THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Bob The Drag Queen released his new stand-up special, Woke Man In a Dress, on June 22—the drag superstar's birthday, per a press release. It is available to stream on Patreon via wokemaninadress.com . After being catapulted to worldwide success by winning the eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, Bob has become a Peabody Award/GLAAD Media Award/ Television Academy Honors-winning artist for his work on HBO's We're Here, and will have a special guest spot on Madonna's upcoming "The Celebration Tour."

Award-winning recording artist Deborah Cox and Melody A. Betts will star in the all-new production of the groundbreaking, Tony-winning hit musical The Wiz that's slated to premiere in the spring of 2024, Broadway Direct noted. The pair join previously announced names Wayne Brady, Alan Mingo Jr., Kyle Ramar Freeman, Phillip Johnson Richardson and Avery Wilson. Based on L. Frank Baum's children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Wiz takes one of the world's most enduring American fantasies and transforms it into an all-Black musical extravaganza.

As her first three albums for Capitol Records mark notable anniversaries this year, Katy Perry will celebrate with the release of the Katy Perry CATalog Collector's Edition Boxset, per a press release. (Perry is the biggest-selling female artist in the history of Capitol Records.) Set for an Oct. 20 release, black vinyl editions of One Of The Boys, Teenage Dream and PRISM will be available. Also, a limited-edition box set with colored vinyl and keepsakes designed with previously unseen images from the albums' photo shoots can be pre-ordered exclusively at Perry's online store.

Netflix dropped the trailer for Wham!, about the George Michael/Andrew Ridgeley band that dominated music in the late '80s, Mashable noted. With reportedly "unprecedented" access to archival footage and personal recordings of Michael and Ridgeley dating back to their childhood friendship, Wham! charts their four-year rise to fame and their time as one of the biggest bands in the world. The film will debut on July 5—40 years after the duo's first album, Fantastic, was released.

Groundbreaking, Tony-winning nonbinary performers Alex Newell and J. Harrison Ghee are among those slated to attend Playbill and Times Square Alliance's second annual Pride in Times Square event on June 23-24, Playbill noted. Ghee, Annaleigh Ashford, Brandon Contreras, Desmond Is Amazing, Melba Moore and others will perform with ViiV Healthcare's Celebrate You!, set to take the Main Stage first on June 23. Newell, Lea Michele, Reeve Carney and Eva Noblezada, Laura Bell Bundy and many others are slated to perform during the "Anthems of Pride" show that Tituss Burgess will host later that day. For a full schedule and more info, visit playbill.com/Pride.

Queerty listed the 2023 Queerty Pride50, which honors 50 LGBTQ+ people who have made an impact and inspired the community over the last year. Just a few of those on the list include RuPaul's Drag Race winner Jaida Essence Hall, actor Lee Pace, celebrity chef Ronnie Woo, Brittney and Cherelle Griner, comic Tig Notaro, actor Colman Domingo, artist/plus-sized model Thaddeus Coates, Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr, director Pedro Almodovar and U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia.

Ahead of the release of her debut album Feed The Beast, Grammy-winning, international pop sensation and critically acclaimed trans songwriter Kim Petras announced her 34-date Feed The Beast World Tour produced by Live Nation, per a press release. The North American leg kicks off Sept. 27 in Austin, Texas, and Petras will visit such spots as Miami, Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Nashville, Houston and San Diego. Petras will then embark on a UK/European run of shows beginning Feb. 13, 2024 in Birmingham, UK; some of the other stops will include Manchester, London, Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam and Milan.

Bros co-star Luke Macfarlane announced on Instagram that he and his partner, out gay skier Hig Roberts, are now fathers, per The Advocate. The Canadian-American star wrote, "Tess Eleanor Macfarlane—Born June 4th 2023. We started life with some hectic days and received world class care. On Father's Day we got to take her home." Macfarlane's Bros co-star, Billy Eichner, left several heart emojis below Macfarlane's announcement.

The Flash—starring troubled nonbinary actor Ezra Miller—had a disappointing opening weekend, CNBC noted. Warner Bros." most recent superhero film hauled in just $55 million during its first three-day weekend—far from the $75 million to $85 million industry experts expected. BoxOffice.com chief analyst Shawn Robbins pointed to various factors for the film's shortfall, including the ongoing controversy surrounding Miller, a lack of consistency in the DC film franchise and a marketing campaign that was too narrowly focused.

All Elite Wrestling star CM Punk recently used his platform to deliver a pro-Pride message, specifically in support of transgender kids, The Advocate noted. He brought a fan into the ring holding a sign that read "Support LGBTQ+ Youth"—and then Punk held up the sign himself to loud cheers from the audience. He told the crowd that he was criticized for sharing an Instagram post from Pretty Cool Ice Cream in Chicago promoting a "Protect Trans Kids" ice cream bar and a fundraising initiative for the transgender community in the area.

LGBTQ+ actor Luke Evans and Taiwanese actress Gwei Lun-mei will co-star in Weekend Escape Project, an action thriller being produced in Taiwan by Luc Besson's EuropaCorp., Variety noted. The film marks a further comeback for EuropaCorp after a four-year hiatus that followed Besson's personal and financial difficulties at the company. (He was just cleared of all charges in a rape case.) While the film's plot details have not been publicly revealed, Taiwanese media report that Evans' character is a U.S. Drug Enforcement officer who is on a duty visit to the city; there, he meets Gwei's character, described as an old lover.

The Critics Choice Association (CCA) unveiled the winners of the fifth annual Critics Choice Real TV Awards, which recognize excellence in nonfiction, unscripted and reality programming across broadcast, cable and streaming platforms, per a press release. They included The Amazing Race, Top Chef, Jeopardy!, Frozen Planet II, Queer Eye and RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, among others. Bravo and Netflix were the top winners of awards, snagging four categories each, while Lisa Vanderpump received the Impact Award.

Laverne Cox has released Summerime: A TripHopera, per a media release. "TripHopera" is a re-imagining of the aria "Summertime," and is now available at all digital retailers. The video is at https://youtu.be/7XsUzs8gNZc.

Guests of Universal Studios will get to live out the post-apocalyptic video game (and HBO series) The Last of Us in real life beginning Sept. 7, KTLA noted. The brand-new haunted house will be at both Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando in Florida. The video game is set to celebrate its 10th anniversary this year, and the successful video-game series was also turned into an HBO series that starred Pedro Pascal.

Drew Tarver—currently starring as Cary Dubek in the HBO Max comedy series The Other Two—recently spoke about his gay role, per Instinct Magazine. Tarver told Vanity Fair, "This season [three] is more surreal, and the swings are bigger. Going full villain in the third season has been a very fun thing to play, and try to pull it off and be, like, 'Can I bring an audience along with this character, this far into Walter White-esque [territory]?' This season, Cary is more villainous—and there's more "stripping down," Instinct noted.

Sony Pictures has removed El Muerto—the Bad Bunny-starring Spider-Man spinoff movie being directed by Jonas Cuaron—from its release-date schedule, per Deadline. Sony and Marvel set Cuaron to direct El Muerto in October. The film remains in development, but Bad Bunny's tour schedule and the ongoing WGA strike make finalizing a date complicated.

The Motion Picture Academy elected its 2023-24 Board of Governors—and actor Lou Diamond Phillips is in while Whoopi Goldberg is out (because of a term limit), Deadline noted. Eleven first-timers have been elected in the organization's annual election to select one third of the board. Ava DuVernay was among the incumbents who were re-elected.

People may be surprised to know that if SAG-AFTRA goes on strike July 1, daytime soaps will be unaffected, Deadline noted. The film/TV contract doesn't apply to members on daytime serials. Moreover, with the four daytime dramas—The Young and the Restless (CBS), The Bold and the Beautiful (CBS), Days Of Our Lives (Peacock) and General Hospital (ABC)—continuing to churn out scripts amid the WGA strike using non-member writers, those shows appear positioned to continue production without interruption for the foreseeable future.

Linda Hamilton (the Terminator franchise; TV's Beauty and the Beast) is joining the cast of Stranger Things for the fifth and final season, per Deadline. Netflix announced Hamilton's casting during the streamer's fan event in Sao Paulo, Brazil. No details have been revealed regarding Hamilton's role.

Beyonce took to the stage in Amsterdam on June 18 to shine a light on Black fashion brands—to honor the U.S. holiday of Juneteenth, Yahoo! Sport noted. On Instagram, she noted, "In honor of Juneteenth, everything I wore for [the] Renaissance world tour tonight was created exclusively by Black designers." The Black designers she championed on stage included London label Feben, Maximilian Davis for Ferragamo, Olivier Rousteing for Balmain, Ibrahim Kamara for Off-White and LaQuan Smith.

In celebration of Pride Month, Glenn Martens' Diesel has joined forces with the Tom of Finland Foundation for an expansive capsule collection for the second consecutive year, per a media release. This time, the crossover range celebrates the LGBTQIA+ community with Tom of Finland's signature hyper-masculinized illustrations, as well as new works from Tom of Finland's erotic and queer art collective. Also, Diesel, in partnership with The Community and Tom of Finland Foundation, will open The AllTogether Clubhouse in New York City's West Village through June 25; the space houses works from artists including Tom of Finland, Target Studios, Arthur Tress and Pet Silvia at 9 W. 8th St.

Singer Kesha and her former producer Dr. Luke (Lukasz Gottwald) reached an agreement less than a month before their legal battle was set for trial, per The Hollywood Reporter. Kesha posted both of their statements on her verified Instagram account. Hers read, "Only God knows what happened that night. As I have always said, I cannot recount everything that happened. I am looking forward to closing the door on this chapter of my life and beginning a new one. I wish nothing but peace to all parties involved." Dr. Luke said, in part, "While I appreciate Kesha again acknowledging that she cannot recount what happened that night in 2005, I am absolutely certain that nothing happened."

Actor Dermot Mulroney walked off The View during a segment that was scheduled to air June 23, explaining to the hosts that he was going to "symbolically walk off in support of the writers" as he left the stage toward the end of his interview, Variety noted. Before leaving the stage, the actor asked the hosts if they were getting ready to go to commercial break and then thanked them before walking off mid-segment.

LGBTQ+ actress Rebel Wilson denied claims that she said people only needed "600 calories a day" to survive, Page Six noted. "This reporting is UNTRUE and utterly ridiculous and harmful to women!" she wrote on her Instagram Stories over a screenshot of an article from the Mirror. "I was just actually in a program where I learned about food, and they taught us that you don't really need as many calories as you think," she told the Daily Mail, adding that she recently went on a week-long retreat at Vivamayr medical spa in Austria where she learned "you really only need about 600 calories a day," as opposed to "1,500 or 2,000." Although she said the idea "might sound crazy" to some, she said she believes "your body doesn't need a lot of calories," especially when detoxing.

Elizabeth Hurley's son Damian, 21, has made a splash with his very own directorial project, Strictly Confidential—and, at one point, he filmed his mother's erotic scenes with another woman, Page Six noted. The mystery drama follows Mia, played by British actress Georgia Lock, as she is "drawn into a world of seduction, duplicity and betrayal," according to the film's website. The movie—which sees steamy scenes take place between Elizabeth's character, Lily, and co-star Pear Chiravara's character, Natasha—was written by Damian and also features Netflix star Freddie Thorp.

In an explosive rant on an episode of the "I've Had It" podcast, former reality star Kelly Osbourne accused Prince Harry of "whining, whinging [and] complaining," calling him a "f—king t—t," per Page Six. "Everybody's life was f—king hard," she continued. "You were the prince of a goddamn country who dressed up as a f—king Nazi, and now you're trying to come back as the Pope." Osbourne concluded by telling the Duke of Sussex and husband of Meghan Markle to "suck it."

Singer Ne-Yo (real name: Shaffer Smith) has been slapped with a federal tax lien accusing him of owing more than $3 million to the IRS, Radar Online noted. In addition, the entertainer and his ex-wife Crystal Smith were hit with a lien by the company Crowe Custom Countertops for work done to a property in Alpharetta, Georgia. Also, the couple was hit with a separate lien more than $4,000 owed to the City of Atlanta for taxes.

Creed III actor Jonathan Majors will be going to trial starting Aug. 3 on domestic-violence charges, Deadline noted. Majors (currently dating actress Meagan Good) is looking at up to a year behind bars if found guilty on the misdemeanor claims stemming from his March 25 arrest. Majors' defense team insisted their client is not guilty of any assault claims.

Tori Spelling seemingly sent a message to Dean McDermott amid news that the couple is divorcing after 17 years of marriage, Page Six noted. While McDermott was seen loading boxes of his belongings out of their home and into a storage unit, Spelling was spotted at a friend's house wearing a "Boys Lie" T-shirt from the brand of the same name. "It's been so empowering to see women proudly wearing Boys Lie post break-up," Boys Lie co-founders Tori Robinson and Leah O'Malley told Page Six Style.