Melissa Etheridge and ex-wife Tammy Lynn Michaels are in court because the Grammy-winning singer is refusing to allow their 6-year-old twins to be vaccinated, according to Radar Online. Since ending their relationship three years ago, after nearly seven years together, the two have been embroiled in a very public, bitter custody battle over their twins: daughter Johnnie Rose and son Miller Steven. Michaels wants the kids vaccinated because they are now enrolled in public school in the Los Angeles area. Etheridge, a breast-cancer survivor, underwent chemotherapy to fight the disease, and reportedly "doesn't believe in vaccinations."
HBO's hit show True Blood will end its run in 2014, according to a press release. Consisting of 10 episodes, the previously announced seventh season will launch next summer. The show—which stars Anna Paquin, real-life husband Stephen Moyer and Alexander Skarsgard—takes place in a world where vampires and humans co-exist (with other beings); thanks to the invention of mass-produced synthetic blood, vampires no longer need humans as a nutritional source.
Rumors are swirling that Fox executives reportedly told Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner that her six-week trial run at being a talk-show host will be just that, and that the show's not coming back for a second run, according to Radar Online. Jenner was recently told, "There is no chance the talk show is going to get a green light from Fox. The ratings were averaging an abysmal 0.8 and advertisers were less than enthusiastic about it." However, a Fox rep said, "It's too early to make a decision."
At a press conference for the U.S. Open pro tennis tournament, several Russian players claimed they hadn't heard about Russia's relatively new anti-gay law, according to Advocate.com . Vera Dushevina, Maria Kirilenko, Nadia Petrova and Dmitry Tursunov said they didn't know anything about the measure. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova told USA Today, "I have my own opinion about this, but I don't know if I should comment," while Svetlana Kuznetsova (who won the 2004 U.S. Open) added, "You can be whoever you want to be as long as you're happy [but] in Russia, if you don't support Putin you are in big, big trouble."
Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean called himself a "fag hag" during a recent interview, according to the Huffington Post. Referring to gay rumors surrounding him or the pop group, McLean told Pride Source, "Everyone always says, 'When you look at a boy band, one of them has to be gay.' No, they don't. Instead of me being gay, I'm the fag hag." He also said the group was at a drag show when the members first realized they had a gay following and that he "was raised and surrounded by gay men and gay women."
On the upcoming season of the TV show Glee, singer/actress Demi Lovato will be the love interest for Naya Rivera, who plays Santana, according to People.com . "She's playing my love interest, so I'm very, very excited about it," Glee star Rivera, 26, told MTV at the 2013 Video Music Awards. "We get to sing a song together." Rivera's former love interest, played by Heather Morris, will not be returning as a series regular.
U.S. tennis star James Blake used his retirement speech to speak out on Russia's anti-gay propaganda law, according to Gay Star News. Blake—who works with Athlete Ally, an organization working to end homophobia in sports—said, "I think any sort of policy that discriminates against [LGBT people], that excludes them, is completely unfair in today's day and age. That's why I say we're 50 years out and there are still things going on that are discriminatory." Blake, 33, quit playing singles tennis after losing in the first round of the U.S. Open to Ivo Karlovic.
Russell Tovey—who appeared in the Broadway, London and film incarnations of The History Boys—will join Tony nominee Jonathan Groff in the upcoming HBO series Looking, according to a Playbill.com item. Michael Lannan created the half-hour series, which stars Groff (Spring Awakening, Glee, The Normal Heart), Frankie J. Alvarez and Murray Bartlett as three young gay men living in San Francisco. In addition to those actors, Scott Bakula will play a prominent wealthy figure in the city's gay community.
On Broadway, two-time Tony nominee Christopher Sieber will join the Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of Pippin for 16 performances while Tony nominee Terrence Mann is on vacation, according to Playbill.com . Sieber (La Cage aux Folles, Shrek The Musical) will play the role of Charles through Sept. 4 and Sept. 15-25; Mann will return to the role full-time Sept. 26. Also, Tony winner Andrea Martin (who plays Berthe) will depart the production following the Sept. 22 performance to star in Working the Engels.
Kathy Wolfe, founder and owner of the lesbian film company Wolfe Video, and Barbara Verhage married at San Francisco City Hall Aug. 23, according to SheWired.com . Wolfe and Verhage have been together for 21 years, according to a press release announcing the ceremony. This summer, Wolfe herself spearheaded a crowdfunding campaign to support the national organization Freedom To Marry, raising more than $3,000.
The Chicago International Film Festival is rebranding its LGBT-focused section entitled OUTrageous, according to a press release. The section will now be called OUT-Look, made up of feature films, documentaries and short films, and a new competition, with the Q HUGO Award to be presented at a standalone presentation during the festival. The 49th Chicago International Film Festival takes place Oct. 10-24.
Speaking of Chicago, the city's LGBT-themed Reeling Film Festival will move from Andersonville this year, partially moving into the Logan Square neighborhood, according to DNAInfo.com . Founded in 1981, Reeling is the second oldest LGBT film fest in the world. The festival will still open Nov. 7 at the Music Box Theatre in Lakeview; however, the majority of the festival's events will be held at the Logan Theatre.
The final day of a New York City electronic music festival has been canceled after a number of deaths were linked to drug use, Digital Spy reported. Organizers of the Electric Zoo Festival decided not to go ahead with Sept. 1 performances after two people died from suspected MDMA use. Four others ended up in a hospital in serious condition, prompting city officials to advise that the remainder of the event be scrapped. David Guetta, Diplo and Benny Benassi were among this year's acts. Festival co-organizer Mike Bindra was once the general manager of New York's Club Twilo, which the city shut down in 2001 after a series of overdoses at the venue, the New York Post noted.
Justin Timberlake has backtracked on reports he said his boy band, N'Sync, is better than One Direction—by (jokingly?) saying he thought he was talking about pies, according to the UK Metro. Timberlake had reportedly told Vibe Magazine, "I'll be willing to say that we're better than them [One Direction] but I'm not laying down any gauntlet." He later retweeted NME magazine, writing, "@NME: Justin Timberlake: N Sync are better than One Direction… I thought the question was about a pie eating contest. My bad. #newsworthy."
NFL player and LGBT ally Brendon Ayanbadejo recently posed almost nude—wearing only tape over his mouth and a football over his private parts—for the NOH8 campaign, the Huffington Post reported. Ayanbadejo, who played with the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens last season before being cut, is also serving as a special guest editor of The Washington Blade's sports section. The "NOH8" campaign posted his photo with the caption "A real man supports equality."
NSync member and radio-show host Lance Bass is engaged to artist Michael Turchin, according to People magazine. "He said YES!! Love this man," Bass wrote on Instagram with a photo of the pair showing off an engagement ring on Turchin's finger. The happy moment reportedly happened in New Orleans, where the couple spent Labor Day weekend.
Sixty-seven-year-old Cher sports blonde locks on two different versions of the cover of her Closer to the Truth album, which is set for a Sept. 24 release, People.com reported. Of the official version, she tweeted, "Playboy Center-fold effects." Of another version, she wrote that it was too dark but a good image. This will be Cher's first album since 2001's Living Proof.
Keith Bulluck, ex-linebacker for the NFL's Tennessee Titans, was arrested after he allegedly assaulted a cab driver outside a Nashville gay bar, according to NewNowNext.com . Driver Habib Hashi claimed that as Bulluck walked out of the bar and approached him for a ride, he told the ex-player he already had a fare. Hashi then said that Bulluck grabbed him by the shirt, assaulting him and stealing $100 before fleeing the scene. However, Hashi has been cited for previously filing false crime reports.
Out endurance swimmer Diana Nyad finally set a record she had chased for more than three decades, completing the 110-mile swim from Cuba to Key West, Fla., on Sept. 2, according to Advocate.com . The team for Nyad reported that she completed the trip in 52 hours, 54 minutes and 18.6 seconds—with no shark cage. She initially attempted the swim in 1978. The last previous attempt (number four) was last year; she made it 41 miles before succumbing to storms and jellyfish stings. After the swim, she told CNN, "I've got three messages. One is, we should never ever give up. Two is, you never are too old to chase your dreams. Three is, it looks like a solitary sport but it's a team."
Sophia Young, one of the Women's National Basketball Association's (WNBA's) rising stars, may have alienated some of her sport's fan base after taking a public stance against marriage equality, according to the Huffington Post. Recently, Young (who plays with the San Antonio Silver Stars) spoke out against same-sex marriage as the city debates a new LGBT anti-discrimination bill (not a marriage measure). She has tweeted, "Should San Antonio be a city that allows same sex marriage?? I vote NO." Other players, including the Seattle Storm's Lauren Jackson, has expressed shock at Young's position.
Actor Charlie Hunnam—best known as the star of the TV series Sons of Anarchy and a former cast member of the British version of Queer As Folk—has been cast as Christian Grey in Fifty Shades of Grey, Universal Pictures and Focus Features' adaptation of E.L. James' erotic novel, according to TheWrap.com . James tweeted the news minutes after the announcement that Dakota Johnson (the daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith) had been cast as Anastasia Steele. Sam Taylor-Johnson (Nowhere Boy) is directing from a script by Kelly Marcel (Saving Mr. Banks), who adapted James' erotic literary work.
Lady Gaga debuted several new songs in an hour-long concert at London's Roundhouse, playing eight cuts off her upcoming album, ARTPOP, as part of a show that was broadcast live online for the month-long iTunes Festival, Rolling Stone reported. Gaga delivered musical surprises; for example, one song had her performing in a black mask while holed up in a cage, Hannibal Lecter-style. The performance was the first installment of this year's iTunes Festival, a month-long concert series that runs through Sept. 30; other acts include Elton John (Sept. 12), Kendrick Lamar (Sept. 19), Robin Thicke (Sept. 24) and Justin Timberlake (Sept. 29). Concerts can be streamed live and watched afterwards using iTunes, the iTunes Festival app and on Apple TV.
Former heavyweight boxing champion Tommy Morrison has died at age 44, according to ABC News. Despite reaching the pinnacle, troubles dotted Morrison's life, including lows such as legal troubles, erratic behavior and health problems. He once tested positive for HIV (in the late '90s), but would later claim that he never tested positive for the virus, even as he was hospitalized during the last days of his life. (His family has not yet disclosed the cause of death.) He finished with a record of 48-3-1 with 42 knockouts.
Jersey Shore celeb Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi has sued Excell Brands LLC for $6 million, according to the New York Daily News. She is accusing the perfume company of using her name to sell scents without her permission. The pint-sized star says Excell created and sold a perfume last August bearing her name and signature, exactly as they appear on her authentic "Snooki" and "Snooki Couture" products.
Sir Elton John has won the first ever Brits Icon award, in a gala concert which marked his stage return after surgery for appendicitis, BBC News reported. The musician was presented with the prize by his friend, singer Rod Stewart, who described him as "the second-best rock singer ever." John said he was "flattered" by the award, given to artists who have had a "lasting impact" on UK culture. He also played several of his hits, including "Tiny Dancer" and "Your Song."
Rapper Kanye West was reportedly paid more than $3 million to perform at the wedding of the grandson of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, according to the Huffington Post. Kazakhstan ranks near the bottom of the world according to the corruption index on Transparency. org, and Human Rights Watch Director David Mepham has said that "Kazakhstan's serious and deteriorating human rights situation includes 'credible allegations of torture [and] the imprisonment of government critics." In 2011, Sting canceled a planned performance in Kazakhstan, citing "unacceptable" treatment of oil workers in the country.
Harry Connick Jr. has been confirmed as the third and final judge for the upcoming season of American Idol, according to Deadline.com . Connick will join Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban, while original Idol judge Randy Jackson will replace Jimmy Iovine as in-house mentor. With Lopez, Connick Jr. and Urban, Idol will have a judging panel entirely made of singers for the first time.
A former manager of gospel duo Mary Mary has sued the singers over allegations they failed to pay him commission, according to ContactMusic.com . The duo, Tina and Erica Campbell, is facing legal action from Mitchell Solarek at Maximum Artist Group in a Tennessee court over claims the manager secured the gospel singers deals amounting to $3 million, but was then fired and had commissions worth $75,000 withheld.
The hit Broadway musical Wicked surpassed Miss Saigon to become the 11th longest-running show in Broadway history when it played its 4,093rd performance the evening of Sept. 4, according to Playbill.com . There are currently nine productions of Wicked worldwide: New York, London, Japan (Tokyo), Australia/New Zealand (Auckland), South Korea (Seoul), Latin America (Mexico City), a U.K. tour and two concurrent North American national tours. Wicked won Tony Awards for costume design, scenic design and best actress in a musical (Idina Menzel).
Jodie Foster will direct one of the episodes of the Netflix political-thriller series House of Cards' second season, according to Variety. House of Cards—which stars Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright as an ambitious couple in Washington, D.C.—has been nominated for nine Emmy Awards this year, including a directing nod for director-producer David Fincher. Other season one directors included Joel Schumacher and James Foley.
