The Umbrella Academy has been renewed for a fourth—and last—season at Netflix, Variety noted. Cast members Elliot Page, Tom Hopper, David Castaneda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher, Justin H. Min, Ritu Arya and Colm Feore will all be back for the fourth season, with additional castings to be announced later. Netflix did not comment on an episode count for the fourth season, but multiple sources say the final season will be shorter than the 10-episode seasons the show has done in the past.
Out Magazine listed the LGBTQ+ shows coming to HBO Max—if they aren't canceled first. Among them are House of the Dragon (which has already started airing), The White Lotus (set in a new location), The Idol (starring Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd, but also featuring Troye Sivan, Dan Levy, Hari Nef and Anne Heche, in her last role before her death), The Last of Us (with a teen girl character who is gay in the games this show is based on), new seasons of Gossip Girl and Our Flag Means Death, and others.
Patti LaBelle stopped by REVOLT's podcast Drink Champs and discussed, among other things, her relationship with Aretha Franklin, BET noted. After Drinks Champs host N.O.R.E. asked about Franklin's seeming snub of LaBelle at the Women of Soul concert at White House in 2014, LaBelle said the incident was a big misunderstanding. LaBelle added, "I sang 'Ain't No Way' [during her Kennedy Center Honors award show in 1994] because she wanted me to. She loved me. It wasn't love/hate, it was love, and when I'm not feeling well, you might [get] another side of Aretha. So that's all it was."
Days after the premiere of a TMZ documentary about Richard Simmons' sudden departure from the public eye, the fitness icon resurfaced on social media to show his appreciation to his fans, E! News noted. "Thank you, everyone, for your kindness and love!" he wrote in an Aug. 24 Facebook post, signing it, "Love, Richard." Fans flooded the post with positive comments, and Simmons' rep told the media outlet that the star "is so gratified by the outpouring of love and good wishes from his fans. He wants them to know he is doing well and sends all his best wishes back to them."
Harry Styles is responding to accusations of queerbaiting, telling Rolling Stone that he has never "publicly" dated anyone, KISS 96.1 noted. "Sometimes people say, 'You've only publicly been with women,' and I don't think I've publicly been with anyone," said Styles, who is currently with actress/director Olivia Wilde. Queerbaiting is an accusation leveled at straight people who appropriate queer culture and aesthetics for profit without explicitly claiming the community.
Tegan and Sara shared another new track from their forthcoming 10th studio album, Crybaby, due Oct. 21 via Mom+Pop Music, a press release noted. The new track is "Faded Like a Feeling" and the official video, directed by Mark Myers, finds the twins singing together while perched on the swings at a waterfront playground. "Faded Like a Feeling" follows previously released singles "Fucking Up What Matters" and the anthemic "Yellow."
The Texas church that staged two performances of a highly altered and "Christianized" version of Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical Hamilton apologized for the unauthorized productions and will pay unspecified damages, per Deadline. The Door Christian Fellowship Ministries in McAllen, Texas—commonly known as the Door McAllen Church and headed by Pastor Roman Gutierrez—stated it "did not ask for, or receive, a license from the producers or creators of Hamilton to produce, stage, replicate or alter any part of Hamilton; nor did we seek prior permission to alter Lin-Manuel Miranda's work by changing the music, the lyrics, deleting songs, and adding dialogue."
Season 34 of the CBS reality-show competition The Amazing Race will debut Wed., Sept. 21 and, according to Out Magazine, there's a handful of LGBTQ+ contestants. They include same-sex couple Aastha Lal and Nina Duong; gay choreographer Quinton Peron, who also cheers for the Los Angeles Rams; and bisexual contestant Claire Rehfuss, who formerly appeared on Big Brother (and who's competing with Derek Xiao, who she met on that show). This season, for the first time, the 12 globe-trotting teams will begin the race outside of the United States, traveling to Munich, Germany for the starting line, a press release noted.
Julianna Margulies is set to return for season three of Apple TV+'s The Morning Show in the role of LGBTQ+ news anchor Laura Peterson, Deadline noted. Margulies' return follows the recent casting of Mad Men star Jon Hamm, who will portray corporate titan Paul Marks. Margulies' character dated Reese Witherspoon's character, Bradley Jackson; Jennifer Aniston and Billy Crudup co-star, with Nicole Beharie joining as a series regular.
American Idol singer Sanjaya Malakar came out as bisexual in a new interview in which he recalled being pressured to hide his sexuality at the height of his fame—and had some choice words for Simon Cowell after the infamous judge regularly criticized him on the show's stage, Entertainment Weekly noted. Malakar said that, while he understood why Cowell leaned into his role as a harsh judge, an exchange he had with the British star after season 6 wrapped rubbed him the wrong way. "For me it was like, it's really sad that this is what you have to do to be somebody," Malakar recalled. "But you've chosen this path in your life, so that's fine, f—- you, I have plenty that I could say to you, but in this moment my job is to stand here and listen and be the sweet little boy."
Tom of Finland Foundation (ToFF) announced the 11th Tom of Finland Emerging Artist Competition in a press release. For it, ToFF has six judges for this year's competition—interdisciplinary artist Honey Dijon; previous Competition winner Mr. Gruts; DIESEL creative director Glenn Martens; art-history professor Richard Meyer; multimedia artist Slava Mogutin; and art dealer Graham Steele. The winners of the 11th Tom of Finland Emerging Artist Competition will be notified on Sept. 20 (with submissions due Aug. 31); awards will be presented at the Tom of Finland Art and Culture Festival on Oct. 7-9. Submissions are limited to the erotic. See www.tomoffinland.org/tom-of-finland-emerging-artist-competition/ .
Kinky Boots, the 2013 Tony winner for Best Musical, officially opened off-Broadway Aug. 25 at Stage 42, Playbill noted. The winner of six 2013 Tony Awards, Kinky Boots features a Tony-winning score by Cyndi Lauper, a book by Tony winner Harvey Fierstein, and direction and choreography by Tony winner Jerry Mitchell, who again directs and choreographs. Callum Francis portrays Lola.
The New Kids on the Block singer Jonathan Knight revealed to Entertainment Tonight that he and longtime boyfriend Harley Rodriguez secretly married, Page Six noted. Knight admitted that he and Rodriguez tied the knot in private during the COVID-19 pandemic and have yet to celebrate their nuptials with friends and family. Back in 2016, the singer popped the question to the fitness trainer while on vacation.
Country stars Cassadee Pope and Maren Morris spoke out against comments made by fellow country singer Jason Aldean's wife, Brittany, that some have called transphobic, Page Six noted. "I'd really like to thank my parents for not changing my gender when I went through my tomboy phase. I love this girly life," Brittany captioned an Instagram clip. Pope tweeted, "You'd think celebs with beauty brands would see the positives in including LGBTQ+ people in their messaging. But instead here we are, hearing someone compare their "tomboy phase" to someone wanting to transition. Real nice." Morris then replied in agreement while posting, "It's so easy to, like, not be a scumbag human? Sell your clip-ins and zip it, Insurrection Barbie." Brittany also responded with digs before concluding things on Instagram with "I love y'all, that's all," with three heart emojis.
The world gushed over the wedding of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck ("Bennifer")—but the wedding site is considered controversial for its design as an "imitation" plantation, TheGrio noted. Clad in all-white attire, friends and family members of the couple known as "Bennifer" gathered at the expansive Riceboro estate that Affleck reportedly purchased for $7.11 million in 2003, and later tried to sell in 2018 after news surfaced of a slave-owning relative in his mother's ancestry, Page Six reported. Married actors Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively publicly apologized in 2020 for holding their 2012 wedding ceremony at Boone Hall, a former plantation in South Carolina where enslaved people had been beaten and killed.
After coming out as pansexual, Jena Malone—the star of upcoming films Adopting Audrey and Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon—talked with The Hollywood Reporter about her sexuality, Out Magazine noted. "It felt so nice," Malone said about coming out. "I've been thinking about it for a while. The sexual journey is so beautiful. I mean, all of the identity journeys are so cool. I feel like I'm a little bit late to the game in being able to have less shame." Malone first came out about being pansexual and polyamorous in an Instagram post along with a video of her dancing.
Lil Nas X has been appointed as the newest "makeup and fragrance ambassador" for YSL Beauty, per Out Magazine. "An iconic generational superstar and daring change-maker, Lil Nas X is at the vanguard of how we see ourselves today: of a new world order that embraces inclusivity and unapologetic self-expression," a statement read.
Bravo's Million Dollar Listing alum and The Eklund | Gomes Team founder Fredrik Eklund recently co-founded new social real estate app REAL alongside entrepreneur Thomas Ma, according to Forbes. REAL is a social app for real estate that fuses an Instagram-style platform with WhatsApp-style chat abilities that allows agents to promote themselves for free and create another stream of revenue.
Actress Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) revealed what director (and. fan) Quentin Tarantino told her about not casting her in Kill Bill, a Variety item noted. She told Town & Country, "He's very smart. He said, 'Who would believe that Uma Thurman could kick your ass?'" Yeoh is currently gearing up for Oscar season, where she'll be in contention for best actress thanks to her acclaimed turn in Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Nicki Minaj made history with her new single "Super Freaky Girl." It bowed at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 as she earns "the first solo female rap track to debut at #1 since 1998," per a press release. Also, Minaj is "the first female lead artist to debut at #1 in 2022," "the first female rapper with multiple #1 debuts," and the "first female rapper to reach #1 without a video in over two years."
Universal/Blumhouse/Miramax's Halloween Ends, which is already set for theatrical release on Oct. 14, will also debut on Uni's Peacock streaming service day-and-date, per Deadline. This is a similar practice to what was done with the previous installment of the Jamie Lee Curtis revived horror franchise, Halloween Kills, last October.
Hellraiser—a reimagining of out writer Clive Barker's 1987 horror classic from director David Bruckner—will debut in the U.S. exclusively on Hulu on Oct. 7 as part of the streamer's annual "Huluween" celebration of fright-filled content, per a press release. In the all-new Hellraiser, a young woman struggling with addiction comes into possession of an ancient puzzle box, unaware that its purpose is to summon the Cenobites, a group of sadistic supernatural beings from another dimension.
Kelli Giddish, who plays Detective Amanda Rollins on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, is leaving the show, Deadline noted. The actress joined the NBC drama in its 13th season and will depart in the middle of the upcoming 24th season. The new season begins Sept. 22, when a three-way crossover is planned for all of NBC's L&O dramas. The action will begin on Law & Order: Organized Crime and continue on Law & Order: SVU before wrapping up on Law & Order.
Teri Hatcher (TV's Desperate Housewives; national tour of Cabaret) will play Morticia Addams in 5-Star Theatricals' fall production of the 2010 Broadway musical The Addams Family, per Playbill. Directed by Kirsten Chandler, performances will run Oct. 14-23 at the Bank of America Performing Arts Center in Thousand Oaks, California.
Madonna's daughter, Lourdes Leon, has paid tribute to pop royalty, including Lady Gaga, with her debut solo single, "Lock&Key," Entertainment Weekly noted. "No sleep, next plane, no sleep, make up, next club, next car, next plane, no sleep, no fear," Leon sings, and the lyrics are a slight alteration of an interview answer Gaga gave in 2011 that detailed her work ethic and lifestyle of "no sleep, bus, club, 'nother club, 'nother club, plane, next place, no sleep, no fear." Leon released the single under the name Lolahol.
Three men were arrested in connection with breaking into Mariah Carey's Atlanta home, Extra noted. In a statement, a spokesperson said, "The Miami-Dade Police Department captured and placed Jeremy 'J-Rock' Caldwell, Terryion Anderson and Jalen Huff under arrest based on the intelligence and investigation of the Sandy Springs Police Department." Carey was out of town when her house was robbed.
Charles Freeman, a Kansas City man, testified that he tracked down sex tapes at the request of R. Kelly and his associates for money, ABC 7 Chicago reported. Freeman testified he was promised $1 million to get video tapes stolen from Kelly, saying he was sent to a home in Georgia to recover the tapes. Freeman said much of the negotiations were with Kelly's business manager and co-defendant Derrel McDavid.
