The gay rom-com film Bros started streaming on Peacock on Dec. 2, Out noted. Written by Billy Eichner and Nicholas Stoller (and directed by the latter), Bros was produced by Judd Apatow and starred Eichner along with an all-LGBTQ+ principal cast including Luke Macfarlane, TS Madison, Miss Lawrence, Symone, Guillermo Diaz, Monica Raymund, Jim Rash, Guy Branum, Dot-Marie Jones, Bowen Yang and more. The movie followed Bobby (Eichner), a jaded podcaster working to help open an LGBTQ+ history museum who meets a guy who's normally not his type (Macfarlane) and learns to love.
Everything Everywhere All At Once won Best Feature at the 32nd annual Gotham Awards at Cipriani Wall Street in Manhattan, Deadline noted. Michelle Yeoh stars in the A24 film as a laundromat owner getting audited by the IRS who discovers that thousands of versions of her exist across a vast multiverse. Danielle Deadwyler won Outstanding Lead Performance for playing Emmitt Till's mother in United Artists Releasing/Orion Pictures' Till. On the TV side, creator Soo Hugh's Apple TV+ drama Pachinko won for Breakthrough Series-Long Format. W. Kamau Bell's We Need To Talk About Cosby (Showtime) won for Breakthrough Nonfiction Series while out actor Ben Whishaw won Outstanding Performance in a New Series for his role in the AMC+/BBC dramedy This Is Going to Hurt. Actress Michelle Williams, filmmaker Gina Prince-Bythewood and the late actor Sidney Poitier were among those receiving honorary awards.
Bjork has shared her music video for "Sorrowful Soil," a press release noted. Directed by Vioar Logi, it sees her singing at the recently erupted Icelandic volcano Fagradalsfjall on the Reykjanes peninsula. The volcano was dormant for 6,000 years before 2021. The official video is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMjlqSH3czw.
Sony's new video game God of War: Ragnarok features a heartfelt side quest about an LGBTQ+ couple who worked on the game, according to PinkNews. Sam Handrick explained that he met gameplay programmer Jake Snipes in 2019 after the two were set to work on the critically acclaimed game together. But in 2020, Snipes passed away due to complications with epilepsy, which left Handrick "heartbroken." The side quest, named 'Across the Realms,' was created as a "story to be one many queer people know," according to Handrick. The side quest has protagonist Kratos aim to find four items with the help of clues that feature the Nordic initials of Snipes and Handrick.
SPOILER ALERT: People are buzzing behind the big gay moment during the second season of The White Lotus—in which British millionaire Quentin (played by Tom Hollander) was caught having sex with his nephew Jack (Leo Woodall), Variety noted. Speaking with Variety ahead of the premiere of the fifth episode, show creator Mike White (himself part of the LGBTQ+ community) said the scene was an "echo" of the gay-sex scene from season one that involved Murray Bartlett and Lukas Gage. Both feature a character walking in on gay sex behind closed doors, and both occur two episodes before the finale. White added, "I just think transgressive sex is sexier. I guess I'm old-school."
SPOILER ALERT: The winner of TV's The Masked Singer was unveiled. According to Yahoo! Entertainment, the Harp did win—and the person in the costume was Glee alum Amber Riley. The Harp's most notable clue on that foreshadowing season-eight premiere was when the Harp revealed that when she was a teenager, she auditioned for "the biggest show in the world" but "didn't fit the mold and was turned down." Riley famously tried out for Idol at age 17, but didn't even make it past the producers.
Award-winning LGBTQ+ comedian Mae Martin will be filming their hour-long Netflix comedy special debut on Dec. 8 at the Vogue Theater in Vancouver, a press release noted. They previously made their Netflix comedy special debut with a half-hour set in COMEDIANS of the world in 2019. The special will be directed by creator Abbi Jacobson.
New research has revealed the most Googled celebrities of 2022 in America, with Amber Heard taking the top spot, according to CelebTattler. Heard had 5.6 million average searches each month of 2022; she made headlines along with her former husband, Johnny Depp—who ranks second—amid a defamation trial from April to June. Queen Elizabeth II received the third-highest number of Google searches while NFL quarterback Tom Brady ranked fourth. Kim Kardashian, Pete Davidson, Elon Musk, Will Smith, Millie Bobby Brown and Zendaya completed the top 10.
Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's gay western romance Strange Way of Life will feature Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal in the lead roles, and it will premiere in May at the Cannes Film Festival, Out noted. Heartthrob Manu Rios (from the Netflix series Elite) has also been cast in the film in a yet-undisclosed role. Almodovar revealed the movie's premiere date on the podcast At Your Service, launched by pop star Dua Lipa.
The View co-host Joy Behar revealed that she was axed from the ABC sister program Good Morning America due to her poor performance—as a receptionist, per Page Six. "I was the worst receptionist they've ever had!" she insisted, prompting co-host Sara Haines to vouch for the "true story." "So I was fired, and they took me to Chippendales as my goodbye present," Behar added, explaining to guest Kumail Nanjiani—who stars in the Hulu miniseries Welcome to Chippendales—that she participated, including "put[ting] the money in the guys,' you know, thingy."
Openly gay actor Hunter Doohan talked with Queerty about his personal life and being on the Netflix show Wednesday, in which he plays barista Tyler (who is among those competing for the title character's affection). Among other things, he revealed that the show Will & Grace was a big part of his coming-out journey, which his then-girlfriend—also named Grace—introduced him to. Doohan also revealed he has a crush on actor Matt Bomer.
Even after decades since they've filmed together, George Takei had nothing nice to say about former Star Trek co-star William Shatner in a new interview with The Guardian, Variety reported. Takei—who starred as Sulu opposite Shatner's Captain Kirk during their Star Trek tenure—said there was a healthy camaraderie on set among his cast members "except for one, who was a prima donna." Earlier, Shatner told The Times UK, "Sixty years after some incident they are still on that track. Don't you think that's a little weird? It's like a sickness. George has never stopped blackening my name."
In addition to being recently announced as Apple Music's Artist of the Year, Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny has been named the most-streamed artist globally on Spotify in 2022, Bloomberg noted. He's been the most-streamed artist on the platform since 2020, when he released the albums YHLQMDLG and El Ultimo Tour del Mundo. The 2022 follow-up, Un Verano Sin Ti, was the most-streamed album globally this year. In total, users streamed his catalog more than 18.5 billion times. Taylor Swift, Drake, The Weeknd and K-pop group BTS rounded out the top five most-streamed artists globally of the past year.
Non-binary singer/songwriter Mothe (she/they) shared the song "Happy" via Slowlab Records; it's available at all digital retailers, a press release noted. Speaking on the track, Mothe said, "'Happy' is about struggling to be the one that moves on more slowly, but it's also about seeing others feel joy and wishing I had the capacity to feel it, too. I spend a lot of time wishing I could relate to people more, so when I see other people's happiness it often feels like a world that I'm locked out of. I tend to stay alone and avoid talking to new people now as a result of it." The video is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvTehZYJqeY.
At back-to-back concerts on the band's current At Their Very Best North American Tour, The 1975 lead singer Matty Healy (who doesn't identify as gay) has locked lips with fans, including another man, Out noted. In 2019, Healy made out with a male fan at a concert in Dubai, where homosexuality is illegal and punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Amazon Studios announced that it has closed a four-picture film deal with producer, actor, writer and director Tyler Perry, Deadline noted. The agreement will have Perry write, direct and produce four features for release on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. Among other projects, Perry recently wrote, directed and executive-produced A Madea Homecoming—the 12th installment in the popular Madea franchise, in which he also stars—and the thriller A Fall from Grace.
Christine McVie, the singer-songwriter behind some of Fleetwood Mac's biggest hits, died at age 79 following a brief illness. McVie went solo and, earlier this year, released a compilation of her solo work titled "Songbird (A Solo Collection)," CNN noted. Bandmate Stevie Nicks shared a handwritten letter to her bandmate on Instagram, along with a photo of herself andMcVie: "A few hours ago I was told that my best friend in the whole world since the first day of 1975, had passed away. I didn't even know she was ill … until late Saturday night."
Former One Tree Hill co-stars Hilarie Burton and Sophia Bush claimed on their Drama Queens podcast that show creator Mark Schwahn threatened punitive action against them if they didn't pose for the magazine's November 2006 issue, Entertainment Weekly reported. Additionally, co-star Bethany Joy Lenz, who did not participate in the photo shoot, said she wasn't offered the chance due to her weight. (In 2017, Schwahn was accused of sexual harassment and physical and emotional manipulation in an open letter written by 18 of the show's female cast and crew members.)
Actress Ashley Benson (TV's Pretty Little Liars) revealed how her mental health issues can sometimes take a physical toll on her, Page Six noted. "My anxiety takes over my whole body," she wrote over a TikTok video of herself showing off a rash all over her skin. Benson filmed herself wearing only a white bath towel for the eight-second clip while the Royal & the Serpent song "Overwhelmed" played over it. Benson's fans commended her for airing the video.
Company members of Broadway's KPOP are speaking out following a negative review of the musical by New York Times theatre critic Jesse Green, Playbill noted. The musical, a behind-the-scenes look at the worldwide K-pop music phenomenon, follows the American debut of a fictional K-pop music label RBY. Those upset with Green's review take issue with the critic's seeming displeasure with the amount of Korean language in the production. KPOP producers Tim Forbes and Joey Parnes sent a letter to the Times leadership requesting an apology from Green. No major outlets sent Korean or Asian American critics to review the musical.
Jonah Hill is looking to legally change his name, Extra noted, citing TMZ. The Superbad actor's real name is Jonah Hill Feldstein, but he's filed a petition to drop Feldstein. He is the brother of LGBTQ+ actress Beanie Feldstein, who's been in films such as Booksmart and Broadway productions like Funny Girl.
Two years after being dubbed "unrecognizable" in a set of "fat photos" taken by paparazzi, former Danity Kane frontwoman Aubrey O'Day debuted a nude music video for her new song, "Couple Goals," on OnlyFans, according to Page Six. "My body is watched more than my talent, which is very unfortunate. But because it is such a thing, it was kind of like a reclaiming of my body," she said.
Twitter suspended the account for Ye, the rapper and mogul formerly known as Kanye West, after the rapper posted on Twitter an image of a swastika depicted inside a Star of David, NPR reported. "I tried my best," Twitter CEO Elon Musk posted. "Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended." The announcement of the suspension came after a potential deal between Ye and Parler was terminated, and after Ye went on an antisemitic rant on Alex Jones' "Infowars" talk show in which the controversial rapper praised Hitler, Variety noted.
Embattled actor Kevin Spacey has booked a role in an upcoming British indie thriller, Variety noted. The feature, Control, will see Spacey play a voice role, similar to Kiefer Sutherland's in 2002 film Phone Booth. The development happened just weeks after it was revealed Spacey will face more sexual-assault charges in the United Kingdom and he won a $40 million sexual battery lawsuit in the United States against actor Anthony Rapp.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge declared a mistrial in the rape trial of Danny Masterson after jurors remained deadlocked, CNN noted. The actor was charged in 2020 with forcibly raping three women in separate incidents occurring between 2001 and 2003. In 2017, Netflix and producers of The Ranch wrote Masterson off the show (which co-starred That 70's Show co-star Ashton Kutcher) amid rape allegations.
