Author: Randy Slovacek

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Hollywood Golden Boy, Tan Hunter, Passes Away At 86

Tab Hunter, the handsome heartthrob of Hollywood’s golden age, has passed away at the age of 86 in his home in Santa Barbara, California.
Tab Hunter (screen capture from Damn Yankees)

Tab Hunter, the handsome heartthrob of Hollywood’s golden age, has passed away at the age of 86 in his home in Santa Barbara, California.

The news was announced on the Facebook page for the 2015 documentary about his life, Tab Hunter: Confidential:

A representative reported the death was due to a blood clot.

With a career spanning over 40 films from the 1950s like Damn Yankees! and Battle Cry to the 1980s in Grease 2, and John Waters’ movies Polyester and Lust in the Dust, Hunter had recently returned to the spotlight after coming out in his 2005 memoir, Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star.

Hunter also enjoyed some success in the music world, scoring a hit single with “Young Love” in 1957.

A revealing documentary based on his memoir was released in 2015 simply titled, Tab Hunter Confidential. The documentary is currently on Netflix and I can’t recommend it enough.

His most notable recent public appearance was attending a performance of the acclaimed revival of The Boys in the Band on Broadway. The 86-year-old was spotted backstage speaking with one of the play’s stars, Zachary Quinto, who is producing a new biopic regarding the longtime, secret romance between Hunter and actor Anthony Perkins.

Fearful of losing his all-American image, Hunter never spoke about his sexuality until his memoir in 2005.

In an interview from last year with the Pocono Record, he said:

“If I had come out during my acting career in the 1950s, I would not have had a career. Not much in Hollywood has changed in 60 years. I really didn’t talk about my sexuality until I wrote my autobiography. My film career had long since been over by then. I believe one’s sexuality is one’s own business. I really don’t go around discussing it. Call me ’old school’ on that topic.”

Hunter would have turned 87 this Wednesday, July 11.

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Podcast: Pop-Star and Pro-Soccer Player Come Out, Plus How Trump’s SCOTUS Pick Could Affect Marriage Equality

In this week’s podcast:

• The governor of Maine becomes the first in the nation to veto an ‘ex-gay therapy’ ban

• An Ohio congressman is accused of turning a blind-eye to sex abuse

• Starbucks expands healthcare for transgender employees

• New Jersey adopts new trans rights

• Ohio lawmakers want teachers to snitch on trans students

• How Trump’s new Supreme Court could affect marriage equality

• Pro soccer player Collin Martin comes out

• And Panic! At the Disco’s‘ Brendon Urie comes out

All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report podcast.

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3 More Men Come Forward With Allegations Of Sexual Assault By Kevin Spacey

Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey

The allegations of ‘inappropriate behavior’ by Oscar winner Kevin Spacey continue to pile up as three more men have come forward accusing Spacey of sexual assault.

All three men say the assaults took place in the 1990s in England. Police in the UK are now investigating six different accusations of assault by the actor.

Concurrently, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is looking into a 1992 accusation of sexual assault against Spacey.

It was in late October of 2017 that the Academy Award winner’s career began to spin out from under him as Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp came forward during the surge of the #MeToo movement to accuse Spacey of making a sexual advance to him in the 1980s when Rapp was only 14-years-old.

Almost immediately, a list of other men came forward with their own reports of sexual impropriety.

The 58-year-old actor was released from his starring role on the hit Netflix series House of Cards after several members of the cast and crew raised their own accusations.

It’s been announced that the final season of House of Cards will focus on Robin Wright’s character of “Claire Underwood.” The series recently released this tease.

Additionally, Spacey was also edited out of the movie All the Money in the World shortly before it’s release and replaced with Christopher Plummer, who would go on to be nominated for Golden Globe, BAFTA and Academy Awards for his work in the film.

According to reports, Spacey’s agent and publicist have severed ties with the actor.

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The Relationship Between Fox News & Donald Trump Is ‘Weird’

CNN breaks down the odd and unusual relationship between Fox News and Donald Trump

CNN’s Brian Stelter breaks down the very unusual relationship between Fox News and Donald Trump.

From Trump’s regular appearances going back to 2011 to consulting with Fox News host Sean Hannity on a regular basis, Stelter goes into how odd it is.

Stelter sees the conservative network’s support for Trump as a sort of “merger between a culture-war TV station and a culture-war president.”

Many are beginning to call Fox News the ‘state-run news organization.’

Watch below.

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Meme Of The Day

A bird on a branch says to a bat hanging upside down: "Our experience of the world is very different but that doesn't mean you're lying about your experience"

From the Instagram account Drawings of Dogs:

Believe women.
Believe people of colour.
Believe people with disabilities.
Believe trans people.
Believe lesbians, gay, bi, asexual, and intersex people.
Believe people who are poor.
Believe people who exist at the intersection of these identities and oppressions.
Believe those people who are experts on their own oppressions because they never had the choice (/the privilege) to not develop that expertise.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
#feminist #gurlstalk #feminism #intersectionalfeminism #intersectionality #gender #pride #transisbeautiful #trans #socialjustice #blm #wholesomememes #queer #lgbtqia #lgbt #pride #tnycartoons #incolourfulcompany #cartoonist #webcomic #illustratorsoninstagram #believewomen #lovetrumpshate #empathy #bemorekind #kindnessquotes #resist #abolishice

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InstaHunk Round-Up: Weekend Edition

This hottie medical student, Marco, is outdoors enjoying the weather in Canada.

Checking in on what our favorite InstaHunks are doing this weekend.

Med student Marco (above) enjoys the gorgeous Canadian weather while we enjoy the view.

A post shared by Maxs Souza 🇧🇷 (@maxs_souza92) on Jul 8, 2018 at 7:08am PDT
A post shared by Quin Bruce (@quin_bruce) on Jul 7, 2018 at 12:23pm PDT
A post shared by Francesc Gascó (@pakozoic) on Jul 8, 2018 at 2:13am PDT
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Trump Administration Announces Suspension In Payments To Healthcare Insurers

The Trump administration takes another swipe at the Affordable Care Act by suspending payments to insurers required under the healthcare law.
Donald Trump

The Trump administration takes another swipe at the Affordable Care Act by suspending payments to insurers required under the healthcare law.

From The Washington Post:

In a rare Saturday afternoon announcement, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it will stop collecting and paying out money under the ACA’s “risk adjustment” program, drawing swift protest from the health insurance industry.

Risk adjustment is one of three methods built into the 2010 health-care law to help insulate insurance companies from the ACA requirement that they accept all customers for the first time — healthy and sick — without charging more to those who need substantial care.

In its announcement, CMS said that it is not going to make $10.4 billion in payments that are due to insurers in the fall for expenses incurred by insurers last year.

This is the latest step the Trump administration has taken in its attempts to dismantle the healthcare law via executive powers.

In 2017, the sign-up period for Americans to buy ACA health plans was cut in half by healthcare officials.

Also, the advertising campaign for the signup period was cut by 90 percent.

Last October, the president ended cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers, which helps balance the law’s requirement to provide discounts on deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs to low-income customers.

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UPDATED: 7th Former Wrestler Accuses Congressman Of Turning Blind Eye To College Sex Abuse

GOP Congressman Jim Jordan has been accused of turning a blind eye to alleged sex abuse by a college wrestling coach when he was an assistant coach
Rep. Jim Jordan

UPDATE: A 7th former wrestler has come forward saying Rep. Jim Jordan knew about the allegations of sex abuse.

From The Washington Post:

David Range, who wrestled for Ohio State in the late 1980s, said Jordan had to have known about alleged sexual misconduct by Richard Strauss, an athletic doctor whose behavior is under investigation by the school, because it happened regularly to team members and people talked about it. Jordan has denied he knew, saw or heard about any inappropriate behavior while he was an assistant wrestling coach from 1987 to 1995.

“Jordan definitely knew that these things were happening — yes, most definitely,” Range told The Washington Post. “It was there. He knew about it because it was an everyday occurrence.”

**********************************

Two former college wrestlers have accused Rep. Jim Jordan (R) of knowing about alleged sexual abuse of wrestlers at Ohio State University three decades ago and failing to act.

From The Washington Post:

Jordan (R-Ohio) responded after two former Ohio State wrestlers told NBC News on the record that he must have known about abuse allegations against Richard Strauss, a former doctor in Ohio State’s athletics department. Jordan served as assistant wrestling coach at the university from 1987 to 1995.

“Congressman Jordan never saw any abuse, never heard about any abuse, and never had any abuse reported to him during his time as a coach at Ohio State,” Ian Fury, a spokesman for Jordan, said in a statement. “He has not been contacted by investigators about the matter but will assist them in any way they ask, because if what is alleged is true, the victims deserve a full investigation and justice.”

Former Ohio State wrestler Mike DiSabato told NBC News that Jordan is a “liar” for saying he did not know about the alleged abuse.

“He knew,” DiSabato said in a brief phone interview with The Post. “That’s not a question. Why he had a spokesman put out misinformation is frankly beyond comprehension, because is he the target of this? No. It was common knowledge and he knew.”

DiSabato said he was first abused by Strauss at 14 as a high school wrestler. He said he believes Strauss abused 1,000-2,000 young athletes.

“He was Larry Nassar before Larry Nassar,” DiSabato said, referring to the disgraced former sports physician who was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing girls and young women.

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NYC: 20th Edition Of ‘Broadway Barks’ To Be Held July 14
Broadway Barks, the star-studded dog and cat adoption event benefiting New York City animal shelters and adoption agencies, will return for its 20th edition this summer.

The event, produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, will again take place in Shubert Alley. Festivities begin at 3 pm. The always popular “pet parade” where Broadway actors introduce adoptable pets from citywide animal shelters begins after 5 pm.

Broadway Barks co-founder and Broadway legend Bernadette Peters will be joined by her Hello, Dolly! co-star Victor Garber as hosts of the event.

Celebrity guests will include Kate Baldwin, Melissa Benoist, Erich Bergen, Matt Bomer, Charlie Carver, Kevin Chamberlin, Gavin Creel, Renée Fleming, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Rachel Bay Jones, Telly Leung, Kevin Ligon, Katharine McPhee, Bebe Neuwirth, Alex Newell, Ashley Park, Mary Beth Peil, Isaac Powell, Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells, Evan Todd, Taylor Trensch, Michael Urie, Max von Essen, Michael Benjamin Washington, Tuc Watkins, Barrett Wilbert Weed, Sam Wolf and Amra-Faye Wright. Special guests are subject to change.

Since the first Broadway Barks, more than 2,000 cats and dogs have been adopted thanks to a bit of help from their famous Broadway pals. Approximately 85% of these furry friends have successfully found forever homes.

The event is free. Funds raised from a raffle, silent auction, signed memorabilia sales and donations are distributed to the participating shelters and rescue groups.

Broadway Barks was started in 1998 by Peters and her best friend, acclaimed actress Mary Tyler Moore, who passed away in 2017.

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Tease: ‘House Of Cards’ Starring Robin Wright

Robin Wright as “President Claire Underwood”

In the aftermath of sex abuse allegations against actor Kevin Spacey, Netflix cut the Oscar winner loose from the acclaimed series House of Cards and has announced the final season of the political drama will focus on Robin Wright’s “Claire Underwood” serving as president of the United States.

The streaming network dropped this tease on July 4 with Wright delivering the single line, “Happy Independence Day, to me.”

The last season saw ‘Claire’ ascend to the presidency with the promise that she would pardon Spacey’s  ‘Frank Underwood’ from multiple crimes. The final scene saw ‘Claire’ dodge that promise, and for the first time she turned to address the viewing audience (as ‘Frank’ had done throughout the series) and say, “My turn.”

Both hubby Michael and I are big fans of the series. At any given badass moment, we’ve declared to the living room, “I want to be Claire Underwood!”

Squeee! Can’t wait!