trubridge and Nigel Marchant as executive producers.

The AIDS Community Research Initiative of America ( ACRIA ) will honor longtime AIDS activist, writer and filmmaker Larry Kramer and world-renowned photographer Bruce Weber at its annual holiday dinner Dec. 10 in New York City, according to a press release. The event brings together hundreds of friends and supporters as well as leaders from fashion, art, media and design to support ACRIA's HIV research and education programs. Alessandra Ambrosio, Joel Grey, Kim Kardashian West and Tony Kushner are the honorary chairs of the event.

As its first original commission, Discovery Life Channel commenced production on the docuseries Those Girls, according to a press release. Those Girls is a documentary series that looks at a group of transgender friends living in Kansas City, Missouri, and will premiere on Discovery Life Channel in March 2015. The series follows four pairs couples and friends: best friends Kassidy and Chloe; couple Tanya and Jaime; married couple Macy and Sharon, facing relationship hurdles since Macy's recent transition; and Robyn and Andrew, previously best friends before Robyn's transition and are now romantically involved.

Glamour magazine has named Good Morning America's Robin Roberts and transgender actress Laverne Cox ( Orange Is the New Black ) among its women of the year, according to a press release. In the December issue of the magazine, Cox talks about several topics. For example, on her decision to transition, she said, "It was a very painful process. I had a nervous breakdown. My career was going nowhere; I shaved off my Beyoncé-circa-Destiny's Child long hair, bought boys' clothes, and tried to be 'normal.' I was so unhappy and thought, I either have to transition or I have to kill myself." Roberts came out last December in a Facebook post, thanking her longtime partner, Amber Laign, for her support. Glamour's 24th annual Women of the Year Awards took place in New York City Nov. 10. The Glamour article is at http://glmr.me/1xeQXKK.

The late Queen legend Freddie Mercury reportedly stormed out of recording studio nearly 30 years ago—after Michael Jackson brought along Bubbles the chimp, Page Six reported. They were supposed to cut "There Must Be More To Life Than This," but Mercury reportedly couldn't handle The King of Pop's attachment to his primate pal. "'I'm not performing with a f—king chimp sitting next to me each night,'" Mercury exploded, veteran show business journalist David Wigg will write in a book.

Singer Rihanna will host her first Diamond Ball Dec. 11 to benefit her foundation that promotes education and arts globally, Page Six noted. She will hold the black-tie event at The Vineyard in Beverly Hills, California. The Barbadian-born singer founded the Clara Lionel Foundation in 2012, named after her grandparents, Clara and Lionel Braithwaite.

Columbia Records announced the Beyoncé Platinum Edition Box Set—a two-CD/two-DVD limited-edition package set to release Nov. 24, E! Online reported. This will include two new songs, "7/11" and "Ring Off," plus four new and unreleased remixes of Bey with some superstar collaborators like Kanye West, Nicki Minaj and Pharrell Williams. The Beyoncé Platinum Edition Box Set also includes her original self-titled visual album ( which was released last December ), featuring 14 songs and 17 music videos, as well as a live performance DVD that chronicles her year-long Mrs. Carter Show World Tour.

HBO has confirmed the new seasons of Girls, Togetherness and the gay drama Looking will all begin Jan. 11, according to a press release. Girls returns for its 10-episode fourth season, and the show stars Lena Dunham, Jemima Kirke, Allison Williams, Zosia Mamet, Adam Driver and Andrew Rannells. Togetherness ( in its eight-episode debut season ) follows two couples living under one roof on the fringes of Los Angeles, while Looking ( with a 10-episode second season ) revolves around three friends in San Francisco who explore the varied options available to a new generation of gay men; Jonathan Groff, Frankie J. Alvarez and Murray Bartlett star.

The Marin County ( Calif. ) Sheriff's Office of Investigations and Coroner Divisions has ruled the late comic/actor Robin Williams' death in August was a suicide, resulting from asphyxia due to hanging, according to Extra TV. The report also said no alcohol or illegal drugs were found in his body, and the actor had taken prescription medications but in "therapeutic concentrations." Williams' wife, Susan Schneider, has said that at the time of his death, the comedian was struggling with depression, anxiety and a recent Parkinson's diagnosis.

To find what the catchiest song is, musicologists at the University of Amsterdam recently collected data from 12,000 participants who listened to a random selection from 1,000 hit singles in the United Kingdom dating back to the 1940s, Newser reported. While it took most participants an average of 5 seconds to identify a song, the 17 most popular were all detectable in less than three seconds, with the top song—1996 hit "Wannabe," by the Spice Girls—averaging just 2.29 seconds. Some of the other songs in the top 10 were Lou Bega's "Mambo No. 5," Lady Gaga's "Just Dance," The Human League's "Don't You Want Me" and Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You."

Eighties UK band Spandau Ballet ( known for the song "True" ) revealed the reformation of pop rivals Duran Duran helped prompt its own comeback, according to News.com .au. "It did spur me on," singer-songwriter Gary Kemp said. "I was at the Duran comeback gig with my wife and I was sitting there miserable. At that time Spandau weren't even talking. We needed closure on it. It had been hell for so long."

Oscar winner Jared Leto is possibly circling a key role in David Ayer's Suicide Squad that could prove to be The Joker, according to The Wrap. Tom Hardy, Will Smith and Margot Robbie ( The Wolf of Wall Street ) are in various stages of discussions to star in Suicide Squad. Suicide Squad finds the government granting a group of supervillains a shot at redemption by sending them on a mission that will likely kill them all.

Step Up 5's Briana Evigan and Hannah Montana's Emily Osment are gearing up for Love Is All You Need?, an indie drama with a twist inspired by the challenges faced by LGBT youth, Deadline reported. Directed by Kim Rocco Shields and co-written by Shields and David Tillman, the provocative drama is set in a world where being gay is the norm and heterosexual persons are bullied and is based on Shields' controversial award-winning 2011 short film of the same name. Evigan will star as a female star college quarterback named Jude who strikes up a forbidden romance with a male journalist. The film will also star Suburgatory's Jeremy Sisto and Devious Maids' Ana Ortiz.

Singer Nick Jonas launched a new campaign in support of Musicians on Call, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing live and recorded music to hospital patients to lift their spirits, according to a press release. Any fan who donates to the cause via Prizeo.com/Nick will be entered to win a trip for two to NYC for Jingle Ball, meet Jonas at Madison Square Garden backstage at his dressing room, walk him to the stage for his performance, watch his set from a VIP viewing platform and watch the rest of the show from VIP seats.

Brian Atwood had his fall 2014 shoe collection captured by the Andy Warhol of Instagram, Donald Robertson, Page Six. The artist—whose pictures of his colorful brush strokes on the photo-sharing site have attracted more than 100,000 followers—sketched Atwood's entire line for a limited edition book sold on gavelandgrand.com . All the proceeds will support the National MS Society.

Pregnant Blake Lively and Martha Stewart reunited at Stewart's American Made event in NYC on Nov. 8, US Weekly noted. Despite Stewart's past subtle jabs at the mom-to-be's new lifestyle site Preserve, the women hit it off during their panel, with Stewart introducing Lively as her "friend and neighbor." Stewart also offered to make goods for Preserve during the conversation at Stewart's American Made summit, Page Six added.

Out gay pro wrestler Darren Young ( real name: Fred Rosser ) has stated that he wished he'd come out sooner, according to Queerty.com . In a Huffington Post article, he writes, "Looking back on my life since coming out a year ago only makes me wish I'd had the strength to come out sooner. It was the final step on the journey to self-acceptance, and I'm glad I can say now that I truly love myself." He added, "[T]he best first step you can take is coming out to those who are closest to you. The most painful experience was hiding my true self from those I loved."

Omaze has launched a new experience with couple Dustin Lance Black and Tom Daley that runs through Dec. 12, a press release stated. By heading over to Omaze.com/London, people can enter $10 to go on a double date with the couple in London. Funds raised will be evenly split between The Brain Tumour Charity ( Daley ) and The Human Rights Campaign ( Black ).

Matt Damon will once again play Jason Bourne in a sequel set to hit theaters in 2016, The Wrap reported. Damon said just that last May while discussing being "open" to once again playing the rogue government spy author Robert Ludlum created. Jeremy Renner took over the franchise reigns as superspy Aaron Cross in 2012's Bourne Legacy—and Universal is also developing a sequel for that one.

An advertisement for Bravo's new series Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce has been banned from city buses and subways in Los Angeles and New York because it was considered "inappropriate," The Wrap reported. The print ad features the show's lead actress, Lisa Edelstein, holding up her ring finger—as she might her middle finger—with the tag line, "Go Find Yourself." So far, Bravo has declined to change the artwork.

Former pro football player Deion Sanders backed off controversial comments he made about gay people—to an extent, according to Outsports. In a talk with Larry King, Sanders said homosexuality is a choice that everyone would choose, and the reason it must be a choice is because his God doesn't make mistakes. However, in a brief Twitter conversation with Outsports' Cyd Ziegler, Sanders posted, "@CydZeigler u right I'm wrong I apologize. #Truth." Later, though, Sanders got involved in another Twitter tussle with someone else after posting, "I don't condone liars,theives,laziness,manipulators & anything that don't glorify God but I don't CONDEMN any1. I love as God loves. #Truth."

Nicki Minaj is being criticized for reporting flouting Nazi-themed imagery in her new video, according to The New York Daily News. The lyric video for the single "Only"r shows the rapper as a fascist-looking figure presiding before an army of soldiers wearing red arm bands. In addition, the logo for her record label, Young Money, appears on large red-and-black banners, looking very much like swastika flags. The Anti-Defamation League said in a statement that it was "deeply disturbed by the unadulterated Nazi imagery."