Before starting its fifth season, Bravo's The Real Housewives of New York City has let go four of its regulars: Jill Zarin, Alex McCord, Kelly Bensimon and Cindy Barshop, according to TheHollywoodGossip.com . "Ramona Singer, Sonja Morgan and LuAnn De Lesseps will be returning for Season 5 of The Real Housewives of New York City," a network spokesperson said. McCord told US Weekly that she and her husband, Simon van Kempen, have started a home-goods company, Aluxe Home.
Twilight star Robert Pattinson is about to start recording an album, according to a New York Post item. Pattinson has already contributed two songs to the Twilight soundtrack: "Never Think" and "Let Me Sign." A source said, "The album Rob will make will be guitar-based and drums, very organic-sounding—nothing pop."
Filmmaker Barry Levinson and singer Sheryl Crow are collaborating to turn his film Diner into a Broadway musical, the New York Post reported. Levinson will write the Diner production, with music and lyrics by Crow—both making their Broadway debuts—with Kathleen Marshall (Little Shop of Horrors) directing and choreographing. The film, set in 1959, told the story of six high-school friends from Baltimore who reunite for a friend's wedding. The musical is slated to premiere in fall 2012.
Rock band R.E.M.—led by out gay singer Michael Stipe—has decided to "call it a day" after more than three decades together, according to Reuters. The group's official website had a posting saying, "To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening." R.E.M. has released 15 albums since forming in 1980.
In an interview with The Six Pack radio show/podcast, actor Henry Winkler—best known for his role as The Fonz on the classic TV show Happy Days—discussed gays and Lady Gaga, according to a media release. Regarding Gaga, Winkler said, "I really want her autograph. I respect her. I thought she was incredibly insightful, incredibly supportive, incredibly warm, and had the biggest shoes I'd ever seen in my entire life." As for gay fans, he said, "I don't think about a person as gay, I think about them as a human being. I have wonderful gay fans. Wonderful straight fans. And some very confused fans! ... Marcus Bachmann [the therapist married to GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann] is trying to refurbish [gays] like sofas!"
The LGBT film organization OUTFEST will honor producer/choreographer Adam Shankman and Lifetime Networks at the institution's annual Legacy Awards. This year's ceremony, presented by Showtime, will be held at the Director's Guild of America on Oct. 20. Shankman—who also serves as a judge on So You Think You Can Dance—is in post-production on the adaptation of the hit Broadway rock musical Rock of Ages.
Lifetime has renewed the series Drop Dead Diva for a fourth season, according to Deadline.com . Along with Army Wives, the very gay-friendly "Diva" has been a solid performer, ratings-wise. LIfetime President/General Manager Nancy Dubuc said, "Drop Dead Diva is a signature series for Lifetime that continues to resonate with audiences with its heart and humor."
At the 21st Gotham Independent Film Awards in New York City on Nov. 28, Charlize Theron, Gary Oldham and director David Cronenberg will receive career tributes, according to Deadline.com . All three honorees are involved in upcoming films that could make big impressions during the awards season, with Theron in Young Adult; Oldham in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; and Cronenberg with A Dangerous Method. Marriage-equality supporter Theron has won an Oscar for her role as a lesbian serial killer in Monster.
True Blood actress Evan Rachel Wood has spoken with Marie Claire magazine about being bisexual, according to Pink News. Wood said that her bisexuality is "a big part of who I am, and it always has been for as long as I can remember. ... I can't say I'm one way or the other, because I've honestly fallen in love with a man and I've honestly fallen in love with a woman." She added that her first same-sex relationship was "wonderful" but was initially intimidating.
Sir Elton John is suing a Dubai-based banker for $1.1 million for allegedly failing to honor a donation to John's AIDS foundation, according to ArabianBusiness.com . Banker Spencer Lodge pledged the cash for a "date" with the "Rocket Man" singer during a charity auction at John's White Tie and Tiara Ball in June 2010—but has yet not delivered the money. The event featured a performance by Lady Gaga and raised almost $8 million for the foundation.
A pair of the ruby slippers Judy Garland wore in the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz will be auctioned off Dec. 16, according to the L.A. Times. This is only one of four pairs wore onscreen that have survived the past seven decades; one pair is at the Smithsonian, another is owned privately and a third was stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minn. This fourth pair is expected to fetch $2 million-$3 million.
The daytime serial All My Children concluded its 41-year-run Sept. 23. According to the New York Post, the soap introduced issues such as same-sex marriage, abortion and date—and produced one of the great soap villains in Susan Lucci's Erica Kane. "Children"—which is slated to continue on the Internet—launched the careers of such stars as Sarah Michelle Gellar, Josh Duhamel, Christian Slater and Kelly Ripa. ABC is axing another soap, One Life to Live, in January, leaving General Hospital, The Young and the Restless, Days of Our Lives and The Bold and the Beautiful as the only major soap operas.
Out comedian/actress Wanda Sykes revealed on Ellen DeGeneres' talk show Sept. 26 that she has had a double mastectomy to treat an early stage of breast cancer, the Boston Globe reported. Sykes said the cancer was accidentally found when she went in for a breast reduction earlier this year. "I had the choice of, you can go back every three months and get it checked. Have a mammogram, MRI every three months just to see what it's doing," she told Degeneres. "Now I have zero chance of having breast cancer."
Lady Gaga is already working on her next album, according to Digital Spy. The "You and I" singer said that she'll continue to put out new music as soon as possible to "keep things exciting." Troy Carter, her manager, recently admitted he would give her next album away for free if he could, saying, "What we're looking to do is not just about selling the CD or the digital file. It's how many people can we get the music to. How many people can experience it?"
Nicolas Winding Refn, a director linked to a new film version of Wonder Woman, said that Mad Men actress Christina Hendricks would be "perfect" in the role, Digital Spy reported. Refn said, "Well, she's a perfect woman. So it seems she's a Wonder Woman. And she's a great actress at the same time, and a nice person. I certainly can't come up with a better role model." Refn added that he may have the opportunity to make the movie if his upcoming remake of Logan's Run is successful.
Taylor Lautner said that he wants to branch out regarding his acting roles—but he won't sing or dance, according to USA Today. Lautner said, "That is one thing that my fans would probably not support. If I ever start singing in a movie, they'll be like, 'Alright, I'm done.'" However, when he was on Saturday Night Live, he participated in a skit in which he was part of the Sparkle Dance Team ( http://www.hulu.com/watch/114931/saturday-night-live-show-choir).
Bristol Palin got in a verbal altercation with talent manager Stephen Hanks in a West Hollywood, Calif., bar, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Hanks heckled Palin as the 20-year-old road a mechanical bull for her reality show, asking, "Did you ride Levi [Johnston] like that?" He then yelled, "Your mother's a whore," referred to Sarah Palin. Palin then asked Hanks if his comments were "because [he's] homosexual." Hanks later talked about the incident: "I just don't like that family. I think [Bristol] proved who she was last night."
Sean Maher, 36—an actor who plays a closeted gay man on the NBC series The Playboy Club—has come out of the closet in real life, according to Entertainment Weekly. "I was nervous coming here today because I've just never talked about it," said Maher, who lives in Los Angeles with Paul, his partner of nearly nine years, and their two children, Sophia Rose, 4, and Liam Xavier, 14 months. "I've never discussed it publicly," he added. "I've never been asked about it publicly, but I would be lying if I said I didn't paint a different picture."
Former The L Word actress Leisha Hailey and her girlfriend were reportedly kicked off a Southwest Airlines plane for kissing, according to the Wall Street Journal. Hailed tweeted about the incident, posting, "I have been discriminated against by@SouthwestAir. Flt. attendant said that it was a 'family' airline and kissing was not ok." Southwest released a statement saying it "approached the passengers based solely on behavior and not gender."
Ellen DeGeneres used comedy to reassure fans after she had heart pains serious enough to warrant a call to paramedics, ABC News reported. DeGeneres, 53, told her talk-show audience that she had chest pains during a producers' meeting but joked that "the paramedics were strippers that I had called." She compared the pain to having two cats on her chest.
On the Sept. 25 premiere of Bravo's Watch What Happens Live, Millionaire Matchmaker's Patti Stanger made generalizations about gay people, according to US Weekly. When a caller named Dustin asked Stanger what she thought of open relationships, she responded, "In the gay world, there's always going to be open [relationships]. Are you straight or gay?" When he said gay, she directed him to the online site Grindr. When Bravo's Andy Cohen said he preferred monogamy, Stanger laughed and asked, "When was the last time you had a [serious] boyfriend?"
