Legendary rapper LL Cool J was recently approached by a TMZ.com photographer who asked him, "What if you go to a bar and get hit on by a gay guy? Does that change your nickname [ Ladies Love Cool James ] ?" According to Towleroad.com, the hip-hop artist simply responded, "Nah. I guess it just expands your options, huh?"
Actor Hugh Jackman has said that he stopped dancing when he was younger so others would not think he was gay, according to Bild.de. Jackman, 40, said: "In another world, another life, probably growing up in another country, I might have been more of a dancer. ... I was encouraged to do that, and I remember my brother saying, 'Ah, you poof,' so I gave it up. ... I didn't have the guts of Billy Elliot at the time!"
Entertainer Barbra Streisand will showcase her homes and talk about architecture in a new book entitled A Passion for Design, IMDB.com reported. Streisand will even revisit the Brooklyn, N.Y., apartment she grew up in. According to a press release, the book—which is slated to be out next year—will be "the culmination and reflection of Barbra's love of American architecture."
Whitney Houston's newest album is set to be released Sept. 1, according to an EOnline.com item. Her official Web site reads, "The wait is over," as it counts down to the release date. The album, which is still untitled, has the song "I Didn't Know My Own Strength" pegged as the first single.
Beth Ditto, lead singer of the Gossip, has started a feud with "I Kissed a Girl" singer Katy Perry, according to SFGate.com . Ditto said that she is tired of Perry making faux lesbianism trendy, saying, "She's just riding on the backs of our culture without having to pay any of the dues and not being actually lesbian or anything at all." However, Perry has fired back, saying Ditto's comment was "tacky," Digital Spy reported.
Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has followed his headline-grabbing stunt with rapper Eminem at the MTV Awards by dressing up as a bull for the Madrid, Spain, premiere of his new film, Bruno, according to IMDB.com . Cohen—who appeared in character as gay Austrian fashion journalist Bruno—was accompanied by a group of hunky models dressed as matadors.
Actor Neil Patrick Harris has denied rumors that he plans to start a family with his boyfriend, David Burtka, IMDB.com reported. Harris, who stars as womanizer Barney on TV's How I Met Your Mother, and Burtka were the subjects of a Star magazine article that reported the pair planned to have a child via a surrogate mother. Harris has not ruled out having children in the future, however.
American Idol alumnus Sanjaya Malakar said that he is not gay, according to a TV Guide item. On the reality show I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!, Malakar said, "Like, yeah, a lot of people want me to be their gay best friend, and I make a really good gay best friend. But I don't like guys, so it confuses people." He added, "I do hair, and I'll sit in the corner and knit. So it confuses people."
Another person putting down gay rumors is actress Jada Pinkett Smith. According to MSN.com, she and husband of 11 years Will Smith laugh at rumors they are gay. "I've heard all the things—their marriage is not real, he's gay, she's gay, they swing," she told the Bert Radio Show on Atlanta's Q100. "But at the end of the day, people have to believe what they have to believe."
Canadian police have charged Black Eyed Peas manager Liborio Molina, 36, with assault after a fight with out blogger Perez Hilton at a Toronto awards ceremony that resulted in Hilton receiving a black eye, EW.com reported. Molina has been ordered to appear Aug. 5 to answer the charge. However, during a confrontation with the band, Hilton told member will.i.am, "I don't need to respect you and you're a fag. You're gay and stop being such a faggot"—a statement GLAAD has condemned. In a statement, Rashad Robinson, senior director of media programs at GLAAD, said, "These are vulgar anti-gay slurs that feed a climate of hatred and intolerance toward our community."
