GLSEN will honor the cast and creative team of Pose with the Champion Award during the 2019 GLSEN Respect Awards: New York, on Monday, May 20, at Cipriani 42nd Street, a press release noted. Golden Globe-nominated Pose is a drama series that explores life and society in 1980s New York, and centers on the lives and stories of transgender people of color and LGBTQ people of color within the ball culture world, the rise of the luxury Trump-era universe, and the downtown social and literary scenes.
NCIS: LA actor Barrett Foa has come out as an out gay man. Just before a guest-starring slot on Will & Grace aired, Foa posted on Instagram, in part, "Tonight I will kiss a man on national broadcast television and not be embarrassed or scared or ashamed in a way that my younger, dumber, more inner-homophobic self would have been. Tonight I am an out, proud gay man playing an out, proud gay man."
In an interview with Vanity Fair, singer Miley Cyrus said she still identifies herself as queer even though she is married to Liam Hemsworth, iHeart.com noted. "The reason that people get married sometimes can be old-fashioned, but I think the reason we got married isn't old-fashioned—I actually think it's kind of New Age," she said. "We're redefining, to be f**king frank, what it looks like for someone that's a queer person like myself to be in a hetero relationship."
Transgender writer, producer, director and advocate Janet Mock has been named the 2019 Harvard University Artist of the Year, a press release noted. She will be awarded the Harvard Foundation's arts medal at the annual Harvard Foundation Award Ceremony on Saturday, March 9. However, Mock has also been making news for her personal life, as she's divorcing her husband of three years, photographer/filmmaker Aaron Tredwell, Page Six noted, citing The Blast; Mock is citing irreconcilable differences.
Queer Eye co-host Karamo Brown has released the memoir Karamo: My Story of Embracing Purpose, Healing, and Hope, and recalled the night in 2006 that he learned he had a 10-year-old son, People.com noted. Court papers from the Texas attorney general's office sought $230,000 in child support for a 10-year-old boy—but Brown was shocked even further when he saw the name of his high school friend, Stephanie Brooks ( with whom he'd had sex one time when he was 15 ) mentioned in the paperwork. "I was scared," Brown, now 38, is the father of Jason, now 22—and is also the legal guardian of Brooks other son, 18-year-old Christian.
Valkyrie Weather, the transgender daughter of The Fast and the Furious director Rob Cohen, accused her father of sexual abuse—which he denies, LGBTQ Nation reported. Weather, 32, wrote on Facebook that her father "used my body for his own sexual gratification" when she was very young. "My mother witnessed one of the assaults when I was between two and two and a half years old, and has since confirmed what she saw," Weather wrote, referring to Cohen's first wife, Diana Mitzner; Mitzner has confirmed that she remembers the assault.
Dolly Parton is brushing off rumors about her sexuality once again, People.com noted. In a new interview with The Sun, the Nashville legend denied that she is a lesbian while expressing her support for the LGBTQ community. For much of her 50-plus years in the industry, the country queen has been dogged by whispers of her sexuality. Parton has been married to husband Carl Thomas Dean, 76, for nearly 53 years; however, her close bond with childhood friend Judy Ogle has sparked rumors over the years.
On Feb. 24, Lady Gaga took home her first Oscar for Best Original Song for her track "Shallow" from the Bradley Cooper-directed musical drama, A Star Is Born—and made history in the process, iHeart.com noted. With her Oscar, Gaga became the first person in history to bring home a Golden Globe, BAFTA, Grammy and Academy Award in a single year—all of which were in part for her turn in the movie.
On the heels of Queen and Adam Lambert's opening performance at the Oscars on Feb. 24, Lincoln Square Productions has acquired the U.S. television rights to a documentary from Miracle Productions on the band and itsnew regular frontman, Adam Lambert, an ABC press release noted. Produced by Jim Beach and writer/filmmaker Simon Lupton, The Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert Story will air Monday, April 29, on ABC, prior to Queen and Lambert's already sold-out July/August 2019 U.S. Rhapsody tour.
Wendy Williams is returning to her talk show March 4, Page Six noted. Williams took a hiatus from her eponymous morning show to treat her Graves' disease. She was hospitalized long-term but then was spotted out with a friend at CVS in Florida. Rumors about her husband's alleged infidelity and abuse swirled as her absence continued.
More details about Golden Girls star Rue McClanahan's medical history have been revealed, People.com noted. Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Hunter investigated the case of McClanahan's death—nearly nine years after she suffered a fatal stroke at age 76—on Reelz's docuseries Autopsy: Rue McClanahan. Hunter revealed that the actress had two different kinds of strokes.
Netflix has secured the rights to Gina Prince-Bythewood's female-fronted action film The Old Guard, which is based off the comic-book series by Greg Rucka and illustrator Leandro Fernandez, Deadline noted. The feature stars Charlize Theron and If Beale Street Could Talk breakout actress KiKi Layne.
While MNEK has collaborated with a bevy of famous stars, including Dua Lipa, BTS and Madonna, singer/songwriter MNEK said the one time he felt truly starstruck was when he met Beyonce to contribute to her album Lemonade, Billboard.com noted. "I was kind of downplaying it the entire day," he said. "But then she stepped through and said 'Hey,' and I was like 'Wait ... Oh, OK, hi!'" MNEK is embarking on his first-ever headlining tour through North America.
Singer Amy Winehouse, who died in 2011, was to be featured in a stage show slated to launch near the end of 2019—but that tour has been cancelled, Page Six reported. "In developing the type of highly ambitious, state-of-the-art hologram/augmented reality theatrical event that would truly capture [Winehouse's] genius and incredible artistic and social contributions, we have encountered some unique challenges and sensitives," BASE Hologram tweeted in a statement Feb. 19.
The Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) will honor LGBTQ advocate Yeardley Smith with the HRC National Leadership Award at the 2019 HRC Los Angeles Dinner on March 30, a press release noted. Smith is an Emmy Award-winning actor and producer who has appeared on television, film and Broadway, and has been the iconic voice of Lisa Simpson ( of the TV show The Simpsons ) since 1987.
Both Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart have set Guinness World Records for their time in the X-Men franchise—specifically, for the longest career as a live-action Marvel superhero, Movieweb noted. The actors portrayed their respective characters of Wolverine and Professor X for 16 years and 228 days.
Mark Hollis, frontman of '80s hitmakers and post-rock innovators Talk Talk, has died at 64, Billboard noted. The group's greatest commercial success would come with the title track to its second LP, It's My Life, hitting No. 31 on the Hot 100 in 1984 and enduring as one of the most iconic singles of the new wave era, also receiving a hit cover from the group No Doubt in 2003.
TNT will not air a planned March 6 episode of its celeb rap-battle series Drop the Mic that featured Jussie Smollett, Deadline.com reported. The episode features Smollett facing off against American Idol alum Clay Aiken. Said a TNT spokesperson: "We are pulling the episode in the interest of not being exploitative of an incredibly sensitive situation. We are holding on airing his episode for now and we are replacing it with the Raven Simon [sic] vs Ron Funches and Joey McIntyre vs Joey Fatone episode."
Speaking of Smollett, after GMA aired her exclusive interview with the embattled actor, Robin Roberts said she's not happy that the 36-year-old Empire actor lied to her face, Queerty noted. "It's a setback for race relations [and] homophobia," she said on the show Feb. 21. "I cannot think of another case where there's this ange r on so many sides, and you can understand why there would be."
From World of Wonder—producers of RuPaul's Drag Race—comes The Official RuPaul's Drag Race Podcast, hosted by Drag Race producer and Herstorian John Polly, a press release noted. Every week, Polly welcomes a bevy of RuPaul's Drag Race queens to the World of Wonder-produced podcast, including the Season 11 queen eliminated each week. The podcast starts Feb. 28.
Ariana Grande became the first artist to hold the top three spots on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart simultaneously since The Beatles in 1964, as her new album Thank U, Next launched at number one on the Billboard 200 albums tally, Billboard reported. Grande's "7 Rings" rules the Hot 100 ( dated Feb. 23 ) for a fourth week, while "Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" debuts at No. 2 and former seven-week leader "Thank U, Next" rebounds from No. 7 to No. 3. The Beatles earned the honor for five weeks in March and April 1964, even claiming the entire top five on the April 4, 1964, chart.
The Favourite director Yorgos Lanthimos is set to write and direct Pop. 1280, an adaptation of the Jim Thompson crime novel, Deadline.com noted. The Favourite was up for 10 Oscars this past weekend, including Best Picture, and it won seven of the 12 BATFA Awards for which it was nominated.
Stanley Donen—the director of such films as Singin' in the Rain, Funny Face and Two for the Road, and the last surviving helmer of note from Hollywood's golden age—has died at 94, Page Six noted. Although he was never Oscar-nominated for any of the many films he directed, Donen received a lifetime achievement Oscar at the 1998 Academy Awards. Donen was married five times, including to Jeanne Coyne, Marion Marshall and Yvette Mimieux; in later years, he was the constant companion of Elaine May.
Clark Gable's grandson Clark Gable III has died at his Texas home at age 30, Page Six reported, citing TMZ. Gable is best known for being the host of the reality show Cheaters in seasons 13 and 14. Gable's official website revealed he embarked on a modeling career at 5 and later studied at the New York Film Academy after completing his first film in Italy; Gable III cited actor/director George Clooney as a major influence.
Showtime has announced that Natalie Dormer ( Game of Thrones; The Tudors ) will join Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, the next chapter of the Penny Dreadful saga, in the role of Magda—a supernatural demon who can take the appearance of anyone she chooses and manifests in a number of guises throughout the story, a press release noted. Penny Dreadful: City of Angels opens in 1938 Los Angeles.
