As a part of its "Countdown to Christmas" event, Hallmark Channel announced its first holiday movie that focuses on a gay romance, according to Out. The Holiday Sitter will be released on Sunday, Dec. 11, on The Hallmark Channel and will star Mean Girls alum Jonathan Bennett, George Krissa and Chelsea Hobbs. The movie's plot is described thusly: "Sam is a workaholic bachelor who babysits his niece and nephew before the holidays when his sister and her husband have to go out of town. Completely out of his element, he recruits help from their handsome neighbor Jason and finds himself in an unexpected romance."
Oprah Winfrey and Apple TV+ ended their overall deal, first announced in 2018, Variety noted. It's understood that both sides have agreed to continue to work together, but on a project-by-project basis, now that their previous deal is ending. Winfrey and Apple TV+ are already currently collaborating on the documentary Sidney, about the life of iconic Oscar-winning actor Sidney Poitier; that project debuted recently.
Janelle Monae will receive the Trailblazer Award at the 2022 Outfest Legacy Awards ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 22, in Los Angeles, Out reported. The singer/actress is currently set to appear on Netflix's upcoming Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Past trailblazers who were recipients of awards at Outfest include Tom Hanks, Billy Porter, Laverne Cox, Elliot Page, Lee Daniels, Michaela Jae Rodriguez, Rita Moreno, Judith Light, Hillary Swank, Tanya Saracho and Octavia Spencer, among others.
Also, Janelle Monae has been named the recipient of The Trevor Project's 2022 Suicide Prevention Advocate of the Year Award, according to a press release. The second annual award marks September's National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and amplifies The Trevor Project's mission to end suicide among LGBTQ+ young people. Lil Nas X received the honor in 2021.
Netflix has removed its "LGBTQ+" tag from Ryan Murphy's new Jeffrey Dahmer series after subscriber backlash, LGBTQ Nation noted. Netflix subscribers were particularly disturbed to find Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story among the streamer's queer films and TV series. "It's called The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, but it's not just him and his backstory," Evan Peters, who stars as Dahmer in the series, said in a promotional video released by Netflix. "It's the repercussions, it's how society and our system failed to stop him multiple times because of racism, homophobia. It's just a tragic story."
The 2023 Met Gala has its official theme. According to Out, the theme for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute exhibition and the legendary Met Gala that accompanies it will be "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty." Lagerfeld was a regular who attended the exclusive event frequently during his lifetime. (He passed away in 2019.) Additionally, celebs like Blake Lively, Chloe Moretz, Dakota Johnson, Kristen Stewart, Pharrell Williams, Penelope Cruz, Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour and Cara Delevingne have all worn his clothes to the gala.
RuPaul's Drag Race star Kornbread "The Snack" Jete shared with her fans that she has been diagnosed with cancer, Out Magazine noted. The drag queen took to social media to share the news that she has "adenocarcinoma," which is "a type of cancer in the smaller intestine," her note read. "I'm 100% fine and everything is in the early stages so I'll be back to my normal self in no time. Absolutely curable!" According to cancer.gov, the disease is entirely curable, especially if caught early.
Actress, social activist and musician Amandla Stenberg released the new song "Alice" via the newly formed A24 Music, per a press release. Stenberg created the original song for A24's hit satirical murder mystery film Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, co-writing and producing the song with close collaborator Benjamin Morsberger. Bodies, Bodies, Bodies is available to stream. Starring Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Myha'la Herrold, Chase Sui Wonders, Rachel Sennott, Lee Pace and Pete Davidson, the film follows the night when several rich twentysomethings plan a hurricane party at a remote family mansion.
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival announced that The Whale star Brendan Fraser will be the recipient of its American Riviera Award on Valentine's Day, Tuesday Feb. 14, 2023. In The Whale, Fraser portrays a 600-pound gay English teacher. Fraser has already become the awards season's "comeback kid," first winning raves when the A24 film from director Darren Aronofsky had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and then at the Toronto International Film Festival, where the film also received raves along with an actor prize at that festival's awards gala.
Award-winning rapper Coolio—best known for the song "Gangsta's Paradise"—died at age 59, reportedly of a heart attack. According to Today, he released a total of eight studio albums, with his last being 2009's From the Bottom 2 the Top. He also appeared in TV and film productions ranging such as The Nanny, Batman & Robin, Dracula 3000, Martin, and Kenan & Kel (for which he performed the theme song). He recently performed at the Chicago festival Riot Fest.
Rihanna will headline the next Super Bowl Halftime Show for Super Bowl LVII, set for Feb. 12, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona, Deadline noted. The nine-time Grammy winner posted on her social media channels with a less-than-cryptic photo of her holding up an NFL football. Roc Nation—her management company headed by Jay-Z, who is also part of organizing the massive NFL halftime showcase—retweeted it soon after. Fox, which is handling the 2023 broadcast, later confirmed it. Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, Eminem and 50 Cent headlined this year's NFL championship game at L.A.'s SoFi Stadium.
RuPaul's Drag Race alum Courtney Act has released her book, Caught in the Act: A Memoir, per a press release. The release described the book as "a hilarious, often scandalous, and at times heartbreaking, peek into the entertainment icon's journey towards understanding gender, sexuality and identity." Act has appeared on several reality TV shows, including her breakout in 2003 on the first season of Australian Idol; making the top three on season six of RuPaul's Drag Race; and winning the United Kingdom's Celebrity Big Brother.
Jennifer Lopez is an assassin in her new Netflix thriller The Mother. Lopez leads the film as a killer operative who, amid pursuit from dangerous enemies, comes out of hiding to protect the estranged daughter she gave up years ago, Entertainment Weekly noted. The movie is set to be released next year.
Transgender Jeopardy! champion Amy Schneider married girlfriend Genevieve Davis in a small ceremony at a California courthouse, Out noted. Even though the ceremony happened May 9, Schneider just revealed the development on Instagram, adding, "We will still be having a traditional wedding & reception next summer, but our lives have been much too busy this year to get very far in planning it, and we couldn't wait that long to proclaim our love and commitment to each other."
Ryan Reynolds announced on social that Hugh Jackman will reprise his role as Wolverine in Deadpool 3, and that the pic is coming out Sept. 6, 2024, Deadpool noted. That's the post-Labor Day weekend slot where Warner Bros has historically launched a horror movie.
Apple announced the premiere date and unveiled a first look at Echo 3, the 10-episode action-thriller created by Academy Award winner Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty), and starring Luke Evans and Michiel Huisman alongside Jessica Ann Collins, per a press release. Filmed in Colombia with English and Spanish dialogue, the Apple Original series produced by Keshet Studios will make its global debut with the first three episodes on Wed., Nov. 23, followed by one new episode weekly every Friday through Jan. 13, 2023.
Amanda Bearse, who played Marcy Rhoades D'Arcy on the '90s show Married With Children, said she understands why the show would be a victim of "cancel culture," according to Page Six. "It was a very misogynist show," the openly LGBTQ+ actress/director told Page Six. "To me, there were some episodes and storylines that I really wasn't a fan of. … There is a bit of cancel culture around it which, to me, is not inappropriate." However, she was quick to note that she's "very grateful for that show for many reasons—mostly because it gave me my second career [directing]." She also was grateful to the show for its support when she publicly came out in 1993.
Academy Award-winning director George Miller's (Happy Feet; The Witches of Eastwick) fantasy romantic drama Three Thousand Years of Longing, from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and United Artists Releasing, will be released on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD on Nov. 15 via Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, a press release stated. Directed by Miller from a screenplay by Miller and Augusta Gore, the film is based on the short story "The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye," by A.S. Byatt. The film stars Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton and is produced by Miller and Doug Mitchell.
Big Brother made history after announcing the winner of season 24, as Taylor Hale became the first Black woman to win the CBS reality competition, Deadline noted. Tamar Braxton won the crown of Celebrity Big Brother in its second outing. In a head-to-head competition, the jury voted eight to one in favor of Hale, making her the winner of $750,000. The country also voted for her as their Favorite Houseguest of the season, awarding her an additional $50,000—making it the first time the winner of the grand prize coincided with America's favorite player.
The winner of season two of RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race was crowned—and it was Backstreet Boys singer AJ McLean, a press release revealed. McLean, performing under the drag persona Poppy Love, earned $100,000 for his charity of choice, Trans Lifeline. McLean battled Chakra 7 (Tatyana Ali) and Thirsty von Trap (Mark Indelicato) in the finale. Ali was voted Miss Congeniality, and she and Indelicato earned $5,000 for their selected charities—Hansavedas and Planned Parenthood, respectively. Others who competed were Taylor Dayne, Loretta Devine, Thom Filicia, Daniel Franzese, Jenna Ushkowitz and Kevin McHale.
Club44 Records announced that After the Ball—a new album from two-time Tony winner Christine Ebersole—was released in physical and digital formats, per a press release. Featuring U.S. classics by composers and songwriters from Jerome Kern to Joni Mitchell in original arrangements by Broadway veteran Lawrence Yurman, the new recording has Ebersole at the start of a brave new chapter, reflecting on life, love and family now that the last of her three adopted children has flown the nest. After the Ball is produced by Ebersole in collaboration with Yurman. People can stream, download or order the album at club44.lnk.to/AfterTheBall.
Country-music singer LeAnn Rimes officially dropped her 19th studio album, god's work, Out noted. "I have had so many incredible fans from the LGBTQ+ community and I feel their love. I hope they feel mine," she told the publication. "I know what it's like to feel left out, to feel like you don't belong, to feel like you have to hide yourself in order to be loved, and I'm so over it. I hope everybody else is too. We are all so deeply connected."
Nikki Blonsky—most famous for playing Tracy Turnblad in the 2007 movie adaptation of the musical Hairspray—is engaged to fiance Hailey Jo Jenson (they/them), Out noted. Blonsky and Jensen first went public with their relationship in June. Blonsky initially came out on TikTok in 2020 when she posted a video of herself dancing to Diana Ross's classic gay anthem "I'm Coming Out."
Migguel Anggelo—a Venezuelan-American singer-songwriter, multidisciplinary performing artist as well as a countertenor, dancer, actor and painter—will bring his production English with an Accent to NYC's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts' Clark Studio Theater on Dec. 1-3, per a press release. The production combines original music with dance and theater while exploring the intersections of Anggelo's queer, Latino and immigrant identities.
Big Mama Capretta—a Catholic priest who moonlights as a drag queen—has recorded the disco classic "I Love the Nightlife" via Ultimix/Starlove Records, according to a press statement. By day, Capretta is none other than Father Anthony (aka Vincent Capretta)—a practicing Catholic priest from Columbus, Ohio, according to PRWeb. By night, Capretta is "an outrageous and hilarious drag queen." A documentary featuring Capretta in drag produced by Univision Television reportedly went viral in South America and the Caribbean in 2018.
The legal fight between Judith Sheindlin and CBS with Rebel Entertainment Partners over the $95 million sale of the Judge Judy library is over, but not finished, Deadline noted. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kristin S. Escalante granted a motion by Sheindlin, Big Ticket Pictures and the Paramount Global-owned company to dismiss the two-year old suit. However, Rebel seemingly plans to appeal the ruling.
Apple held its first showing of Emancipation—the Antoine Fuqua-directed thriller that stars Will Smith as an enslaved man who, after recovering from a whipping that nearly killed him, braved the swamps of Louisiana to escape cold-blooded slave hunters and be free, Deadline noted. The screening was held during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's 51st annual Legislative Conference in D.C. Apple hasn't set a date, but this is the most solid indication that the film will arrive for awards season—which will involve a much rougher road because of Smith's slap of Chris Rock at the last Oscars.
Sharon Osbourne has spoken out about her ousting from The Talk after an explosive on-air argument about racism ensued between her and her co-hosts, USA Today noted. In the four-part docuseries Sharon Osbourne: To Hell & Back, now streaming on Fox Nation, Osbourne (among other things) maintained that Piers Morgan isn't racist and that she was falsely portrayed by her The Talk co-hosts as racist for defending Morgan's right to freedom of speech. In addition, former co-host Carrie Ann Inaba said that "no one should ever have gone through what [Osbourne] went through that day."
The life of global porn icon Rocco Siffredi is the subject of the new Netflix original series Supersex, which has started shooting in Rome, per Variety. The seven-episode drama is freely inspired by the real life of Siffredi, who has more than 1,500 hardcore films to his name. Siffredi was also the subject of the documentary Rocco, which screened at the 2016 Venice Film Festival.
Bill Cosby was denied a chance to re-litigate a sexual-assault civil case involving a minor from the 1970s, Deadline reported. "Cosby has failed to establish he received an unfair trial or that insufficient evidence existed to establish his liability for [the] plaintiff's harm," Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Craig Karlan said in a Sept. 27 ruling. The decision denies the man once known as America's Dad's desire for a retrial on the decades-old claims by Judy Huth.
Carnival Cruise fired comedian Rob O'Reilly after it was reported he repeatedly used the N-word during a stand-up performance, Yahoo! Life noted. Passenger Pamela Frilot took to TikTok to expose his use of the slur. "We do not tolerate this language or behavior," a Carnival statement read. "The person in question will no longer be welcome on Carnival ships and the rest of his scheduled appearances have been canceled."
