Project Runway: All Stars will begin airing Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012, on Lifetime, according to a press release. Among the 13 designers returning to the catwalk are Mondo Guerra, Austin Scarlett, Kara Janx and Rami Kashou. Supermodel Angela Lindvall will host, with world-famous designers Isaac Mizrahi and Georgina Chapman as the judges. Guest judges will include supermodel Miranda Kerr, musician/producer Pharrell Williams and the iconic Miss Piggy.
Former Law & Order: SVU star Christopher Meloni is in talks for a role in the upcoming fifth season of the pansexual HBO drama True Blood, according to Reuters. The network said that Meloni's role will be significant. The actor currently has two other projects—the comedy Awful Nice and the Superman film Man of Steel—heading for theaters. The next season of True Blood will premiere next summer.
The Miss America pageant is at the center of controversy because it turns out that one of the main sponsors of the California preliminaries is a gay-porn star and producer, the Huffington Post reported. Ric Alonso and longtime partner Ernie Koneck are involved with a nonprofit ( the Southern California Scholarship Association ) that produces the Miss Hollywood pageant; however, it turns out that Alonso goes by the pseudonym Jake Cruise, and is a porn figure who owns hardcore gay-porn websites. Koneck has resigned from the scholarship association and stressed that Alonso's involvement has been strictly financial.
Josh Charles, a star of the CBS show The Good Wife, is part of the Human Rights Campaign's "Americans for Marriage Equality" project, according to a press release. In an ad, Charles ( who plays a lawyer on the show ) says, "You don't need a law degree to understand fundamental fairness." HRC President Joe Solmonese said, "Like most Americans, Josh Charles believes all couples should have the opportunity to say 'I do.'"
The ABC Family show Pretty Little Liars has been renewed for a third season, according to SheWired.com . The show, based on the series of books by Sara Shepard, focuses on four teens bound by their secrets; their bitchy best friend's murder; and the blackmailer "A," who threatens to expose all of the skeletons. Among the four teens is Emily ( played by Shay Mitchell ) , a pretty jock who happens to be lesbian.
Out director Adam Shankman will head New Line Cinema's The Nutcracker, a new take on the classic fairy tale that may air in late 2013, according to Deadline.com . This version of The Nutcracker goes back to the original 1815 book by E.T.A. Hoffman, about a young girl and a wooden toy soldier who comes alive and takes her on an adventure. Shankman just finished Rock of Ages, an adaptation of the stage musical that stars Tom Cruise, Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin and Mary J. Blige.
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has been cast as the late gay poet Allen Ginsberg in the film Kill Your Darlings, according to Advocate.com . After he's done with the Broadway production How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Radcliffe will replace the departing Jesse Eisenberg in the movie. The screenplay is based on an incident between Ginsberg and fellow members of the Beat circle, Jack Kerouac and Lucien Carr: In 1944, the heterosexual Carr murdered David Kammerer, who had been obsessively pursuing the 19-year-old.
Adele has received six Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year for her CD, 21, according to MTV.com . Rapper Kanye West led all artists with seven nods, while Foo Fighters and Bruno Mars also got six nominations each. Foo Fighters, Lady Gaga, Mars and Rihanna also got nods for Album of the Year, while Adele, Bon Iver, Mars, Mumford & Sons and Katy Perry were nominated for Record of the Year. The Band Perry, Bon Iver, J. Cole, Nicki Minaj and Skrillex received Best New Artist nods. The 54th annual Grammys will take place Feb. 12, 2012, on CBS.
Deborra-Lee Furness, the 56-year-old wife of actor Hugh Jackman, has dismissed gay rumors about her husband as "tragic," according to an US Magazine item. US said that Furness told Page Six Magazine, "The line I heard was, 'Wolverine? Who would have thought?' Hugh and I don't pay much heed. It's kind of tragic that these people have nothing better to do than gossip about people they don't know." The couple have two children and have been married since 1996.
Actor Neil Patrick Harris may have gotten into hot water with the transgender community, according to the Huffington Post. While co-hosting the Dec. 2 episode of Live! with Kelly, the out actor said, "I've never sounded more like a tranny in my life" while participating in an experiment designed to make one's voice sound lower. Harris has apologized, tweeting, "Truly sorry for saying the word 'tranny' on Live this week. Twice! Should have been more thoughtful. Didn't at all mean to offend."
Speaking of Harris, his partner, David Burtka, will be an on-air correspondent for E!, according to Advocate.com . Burtka will be a correspondent for E! News, as well as for Live from the Red Carpet and other E! specials. Burtka, a veteran Broadway performer, will start in January.
Transgender woman Chantal Spears is suing Khloe Kardashian for assault, according to TMZ.com . Spears claims that in December 2009, Kardashian violently hit her "in and about her body," causing severe injuries. Kardashian was reportedly irate after Spears approached her husband, Lamar Odom, and said he was "too young to be married."
Singer Gloria Estefan will reportedly guest-star on the TV series Glee, according to AceShowbiz.com . Estefan is said to be slated to play the mother of Santana, the lesbian cheerleader by Naya Rivera. Estefan will appear in the same January episode as singer Ricky Martin, who will play "the hottest Spanish teacher ever in the history of Ohio."
Extra host and former Saved by the Bell actor Mario Lopez stripped down to his underwear to promote Rated M, his new line of underwear, according to AceShowbiz.com . In the preview, Lopez, 38, said that the "M" in his label "stands for masculine, modern, Mario... make it whatever you want it to be." Rated M, which Lopez launched Dec. 1, is available on underwear retailer Fresh Pair.
Lady Gaga is reportedly planning an unprecedented world tour, according to Digital Spy. The singer would like to break U2's record for the highest-grossing and best-attended tour of all time with a 450-date, two-year global journey. Her recent "Monster Ball Tour" became the most profitable tour ever by a debut headliner.
Croatian journalist James J. Braddock ( aka Josip J. Knezevic ) has filed a copyright-infringement suit that names In the Land of Blood and Honey, the movie that is Angelina Jolie's directorial debut, according to AceShowbiz.com . Braddock claimed Jolie pilfered the story from an article he wrote and published in 2007. The movie, which Jolie wrote, is about a love story between a Muslim woman and a Serbian soldier during the Bosnian war.
The animated film Ice Age will become a stage show next year, according to Digital Spy. Ice Age Live! A Mammoth Adventure will kick off November 2012, touring the world for the five years. Meanwhile, Ice Age 4: Continental Drift, will hit theaters next July; it'll feature the voices of Ray Romano, Denis Leary, Nicki Minaj, Jeremy Renner and Wanda Sykes, among others.
The Dec. 6 episode of the Lifetime show America's Supernanny featured child-care expert Deborah Tillman helping a lesbian couple and their six children ( including 2 1/2-year-old quadruplets ) , according to a press release. Tillman helped Camby, Ind., couple Amy Paul and Mandy Sheckles gain control of the quadruplets while the older children ( ages 7 and 9 ) compete for attention. Tillman is a Virginia-based wife, mother and author who has more than 19 years experience in early childhood education, working with infants, toddlers, preschoolers and elementary school students.
NBC and the NFL announced that Madonna will perform during halftime of the next Super Bowl, according to AolTV.com . In a statement, the "Like a Prayer" singer she's partnered with a creative team from Cirque du Soleil, choreographer Jamie King and artists from Moment Factory "to create a signature performance for the Super Bowl's Halftime Show, which will be broadcast worldwide." Super Bowl LXVI will take place at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis Sunday, Feb. 5.
Former Miss USA Rima Fakih was arrested Dec. 3 on drunk-driving charges in the Detroit suburb of Highland Park, according to NorthwestOhio.com . Fakih's attorney, Doraid Elder, said that Fakih is "very saddened and very apologetic for the situation that she is in right now." Fakih, 26, won the Miss USA Pageant in 2010, representing Michigan.
In talking with Entertainment Weekly, film director/producer Steven Spielberg said that he was the wrong director to acquit some of the more sexually honest encounters between Shug and Celie" in the 1985 movie The Color Purple, according to Advocate.com . Addressing criticism he received for changing the lesbian relationship in the novel of the same name, Spielberg added, "There were certain things in the [ lesbian ] relationship between Shug Avery and Celie that were very finely detailed in Alice [ Walker ] 's book that I didn't feel we could get a [ PG-13 ] rating. And I was shy about it."
Personality/real-estate mogul Donald Trump has said that he's responsible for Lady Gaga's commercial success, according to Advocate.com . In his new book, Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again, Trump writes about the Gaga phenomenon, saying, "I really believe I had at least something to do with it. She became a big star and maybe she became a star because I put her on the Miss Universe pageant. It's very possible, who knows what would have happened without it, because she caused a sensation."
Rosie O'Donnell is engaged. According to People.com, O'Donnell, 49, will say "I do" to girlfriend Michelle Rounds. The talk-show host told her audience Dec. 5 during a commercial break. The couple originally met earlier this year at a Starbucks. In October, O'Donnell joked that her "gaydar was way off" because she thought Rounds was heterosexual and just 28 years old, when really she is a lesbian and 40.
Actress Sara Rue will star in the new sitcom Poseurs, about a woman who pretends to be half of a lesbian couple in order to live in an upscale apartment, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Rue ( Popular; Less Than Perfect ) will play Lucy, described as "a young woman whose life is upended when her fiancee moves out and her fresh-from-rehab collegiate best friend Alexandra moves in. In order to maintain her swanky New York co-op, which doesn't technically allow for roommates, Lucy and Alex enter into a mutually beneficial domestic partnership—complete with all of the challenges and few of the perks."
