Out former college football player Jake Bain (image via Instagram) Jake Bain, the Missouri high school football star who made headlines in 2017 after coming out as gay, and later became one of the first openly gay Division I team athletes in history when he matriculated at Indiana State in 2018, issued some disturbing allegations in his Instagram Stories on Thursday. Bain, who retired from football after his freshman year, posted a statement alleging that his father – who has apparently worked as a high school basketball coach for years – had abused Bain and “many others.” Bain’s statement via Instagram:
“I have in my possession over 20 pages of court documents, detailing the abuse that me, and many others endured at the hands of my father. To protect the confidentiality of those who are mentioned in these documents, I won’t release them to the public.”
“However, I believe that [it] should be public knowledge that while working as a high school basketball coach at both Westminster Christian Academy, and MICDS, two well known private schools in Saint Louis, MO, my father was found to be showering with other students, emailing inappropriately with students about things a coach or teacher should never be talking to kids about, and would have students to his house for ‘sleepovers.’”
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that none of this behavior is appropriate for any adult to be displaying. To my knowledge, my father is still coaching basketball at the AAU level in Saint Louis, so I urge anyone who is either employing him to coach, or allowing him to use their facilities, to please stop, so this behavior does not continue.”
(screen capture via Instagram/Jake.Bain) Last May, Bain shared that he is a survivor of sexual abuse, writing, “To those of you who are victims of sexual abuse, I’m with you. I know how you may be feeling. I want you to know that you are not alone.” “Waking up to a sweat-filled bed, left with the fleeting thoughts and feelings of what we had to endure and carry on with us,” he continued. “These scars of which I fear most, are also a constant reminder that I got through it. I persevered. We are warriors, and just when you think you can’t do it anymore… fight a little longer. Reach out to others for help. Don’t be afraid to feel vulnerable. Know that this was not your fault, and does not define who you are.”
After coming out in 2018, Bain went on to famously take his boyfriend to the prom and even appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show where the talk show host honored him for his courage in coming out. Bain’s post did not identify his father by name, but a report at Kenneth in the (212) said his father is Eric Bain. “Although the allegations are somewhat fuzzy — where are these court documents filed? are the police involved? is there an ongoing investigation of his father? — they are clearly disturbing,” wrote Kenneth. “According to Eric Bain’s LinkedIn, he currently works in training at the St. Louis Basketball Academy.” Jake Bain recently came out again, this time as pansexual. He’s currently pursuing a degree in sports psychology. Here’s the report from 2018 when Bain came out as gay.
Icona Pop and Sofi Tukker in ‘Spa’ The chart-topping duo Icona Pop are back with the official music video for “Spa,” their musical collaboration with electronic duo Sofi-Tukker. The quirky, retro-inspired video is the perfect pairing for the new wave-ish, techno-pop bop. Speaking about the collaboration, Icona Pop’s Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo explain, “This song is weird in the very best way and we hope that people can have a rave spa at home while listening to it.” Sofi Tukker adds, “We hope people can feel the joy and giddiness and ridiculousness that we all felt while making it. Even though we miss the club now more than ever, there’s also never been such an important time for self-care. Put some cuces on your eyes.”
Tafari Anthony Queer pop artist Tafari Anthony releases his latest single, “No Good.” The soulful electro-pop track features soaring vocals by Anthony as he explores how some relationships are just no good for us, yet we somehow still end up pursuing them for whatever reason. “It is so much easier than you’d think to get trapped in this cycle of a bad relationship,” Anthony recently told American Songwriter. “I’ve heard too often from people that when a relationship is going well they feel like it’s missing something and that something is the drama.” https://youtu.be/R733A-aJ41g
Conan Gray and Lauv in ‘Fake’ (screen capture)Lauv joins forces with Conan Gray for the breezy mid-tempo “Fake,” which skewers vapid, phony social media personalities that seem to prize the number of followers over actual connections. Amid a series of escalating fake photoshoots, the colorful music video features the duo engaging in staged pillow fights and dancing through super-saturated, bigger-than-life soundstage sets before being returned to reality.
3-time Olympic medalist Danell Leyva (screen capture) Gymnast Danell Leyva, who represented Team USA at two Olympic Games, came out to his 52,000+ followers on Twitter earlier this month on National Coming Out Day. “For a long time I’ve known that I wasn’t straight,” began the 28-year-old Cuban-American. “But because of certain very personal reasons, I always rejected that side of me.” Leyva added, “Earlier this year I finally understood that I’m bi/pan (still trying to figure that one out) but I also realized that, as of now at least, I’m not attracted to cis men.”
For a long time I’ve known that I wasn’t straight. But because of certain very personal reasons, I always rejected that side of me. Earlier this year I finally understood that I’m bi/pan (still trying to figure that one out) but…
One of the main reasons why I’ve never come out publicly is because throughout my life, for whatever reason, other people’s perception of my own sexuality have always been imposed onto me and it has always made me reject it even more. It made me uncomfortable. Not because…
A reminder to check the way we say certain things to people. Because sometimes our hearts and intentions may be in the right place, but we never truly know what they’re dealing with.
Speaking to Olympic Channel, Leyva shared that stereotypes about men in his sport, plus his own determination to not give homophobes “the satisfaction of being right,” slowed his coming out process in some respects. “[The stereotypes were] such a big factor in it, just not giving those people the satisfaction of being right because it doesn’t come from a good place,” said Leyva. “It wasn’t somebody that was trying to help us understand [our sexuality]. It was just somebody pointing at us and that doesn’t feel good.”
The Olympic champion also noted that, as he was growing up, he would “always somewhat reject” his sexuality. “And especially coming from Hispanic family, it’s very much rejected,” he added. Leyva says he had been thinking about coming out for a while and almost shared the news this past June during Pride Month. But with Black Lives Matter protests happening across the nation in the aftermath of George Floyd’s homicide, he reconsidered. “I was like, ‘No, I’m not really that important,’” said Leyva. “And so I decided to just kind of forget about it, and I did forget about it.” Until, that is, until this year’s National Coming Out Day and those five empowering tweets. Since sharing his authentic self with the world, Leyva says the response he’s received has been overwhelmingly positive and supportive. Among the many who have sent messages of support were fellow Olympic gymnasts Aly Raisman, Simone Biles, and out figure skater Adam Rippon.
Congratulations Danell. Happy #NationalComingOutDay. Incredible for you to share something so personal. Don’t be so terrified, it gets easier. Really happy for you. You just have to be yourself & people who matter will still love you. Sending u socially distanced hugs ❤ 🏳️🌈 🌈
Glad you feel comfortable enough to share, and like other mentioned, don’t bother with exact labels. Feel free to explore and change your mind at any point, the only person you have an obligation to I that regard is yourself. 🏳️🌈
Also comforting to the 2011 World parallel bars champion were messages giving him space to not worry about this label or that label. “In the post, I said that I’m still trying to figure out between whether I’m a bi or pan. It was nice to have people be like, ‘You don’t have to label it. You don’t have to just be ‘a thing’. It’s an ever-changing fluid thing, so you don’t have to worry about that,’” explained the world-class athlete. “That was nice because that was certainly reassuring.” “You know, it’s such a non-issue,” he continued. “It literally means nothing that if you’re just like, ‘Oh, you’re left-handed? That’s cool. Oh, you’re bi? That’s cool.’ Like, it’s really nothing.” “Everybody’s different, you know?” said Leyva before adding, “And at the same time, we’re not.” Leyva hopes that his coming out might offer some inspiration to those considering coming out themselves. “If I get help one person be brave enough to live in their truth, then I feel like that that was the entire point of that post.” And speaking of ‘inspiration,’ let’s flashback to Leyva’s exhibition performance on the parallel bars at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson (screen capture) During his Wednesday night show, Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson told his audience that his producers had acquired “incriminating documents” about Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, but the documents had “vanished” while being shipped from New York to Los Angeles. From The Independent:
In a bizarre segment on Wednesday night’s show, Carlson alleged that his team mailed the documents from New York to Los Angeles after receiving them from a “source” on Monday, but that the bundle never arrived.
Without providing any further details or evidence, Carlson said the “damning” documents had “vanished” on route, heavily implying foul play.
Carlson said a producer had shipped the documents to him from New York to Los Angeles via a “brand-name company”. When they didn’t arrive, the shipping company told Fox that their package had been opened and the documents had “disappeared”.
Viewers questioned why Fox shipped the only copy of such “damning” material without making any kind of back-up, and the segment has since been a subject of ridicule on social media.
Within the last hour, a spokesman for UPS told The Daily Beast that they had located the mysterious package Carlson suggested had been deliberately misplaced or intercepted because it contained “damning” materials on the Biden family. “After an extensive search, we have found the contents of the package and are arranging for its return,” the spokesman said.
If I understand the implications of his argument, I believe Tucker is arguing the Deep State ate his homework. Or something like that. https://t.co/BxqnFT4hyx
this is actually important, beyond being comical: the reason the Hunter laptop story has gone nowhere is bc Rudy etc ***won't produce** the laptop for reporters to confirm etc.
(screen capture via CBS News) Some news items you might have missed: • USA Today: A new report says five states – Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Oregon – are at a high risk for activity by armed groups of civilians around the November 3 election. The report lists nine, large multistate right-wing groups that could present problems to Pennsylvania and other states, including Three Percenters, Proud Boys, and Oath Keepers. • The Advocate: A dispute between two people inside the popular gay bar Paco’s Ranch in Puerto Vallarta escalated into a physical altercation that spilled outside of the Romantic Zone establishment. One left, returned with a gun, and shot two men. • Statista: Although Donald Trump has claimed his 2016 win “was the biggest electoral college win since Ronald Reagan,” his triumph was not the landslide he pretends. In fact, he won fewer electoral votes than all but one president since Ronald Reagan. (graphic via Statista) • Page Six: Willie Garson, who played Carrie Bradshaw’s bestie “Stanford Blatch” on the hit series Sex and the City recently revealed why he stayed in the closet as a straight actor. “For years I didn’t talk about it because I found it to be offensive to gay people.” • OUT: International pop star Ricky Martin says “as a Latino, as a gay man, and as someone ‘married to an Arab’ — his husband is Syrian painter Jwan Yosef — he can’t imagine voting for Trump.” Martin added that seeing news about ‘Latinos for Trump’ is “really scary.” • Twitter: A Trump supporter in California was caught on video threatening a female motorist outside a polling place this past weekend. In the clip, the man walks in front of the woman’s car and appears to take a picture of her license plate. “We got your plates, baby. We know who you are now. You’re gonna vote for Trump whether you like it or not. You got no choice. You cannot resist Trump. We got you. We fucking got you.” #VoterIntimidation
This crazy Trump supporter was last seen at a MAGA rally in Beverly Hills, CA taking photos of people’s license plates and trying to intimidate them. pic.twitter.com/Bxnn9n9S96
Drew Canan in ‘Bad Rich Boy’ (screen capture) Artie O’Daly serves up the latest installment of his wild and wacky ‘Bad Boy’ web series just in time for Hump Day. In this episode, titled ‘Bad Rich Boy,’ Scott (played by O’Daly) returns home from a business trip and is surprised (again) to find BJ (Braden Davis) playing house. Scott: “BJ – why are you in my house?”BJ: “Same reason you’re here.”Scott: “I live here.”BJ: “I live here – when you’re not here…” BJ explains an ‘executor’ (or is it ‘executioner?’) contacted him about his dead uncle’s estate worth over $2 million. Whitney (Theresa Ryan) shows up complaining that Mariah Carey stole her life story, Jim (Drew Canan) finds a very good reason to take off his shirt (yay!), and everyone has an opinion on Scott smelling like cows. Artie O’Daly in ‘Bad Rich Boy’ (screen capture)Got it? Going on… The executor, Kaleidoscope (her parents had a thing for light refractions), finally shows up but she may not be exactly who she appears to be. O’Daly’s sharp dialogue keeps the absurdist comedy storytelling on point as the characters ricochet from topic to topic with Scott trying to survive the verbal chaos. And an unexpected revelation leads everyone to wonder who might have killed him. Hit the play button below for a clever mid-day brain break. You can Instinct’s previous coverage of the acclaimed ‘Bad Boy’ web series here.
L-R Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Jack Black, Pete Buttigieg (screen captures) It’s astounding… time is fleeting… and the 2020 election is here. Jack Black teams up with Tenacious D and several guest stars to “Rock-y the vote!” The music video is part of the Rock The Vote campaign that encourages young people to participate in elections. Black and D throwdown this raucous take on the Rocky Horror Picture Show number “Time Warp” that encourages voters to make a “jump to the left” (and not a step to the right).
Joining in are former Mayor Pete Buttigieg, George Takei, John Waters, Susan Sarandon (the original film’s ‘Janet’), Sarah Silverman, Jamie Lee Curtis, and a host of other celebs who want to make sure you VOTE!
The Upshot at the New York Times has adjusted its table of what would happen if the polls were as wrong as they were in 2016.
For the past few months, the table reflected the polling error over the final three weeks. Now, the table reflects the error in the final week of polls in 2016.
One reason the polls seemed to miss by so much in 2016: Hillary Clinton had a large lead in the polls conducted two to three weeks before the election. The race tightened in the end, after the third debate and the Comey Letter. There was always a chance that would happen this year, and we wanted to represent that possibility.
Why change now? Well, we’re under a week to go. We’re past the point when the polls showed the race tightening in 2016.
All of this is not to say Joe Biden is a lock on winning. Far from it. This is just some consideration on what’s going on in polling today. Follow The Upshot for daily updates here. Whatever you do – make sure you vote! And if possible, do it in person or drop off your ballot in person.(graphic via NY Times)
Matt Zarley and Leslie Ellis As a young actor, my first big break was being cast as the ‘Magical Mr. Mistoffelees’ in a brand new national touring company of the blockbuster Broadway musical CATS. While I was ‘living a dream’ over those years back in the 1980s, a nightmare called HIV/AIDS was taking thousands of lives from us. As a company, we wanted to do ‘something.’ So in 1987, we organized one of the first large-scale benefits performances by a touring company to help those affected by HIV. Amazingly, we raised over $36K in one night. Fast forward to today, and another viral pandemic is here. A few months ago, one of my former CATS castmates reached out to say, “Anyone want to do another fundraiser?” And so, we did.
“With Love, Now and Forever! Cats4CovidRelief” premiered on October 23 and will be available until October 28. At this writing, combining donations at Broadway Cares and YouTube, we’ve raised over $20,000 and counting Today, I’m talking to two of my closest CATS castmates, Grammy Award-winner Leslie Ellis and two-time OutMusic Award-winner Matt Zarley, about this recent company reunion. Hit the play button to hear us chat on this recent collaboration, reminisce about life on the road as young actors, and laugh a bit about the life-changing experience that was CATS. While our streaming event is scheduled to be removed from Broadway Cares website at the end of October 28, the video is still up at this writing on BC/EFA’s YouTube channel on an unlisted page here. Plus, you can see Matt’s gorgeous segment featuring Leslie singing “Memory” here.
Donald Trump (image via public domain/White House)Bloomberg News reports Donald Trump’s campaign has “all but pulled its advertising out of Florida, as it stakes its relatively small bank account on the industrial northern states that carried him to victory in 2016.” Team Trump reportedly canceled $5.5 million in ad spending in the Sunshine State although there is still about $350,000 in ad spots still scheduled to run before Election Day. The Trump campaign contends its “organizational strength” will carry the day to victory in Florida. “Trump is now placing his final bet on just 4 battleground states: Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio & Pennsylvania,” reports Bloomberg. The media outlet adds that since Labor Day the president has scaled back campaign ad spending by $24 million. At the same time, former Vice President Joe Biden has been outspending Trump at a ratio of 3-1 as he added $197 million to his ad budget.
This makes no sense, unless you’re out of cash: Trump campaign spending on Minnesota but pulling out of FLORIDA.https://t.co/qeXZKbXfmf
Update: After I shared this post this morning, Thea McDonald, Deputy National Press Secretary for the Trump Campaign, reached out this response from Tim Murtaugh, Trump 2020 communications director:
“The Bloomberg story is horribly wrong and should never have been written. The campaign, with the RNC coordinated buy, is up with a seven figure buy in Florida on broadcast TV alone. In addition in Florida, we are up with six figures in local cable, six figures in Spanish language, and six figures on radio. Our ad buying week by week in the state has been consistent, and the reporting on this issue demonstrates a clear misunderstanding of how ad buying works (and in some cases a misunderstanding of simple addition and subtraction). Last week we announced a $55 million buy over the final two weeks, which is a 40 percent increase over our previous levels. Just yesterday we added $6 million on top of that for the final week. Including Florida, the Trump campaign is on television in 12 states and also nationally. This is sloppy reporting at the highest level.”
Bloomberg has updated their report adding details and quotes of advertising strategy.
The RNC is picking up some of that slack, buying $4 million in ads beginning last week. It’s now airing an ad in Florida attacking Biden on Medicare, falsely claiming that the Biden health care plan would eliminate private health insurance.
