On Good Morning America Feb. 21, Mariah Carey reminisced about Whitney Houston, according to ABC News. Carey said she was "almost incapable" of discussing Houston's death, but added, "I don't think people could ever understand our relationship. There was always this supposed rivalry in the beginning and then we did the duet and became friends. I saw her towards the end. I loved her. It's very heavy emotionally."
Out fashion designer Marc Jacobs is the subject of controversy after sending two 14-year-old models down the runway—a direct violation of the age limit set by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, according to the Daily Mail. The council has set 16 as the lower age limit for runway models, but 14-year-olds Thairine Garcia and Ondria Hardin represented Jacobs with Jamiroquai-inspired hats. Jacobs said, "I do the show the way I think it should be and not the way somebody tells me it should be."
Fox pundit Bill O'Reilly had harsh words regarding Whitney Houston's death, according to GossipCop.com . O'Reilly said, "Whitney Houston wanted to kill herself. Nobody takes drugs for that long if they want to stay on the planet." He also criticized the doctor who prescribed medication to Houston, and also blasted singer Tony Bennett, who called for the legalization of drugs immediately after Houston's death.
The American Foundation for Equal Rights ( AFER ) and Broadway Impact have announced the full cast for the West Coast premiere of 8, an account of the federal trial Perry v. Schwarzenegger ( now Perry v. Brown ) , the case filed by AFER to overturn Proposition 8, according to a press release. The cast includes Kevin Bacon, George Clooney, Glee's Chris Colfer, George Takei, Jane Lynch, Matthew Morrison, Rob Reiner, Jamie Lee Curtis, Martin Sheen, Matt Bomer and many more. The production—penned by Oscar-winning screenwriter and AFER founding board member Dustin Lance Black—will premiere at Los Angeles' Wilshire Ebell Theatre March 3.
A London couple is suing actor Rick Yune ( The Fast and the Furious ) for almost $300,000 for an alleged swindle involving Hermes bags, according to ContactMusic.com . The plaintiffs claim they paid Yune for the bags but he failed to deliver the goods or return the cash. Yune's spokesman denies the claim.
Professional poker player Jason Somerville came out of the closet on his blog on Valentine's Day, according to Outsports.com . Somerville took top honors in a No Limit Hold 'Em event at the World Series of Poker last year, winning almost a half-million dollars. As far as he knows, he's the first male professional poker player at his level to come out publicly.
Madonna came out on top of a VH-1 poll of the 100 greatest women in music, according to ContactMusic.com . She was followed by Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Adele and the late Whitney Houston. Janet Jackson, Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige and Pink round out the top 10.
Supermodel Cindy Crawford is pulling the plug on 10-year-old daughter Kaia Gerber's modeling career, according to a Huffington Post item. Crawford told the Daily Front Row, "At this point, she's too young to pursue a career. There aren't even a handful of jobs for a 10-year-old girl. But if she's 17 and wants to try it … of course." Gerber was recently featured in a campaign with the label Young Versace.
Director Cheryl Dunye's most recent film, Mommy Is Coming—screening at the German festival Berlinale—looks at Berlin's lesbian porn scene, according to SheWired.com . Dunye took the queer film world by storm in 1996 with the mockumentary-style movie The Watermelon Woman, and released The Owls ( co-starring Go Fish's Guinevere Turner ) in 2010. Mommy Is Coming stars Dunye, Lil Harlow and Jiz Lee, among others.
On Good Morning America, singer Ricky Martin and rapper Nicki Minaj discussed why they became involved with MAC Cosmetics' latest Viva Glam campaign, SheWired.com reported. Martin—who established The Ricky Martin Foundation to help terminate human trafficking—said, "We're here because we want to make a difference. Unfortunately, kids are being infected with HIV/AIDS." Minaj said that the project matters to her because her uncle dies of AIDS in Trinidad.
Film director Brett Ratner—who withdrew from producing the Oscars after making an anti-gay statement last year—has teamed with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation ( GLAAD ) for a new video series, according to the Huffington Post. The series, which Ratner is directing and producing, will feature various celebrities, athletes, politicians and musicians voicing their support of equality. Last year at a Q&A session, Ratner ( Rush Hour; Tower Heist ) said, "Rehearsing is for fags."
Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. told British talk-show host Graham Norton that, on the set of Jerry Maguire in 1997, his father asked co-star Tom Cruise about his sexual orientation, according to the Huffington Post. Gooding Jr. told Norton that Gooding Sr. "gave Tom Cruise a hug and said, 'I love you man. Now seriously, are you gay or not?'" Gooding Jr. added that Cruise played it off and said no. Gooding Jr. banned Gooding Sr. from the set after that day.
Among the items at an upcoming British art exhibition is an image of Sir Elton John's face composed of the profile pictures of users of the website Gaydar, according to Pink News. The Steve Rosenthal portrait will be part of "Gaze," an exhibition of images of inspirational figures from the gay community that includes a specially commissioned portrait of Lady Gaga. The Elton John image is made up of pictures from thousands of men who visited Rosenthal's Gaydar profile during 2007-09. "Gaze" will be at London's Kensington March 1-12.
Nick Cannon, the husband of singer Mariah Carey and the host of the TV show America's Got Talent, has quit his daily radio show, "Rollin' with Nick Cannon," because of health problems, according to US Magazine. Cannon, 31, recently had kidney problems and was hospitalized a couple weeks ago when doctors discovered blood clots in his lungs. In a statement, Cannon said, "Under doctor's orders, I have been asked to put my health first. ... Even Superman needs to sleep."
Oscar-winning actress Dame Judi Dench has revealed that she is battling macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the Western Hemisphere, according to Medical News Today. Macular degeneration is a disorder associated with aging where people's vision becomes less sharp and they gradually lose central vision. Dench is currently filming her seventh James Bond film, Skyfall; she plays 007's boss, M.
Whitney Houston and Madonna are back together on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart for the first time in 15 years, according to Advocate.com . Following Houston's death Feb. 11, her rendition of the Dolly Parton song "I Will Always Love You" reached number seven. Meanwhile, Madonna's "Give Me All Your Luvin'"—which she performed at the Super Bowl halftime show—reached number 10. The superstars last shared chart space in 1996—Houston for "Exhale ( Shoop Shoop ) " and Madonna for "You'll See."
In a revealing interview with The Hollywood Reporter, George Clooney said taht he has dabbled with drugs, drinks too much alcohol and suffers from insomnia, according to Digital Spy. At one point, the Oscar winner, 50, said, "I have been infinitely more alone in a bad relationship; there's nothing more isolating." He added that friend Brad Pitt once "outed" him as gay as a joke.
The anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church claimed it picketed Whitney Houston's funeral Feb. 18—but that was apparently not true, according to Gothamist.com . Margie Phelps, daughter of church founder the Rev. Fred Phelps, tweeted a photo claiming to show congregants protesting in Newark, N.J. However, reporters "confirmed no active protests were occurring in the place depicted by the photograph"—meaning that the tweeted image was probably Photoshopped.
Lindsay Lohan will host the March 3 episode of Saturday Night Live, according to Digital Spy. This will be the former Playboy centerfold's first return to the long-running sketch show since hosting six years ago. Jack White ( formerly of The White Stripes ) will be the musical guest.
Speaking of Lohan, she has also apparently gotten the Elizabeth Taylor role in the upcoming Lifetime movie Liz and Dick—but with a caveat, according to Access Hollywood. The caveat is that Lohan has to stick with the judge's orders and stay on the right side of the law. Lohan, 25, was last seen in the 2010 movie Machete.
The Glee "Live! In Concert!" tour has been canceled for 2012, Digital Spy reported. The cast will instead have summer vacation. However, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Chris Colfer and the show's other stars may perform one concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Glee producers want a one-night benefit concert to raise money for Give a Note, an arts-education organization.
R&B singer Robin Thicke—the 34-year-old son of actor Alan Thicke—was arrested on a minor drug charge, the Huffington Post reported. Authorities arrested the "Ask Myself" singer after pulling over his SUV and seeing a marijuana joint inside the vehicle. He received a desk appearance ticket and was released.
Shortly after X Factor mastermind/judge Simon Cowell admitted he was considering Whitney Houston to join him on the panel, reports have surfaced that Janet Jackson may be taking one Paula Abdul's or Nicole Scherzinger's seats, EW.com reported. On Anderson Cooper's talk show, Jackson said, "No, I am not [ currently a judge on The X Factor ] , but that's all I really think I should say."
Singer Chris Cornell—the lead singer of the group Soundgarden—criticized a businessman who used an anti-gay slur in an airport, the Huffington Post reported. Cornell spoke out when a man "called another man a queer when he overheard him make a pro-Obama statement" in the Alaska Airlines lounge at Seattle Airport. The singer reportedly called the man "a prick," adding, "You deliberately called him a queer to make him feel uncomfortable in front of a lot of people." Cornell then went on to perform at a benefit concert in San Francisco for Obama's re-election campaign, where he performed an acoustic cover of the Whitney Houston/Dolly Parton song "I Will Always Love You."
Madonna has hired a new back-up dancer for her world tour: 15-year-old daughter Lourdes, the Daily Mail reported. It will reportedly be the first time the teen will appear on stage with her superstar mother. Lourdes helped Madonna, 53, choose her tour dancers at recent rehearsals at Pineapple Studios in London.
In an interview with The Advocate, actress Kristen Bell underscored her support of the LGBT community and same-sex marriage. Among other things, she talked about her support of Friendfactor, a social-media website that connect LGBT causes with straight allies. When the publication commented on her wearing an Old Navy gay pride T-shirt to launch event in New York last May, she said, "Fuck, yeah. You bet your balls, I did. I hosted that event with Chelsea Clinton because I thought it was absurd that New York hadn't passed a marriage equality bill yet." Bell has been on TV shows such as Veronica Mars and Heroes as well as movies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Scream 4.
Two of Lady Gaga's fans—Gabie from Australia and Sarah from Saudi Arabia—have launched the Monster Hotline Project, according to MTV.com . The project, named after the nickname for Gaga's fans ( "Little Monsters" ) , is an online community that harnesses social media to support the singer's platform of compassion and tolerance. Using Twitter, Facebook and their own website, they identify and reach out to troubled kids sending out an online S.O.S.
Country duo Sugarland says it's devastated by comments from people who "want to point fingers and try to sensationalize" an August stage collapse that killed seven people and injured almost 60 before the band's show at the Indiana State Fair, according to Tennessean.com . The band issued a statement Feb. 21 after its attorneys responded to a lawsuit by saying that injuries to fans were at least partly "their own fault." Among those killed was Chicago lesbian activist Christina Santiago.
