Johnny Chisholm, founder and producer of the famous One Mighty Weekend events at The Walt Disney World Resort Orlando, will be bringing the party to Europe. On June 29 and 30, The Disneyland Resort Paris will be the site for One Mighty Party Paris, the first of four such annual events in Europe; Gloria Gaynor will headline. Tickets will go on sale Feb. 1; see www.onemightyweekendparis.com .
Former Survivor: Cook Islands castaway J.P. Calderon has come out. He outed himself on a recent episode of the Oxygen Network's The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency as he did a cover shoot for Instinct magazine. Of the self-described world's first supermodel, Calderon exclusively told the magazine, 'We started a little bit butting heads, but I love Janice Dickinson. I want everyone to know, she is the coolest person in the world.'
Almost lost in the hubbub about the Oscars is that Melissa Etheridge has received an Academy Award nod. She has been nominated for best song for I Need to Wake Up, from the best documentary nominee An Inconvenient Truth. The Oscar winners will be announced on Feb. 25.
The Jan. 29 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show featured a gay family trained by Family Pride. The episode, titled 'Extraordinary Families,' showcased, among others, the Sutherland-Trevino family from San Antonio, Texas; the family is part of Family Pride's OUTSpoken Families program.
Anne Heche and her husband, Coley Laffoon, are separating after five years of marriage. Heche and Laffoon, a motion picture cameraman, were married in September 2001 after meeting while he was working on a documentary about Ellen DeGeneres, Heche's former lover. Reportedly, Heche has left Laffoon for James Tupper, her co-star on their TV show Men in Trees.
OurChart.com, a site founded by The L Word creator Ilene Chaiken, has signed writer and director Angela Robinson ( of DEBS and Herbie Fully Loaded ) to create the site's first original series, GirlTrash, according to an OurChart.com press release. GirlTrash follows the story of five tough girls getting by any way they can; the cast includes Jordana Brewster and comedian Margaret Cho.
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation ( GLAAD ) President Neil G. Giuliano has criticized CNN host Glenn Beck for his on-air use of an anti-gay slur during his Jan. 22 program, according to a GLAAD release. 'Beck's obnoxious repetition of the slur—and his flip dismissal of it as simply a 'naughty name'—speaks volumes about his appalling ignorance of its impact,' Giuliano said.
Donald Trump's ex, Ivana, has added her voice to the whole Rosie O'Donnell–Donald Trump feud. Ivana told the AP that her advice for the warring twosome was ''You know, guys, just take the high road. It is so ridiculous.'' She also told the AP 'Donald and Rosie, they're getting fantastic ratings, they're getting publicity [ and ] they're really using it as a marketing tool, not because they are enemies, and I understand that only too well.'
Writer-director-producer Del Shores has partnered with Funny Boy Films to transform his award-winning stage production of Southern Baptist Sissies to the big screen, according to a press release. Sissies is a dramatic portrayal of four boys' experiences growing up gay in the Baptist Church; Emmy Award winner Leslie Jordan and Delta Burke, both of whom have toured with the production, will star in the film.
Dreamgirls is headed back to the stage, according to the New York Post. A Broadway revival is in the planning stage, and some theater sources suspect that Oscar nominee Jennifer Hudson will be asked to play Effie on the stage. The original production of Dreamgirls opened in 1981 to rave reviews.
