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

Empire co-creator Lee Daniels had a few choice words for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences after his hit Fox show failed to score a nomination in the Outstanding Drama Series category, TheWrap reported. "F— these motherf—ers," Daniels said in a video posted to his Instagram account. The statement all seemed to be in good fun, however, as Empire star Jussie Smollett laughs through the whole exchange with Daniels in the video. Co-star Taraji P. Henson Henson made history, as she and fellow nominee Viola Davis are the first two African-American women to be nominated in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series category.

Showtime will air "Margaret Cho: Psycho" on Sept. 25, according to a press release. Filmed in March at the Gramercy Theater in New York City, Cho tackles issues ranging from singlehood to Boko Haram to female empowerment.

Thomas Roberts recently became the first openly gay person to anchor an evening newscast on a major broadcast network when he was on NBC Nightly News, NewNowNext.com . Roberts, 42, told the Advocate that it was a "huge honor." His lead story was about Donald Trump's attack on Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee and a former prisoner of war. Roberts pulled out of hosting the Trump-owned Miss USA contest over the candidate's remarks about immigrants.

Actress Viola Davis, songwriter Diane Warren and producer Gale Anne Hurd have been named the 2015 honorees for "Women Making History," an annual event presented by the National Women's History Museum, TheWrap noted. Now in its fourth year, Glamour magazine will present the celebration toasting the trio at a brunch Sept. 19, to be held at Los Angeles' Skirball Center.

Little Rascals and Full House star Blake McIver finds lasting love and expresses his support for marriage equality in the video for his latest tune, "This Is Who We Are," The Huffington Post noted. In keeping with the song's message, the clip concludes with the two men tying the knot amidst a sunny Californian landscape and surrounded by friends and family. McIver, who is openly gay, wrote in a Facebook post that he was inspired by his relationship with his grandfather when he wrote the song.

Online retailer M4D3 has partnered with the True Colors Fund, a press release stated. The True Colors and M4D3 shoe collection will benefit the True Colors Fund, a national organization Lauper co-founded in 2008 to end homelessness among LGBT youth. "Everyone should be accepted and loved for who they are," Lauper said in a statement. "Designing this collection in collaboration with M4D3 has given me an opportunity to support our work at the True Colors Fund through another one of my passions—shoes!" Visit M4D3Shoes.com .

The Kennedy Center announced the six honorees who will receive the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors. According to its website, the recipients will be rock band the Eagles, singer-songwriter Carole King, filmmaker George Lucas, actress and singer Rita Moreno, conductor Seiji Ozawa, and actress and Broadway star Cicely Tyson. They will be honored Dec. 6, with CBS airing the event Dec. 29.

The Netflix series Orange Is the New Black has put out a casting call for its fourth season, according to a Newser item that cites DNAInfo. The ad makes it patently clear what producers want: "ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK SEEKING EXTREMELY SCARY FEMALE INMATES." That's followed by a request for applicants local to the New York City area to send their "scariest look" via email with the subject line "SCARY INMATE."

Supermodel/actress Cara Delevingne has responded to a controversial magazine profile that characterized her bisexuality as a passing phase, The Huffington Post reported. In the July issue of Vogue, she said that "being in love" with her girlfriend Annie Clark, a.k.a. St. Vincent, is "a big part of why I'm feeling so happy with who I am these days." However, she also said, "My sexuality is not a phase. I am who I am."

Judge Ruth Kwan dismissed assault claims from former dancer Paige Hyland against Abby Lee Miller of the show Dance Moms, Deadline reported. In November, Kwan threw out the defamation and emotional distress allegations from the plaintiffps mother, ex-cast member Kelly Hyland.

Athlete Robbie Rogers told The Mirror that should he be called up to the U.S. men's national team for the 2018 World Cup in Russia or the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he wouldn't boycott either tournament in protest of the host nation's homophobia, The Huffington Post noted. "If I were to go to Russia or Qatar then I would do it and I would be extremely flamboyant about it," said Rogers. Rogers became the world's first openly gay pro soccer player in 2013 when he came out in an open letter posted on his blog.

Pro golfer Steve Elkington revealed he was suspended two weeks and fined $10,000 by the PGA last year for a tweet mocking Michael Sam at the 2014 NFL combine: "ESPN reporting Michael Sam is leading the handbag throw at NFL combine....No one else expected to throw today," according to Outsports. In Golf Magazine, a seemingly unrepetant Elkington said, "In the circles I go in, we [joke around on Twitter] all the time with one another. I'm not saying I'm not responsible for my tweets, but a lot of people are tired of all the political correctness."

Carol Burnett—actor, singer, dancer, producer and author—has been named the 52nd recipient of SAG-AFTRA's highest tribute: the SAG Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment, a press release stated. Burnett will be presented the performers union's top accolade at the 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Jan. 30, 2016. Burnett has already garnered multiple Emmys, a special Tony, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and both a Kennedy Center Honor and its Mark Twain Prize for Humor.

Nicolle Wallace is leaving her daily chair at The View, TheWrap noted. The 43-year-old Republican political commentator and former White House staffer under President George W. Bush will not return as a permanent co-host next season. Wallace exits the show just one week after ABC announced that colleague Rosie Perez would also depart.

Singer Sinead O'Connor recently took major exception to the music magazine putting reality star Kim Kardashian on its cover for the mid-late July issue, according to TheWrap. Calling Kanye West's wife a "c-nt," O'Connor decided that "music has officially died" and that Rolling Stone was the one who murdered it. "Bob Dylan must be f—king horrified," she concluded on the newsstand decision, later calling for a boycott of the popular periodical via a hashtag.

The Apple "personal assistant" Siri has been correcting people who misgender Caitlyn Jenner, according to NewNowNext.com . When users as Siri questions about Jenner's age, height, name and gender using her birth name, Siri will correct them without pause and answer their questions using proper pronouns and Caitlyn Jenner's actual name. However, users in the UK especially have noticed that Siri will report Jenner's gender properly, but will sometimes use her birth name to answer questions relating to her age and Olympic medals.

Friday Night Lights creator and former actor Peter Berg took to Instagram to criticize Caitlyn Jenner receiving the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs, according to NewNowNext.com . Berg posted a meme comparing Jenner and an Iraqi war veteran with the caption "Yup." ( He later apologized, saying he has "the utmost respect for" Jenner, Page Six noted. ) In addition, rapper Snoop Dogg faced criticism after posting this particularly cruel photo on his Instagram, where he called Jenner a "science project."

Breitbart senior editor Ben Shapiro has filed a police report claiming battery against transgender journalist Zoey Tur, TheWrap reported. The two engaged in a heated exchange on HLN over whether Caitlyn Jenner deserved to be awarded ESPN's Arthur Ashe Courage Award. After Shapiro repeatedly called Tur, a transgender woman, "sir," Tur threatened him: "You cut that out now, or you'll go home in an ambulance."

In a video posted on Brandy's blog, the former Moesha star serenades her fellow subway riders while wearing a hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses, EW.com reported. "I decided to hit the subway and sing my little heart out," she wrote after singing "Home" ( from The Wiz ) on the train. But she doesn't quite get the response she was looking for: "I just gave that my all," Brandy says jokingly after performing, "and then nobody said nothing."

The woman who stalked Orange Is the New Black co-star Taryn Manning was tossed in jail for another six months after pleading guilty to violating a conditional discharge by texting the actress 30 times last month, Page Six reported. At first, Jeanine Heller balked at admitting she contacted the Netflix star; however, she later admitted, "Yes, I responded to her texts through the 774 number."

Miley Cyrus will host the MTV Video Music Awards on Aug. 30 in Los Angeles, TheWrap noted. "MTV won't let me perform, so I'm hosting this year's VMAs," she shared on Twitter via two photos in which depict her in a neon green alien costume, masked and then unmasked.

Pro wrestler "Money" Matt Cage has come out as gay, E! Online noted. The 26-year-old, best known for his work on the independent circuit, opened up about his sexual orientation in a Facebook post. In part, Cage ( who, before the post, said he was bisexual ) explains that he wanted to make this public statement about his private life to end any and all speculation from the public.

TLC told the Associated Press that its reality hit 19 Kids And Counting will not be returning to the air, Deadline reported. The network pulled the show from the schedule in May, as did Hulu, amid child-molestation charges surrounding now-grown Josh Duggar, who issued a Facebook apology for "my wrongdoing."

Publisher HarperCollins said that Go Set a Watchman, the second novel from To Kill a Mockingbird author Harper Lee, has sold more than 1 million copies, TheWrap reported. The book's portrayal of protagonist Atticus Finch as disparaging Blacks and opposing segregation shocked many critics and fans of To Kill a Mockingbird. "Watchman" which was actually written before "Mockingbird" and is set 20 years later in the same Alabama community.

Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert are calling it quits after four years of marriage, People reported. The country singers tied the knot in Texas in 2011, after dating for six years. The famous pair have weathered rumors of relationship troubles for years

Pop singer Robbie Williams turned auctioneer at a charity sale of his belongings and raised some $226,000 for a British children's hospice, Page Six noted. The "Let Me Entertain You" singer appeared at London's Bonhams auction house for the "Doing it for the Kids" sale, held to raise money for the Donna Louise Children's Hospice, of which he is a patron. Popular items included handwritten lyrics for Williams' 2013 single "Go Gentle," which sold for 31,250 pounds ( $48,787 ), and a Take That MTV Movie Award, which went for 10,625 pounds ( $16,588 ).

Men's Fashion Week ended with a bang in New York City when police shut down the club Up&Down because a massive crowd tried outside to get into the overcrowded 14th Street spot in a fashion mob scene, Page Six noted. Rihanna, Lewis Hamilton and Gigi Hadid were all inside the club; Joe Jonas was scheduled to DJ, but the spot was closed before he ever made it to the turntables.

Amber Heard and Johnny Depp's dog drama escalated after prosecutors announced the actress has been charged with smuggling the couple's two Yorkshire terriers into Australia in May, People reported. Heard was charged with two counts of illegally importing the pups, Pistol and Boo, into the country and one count of producing a false document. The importation charges could lead to a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $75,000; the false document charge carries a penalty of up to a year in prison and a fine of $7,500.

Rachel Zoe will be the host of a new talk show on Lifetime this fall, TheWrap reported. The former Bravo reality star will host Fashionably Late with Rachel Zoe, a half-hour fashion talk show set to premiere Sept. 24 after Project Runway. The show will be set in her L.A. headquarters. She will be joined by her husband, Roger Berman, as well as Harper's Bazaar Editor-at-Large Derek Blasberg, among others.

Jax Taylor from Bravo's Vanderpump Rules was arrested for allegedly stealing a pair of sunglasses in Honolulu, according to TheWrap. Taylor allegedly went to a sunglass shop, stole a pair of sunglasses and, for some reason, returned to the store after some time. Taylor is a model, actor and reality star who is best known for his stint on Vanderpump Rules, a spinoff from the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.