Checking in with the men of Insta: Wilson Cruz (above) spent his New Year’s celebration in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and came out the other side as a well-rested human (below). #LoveSomePV
Steve_in_la (via Instagram) Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: For some #ManCrushMonday action, I’m checking in with woofy Steve_in_la (above) who’s on the most fab European holiday trip. Check him out in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles. I don’t know who’s more gorgeous – Steve or the Palace… 🙂 • CBS News: Governor Jim Justice of West Virginia fired a group of recently graduated corrections officers Monday after they made a gesture resembling a Nazi salute in their class photo. Justice also fired a staffer at the state’s corrections officer academy and suspended four instructors without pay for failing to report the picture. In a statement, Justice said, “This kind of behavior will not be tolerated on my watch in any agency of State government.” • Washington Post: Over the course of his presidency, Trump has visited a Trump-owned or branded property on three out of every 10 days. Slightly more: Of the 1,075 days on which he has been president, he has visited Mar-a-Lago or a Trump Something-or-other on 331 of them, 31 percent of the time. Note – At a rally on Aug. 8, 2016, Trump assured the audience that, “because I’m going to be working for you, I’m not going to have time to go play golf.” • Politico: Peter Strzok, the former FBI agent who launched the bureau’s Russia probe in 2016 and was fired two years later for sending text messages critical of Donald Trump, has alleged in a new court filing challenging his dismissal that the FBI and Justice Department violated his rights to free speech and privacy. • Gallup: Barack Obama and Donald Trump tied this year as the most admired man. It is Obama’s 12th time in the top spot versus the first for Trump. Michelle Obama is the most admired woman for the second year in a row. • NewNowNext: After returning to the West End production of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, drag star Bianca Del Rio was not having a woman in the audience who filmed the first act of the musical on her phone, which was noticed by the cast of the show, including Bianca. “Dear blonde bitch with glasses, Thanks for distracting the ENTIRE CAST and SEVERAL PEOPLE AROUND YOU as you filmed during all of ACT ONE with your phone in your hand. This is not a concert, theme park or even a cruise ship… it’s THE THEATRE! RESPECT IT!”
Dear blonde bitch with glasses, Thanks for distracting the ENTIRE CAST and SEVERAL PEOPLE AROUND YOU as you filmed during all of ACT ONE with your phone in your hand. This is not a concert, theme park or even a cruise ship…… it’s THE THEATRE! RESPECT IT ! @JamieMusical 🙄
(image via Instagram/Chippendales) Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: My brother is in town for the holidays, and that means we have to head down at some point to see the world-famous Chippendales (above) at the Rio Hotel here in Las Vegas. The sold-out show totally rocked. If you can’t get to Vegas, the Chipps just announced a 30 city tour beginning in late January. Click here for dates and tix. #Grrr • JoeMyGod: A teenage boy who alleges sexual abuse by a priest killed the priest by shoving a crucifix down his throat. • The Gaily Grind: Disney has cut a brief scene featuring Star Wars’ first same-sex kiss from its new movie “The Rise of Skywalker” in Singapore, a country where same-sex marriage is illegal and sex between men is punishable by up to two years in prison. • KIT212: Kenneth has the lowdown on the what’s what in gay rags across the country like Chicago’s GRAB Magazine celebrating ‘The Men of Bullies and Biceps.” • Washington Blade: Amid speculation Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will leave his position to pursue his old job as U.S. senator in Kansas, Donald Trump is considering U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell – who’s also the highest-ranking openly gay person in his administration – as a replacement. • NY Times: Foreign teachers at some private schools in Indonesia have been required to answer questions and many more like them in what has been billed as a psychological exam to determine teachers’ sexual orientation and attitude toward gay rights. A 2015 government regulation prohibits international schools from hiring foreign teachers who have “an indication of abnormal sexual behavior or orientation.” • HuffPost: Donald Trump likes to brag that he donates his $400,000 annual salary as president to charities. But according to folks tracking the Trumpster’s golf habit, his passion for the links has now cost taxpayers $118 million – or about 296 years of that presidential salary. Remember when he said if elected he’d “never leave the White House…?”
GOLF UPDATE — 27 DEC 2019:
Trump is at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach. He has now spent 232 days on a golf course he owns in his 1,072 days in office. It is his 67th day at his course in West Palm Beach. Taxpayer-paid golf tab: $118.3 million.https://t.co/acbH3EXZ5s — S.V. Dáte (@svdate) December 27, 2019
Fitness guy Nik has the perfect package for you (via Instagram) Spending some Christmastime with the InstaHotties: First up, fitness guy Nik (above) has the perfect package for you this holiday season. Joel Green is giving you full-on Florida #BlackSanta realness: https://www.instagram.com/p/B6docoeJFnk/ Mitch Fit got a huge sword from Santa and looks like he knows how to use it: https://www.instagram.com/p/B6eh54rp8Oj/ Super-fit paleontologist Francesc Gascó and friend want everyone to eat, smile and be happy: https://www.instagram.com/p/B6dnRJ2IZjx/ Shoutout to the ModernBearMedia guys for knowing a real Santa when they see one: https://www.instagram.com/p/B6d7DaBJNTw/ Fitness expert Ramses Principe wants to know if you landed on the “Naughty” or “Nice” list this year? https://www.instagram.com/p/B6ddbQbnk7g/ Simon Dunn and Felix Maisey-Curtis are looking adorable in matching stripes and their big Weiner: https://www.instagram.com/p/B6fhcmChLth/ ABC News reporter Gio Benitez and hubby Tommy Didario are playing the matching outfits game as well (down to the socks!): https://www.instagram.com/p/B6f9idTlCWG/ Jim Newman got a really, really nice package from his boo: https://www.instagram.com/p/B6gG5zolepJ/ Photographer Michael Stokes offers his own take on elf shenanigans: https://www.instagram.com/p/B6gFz8KhN4Q/ Gorgeous Steve_in_LA is spending his holidays in gorgeous Salzburg, Austria: https://www.instagram.com/p/B6d0zN8hQ2W/ Rick and the Griffopotamus celebrate gay penguins with an invitation to kiss under the mistletoe: https://www.instagram.com/p/B6d0hCZga-9/ Spanish fitness model Jonathan Guijarro is giving you sexy eyes on Christmas Day: https://www.instagram.com/p/B6f1GSIoasx/ Max Emerson sends holiday greetings from Thailand: https://www.instagram.com/p/B6f0UdvFruL/ Rodiney Santiago offers his Christmas Eve greetings in classic champagne glass: https://www.instagram.com/p/B6dL-DgnwbF/ We are totally loving artist Silverjow’s take on Santa Claus and reindeer: https://www.instagram.com/p/B6dzylPH-Zq/ https://www.instagram.com/p/B6daGy1nvbi/
Chris Hemsworth and friend Some news items you might have missed: • Advocate: Brazil’s homophobic president, Jair Bolsonaro, complained at a press conference Friday about his treatment by the media, telling a reporter, “Your face looks an awful lot like a homosexual’s.” • The Hill: The Morning Consult poll for this week showed former Vice President Joe Biden with 31 percent support for the second week in a row, after rising 2 percentage points since the beginning of December. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) ranked as the runner-up with 21 percent support. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg kept third and fourth place with 15 percent and 9 percent, respectively. • Instinct: Michael Henry is back with a festive video celebrating the holidays with the dumpster queens. The video features Henry with Pete Zias and Michael Lucid at their iconic meeting spot talking about themes of the season such as giving gifts, sexy encounters, and holiday movies.
• CivilBeat: Former Governor of Hawaii, Neil Abercrombie, has called on U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to resign her seat in Congress saying, “I feel very strongly the 2nd District of Hawaii must be fully represented.” Gabbard is running a long-shot campaign for president and recently moved to New Hampshire, an early Democratic primary state. • Out: A European airline will jettison the greeting “ladies and gentlemen” for the more gender-neutral “welcome everyone” a sign of respect for nonbinary people. • Twitter: In order for Thor star Chris Hemsworth and a quokka, a small marsupial native to Australia, to get to know each other a bit, Hemsworth had to get down to the little guy’s level. Which explains the hunky actor’s body position in the pic at the top. The short video also sparked the interest of the gay community for reasons I really don’t need to explain…LOL
Chris Hemsworth, a straight man, single-handedly one-up’d every single bottom in the gay community pic.twitter.com/OFTbH8Yvwf
Alex Abramov (image via Instagram) Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Alex Abramov (above) offers this quickie #instagay take on getting ready for the holidays: remove shirt, add Russian fur hat and lights, shoot. • OUT: The mother of a child who committed suicide due to excessive bullying has sued the school on the basis of neglect and creating a hostile environment for LGBTQ students. • Instinct: The streaming giant teased its upcoming true crime documentary based on the real-life story of bisexual pro football player turned murderer, Aaron Hernandez.
Killer Inside: The mind of Aaron Hernandez. From the studio that brought you Making a Murderer and Evil Genius, witness the rise and fall of the infamous athlete Aaron Hernandez. How can someone who had everything throw it all away? January 15, only on Netflix. pic.twitter.com/tak2JAwXj5
• Christianity Today: The president of the evangelical magazine supported his editor in chief’s recent op-ed calling for the removal of Donald Trump. “The global Body of Christ — and the community of evangelicals — is vastly larger than our domestic political squabbles. But partly on behalf of that global body, we can no longer stay silent. We write for a readership of One. God is our Tower. Let the whirlwind come.” • The Verge: Theaters are receiving a new version of Cats with “some improved visual effects,” just days after it premiered to dismal reviews. Last-minute tweaks apparently left room for mistakes like Judy Dench’s human hand slipping through unnoticed.
This isn’t a joke: CATS was rushed into theaters before being finished so a new version is being sent to theaters with updated effects. How do you know if you have the old version? Look for Judi Dench’s human hand, wedding ring and all. pic.twitter.com/VDUOevePU9
• AP News: After Sen. Elizabeth Warren accused Mayor Pete Buttigieg of holding fundraising events in “wine caves” serving $900 bottles of wine, the owners of the venue that hosted the event pushed back. They say wine caves are common at wineries in Napa Valley because they’re good for storing wine at cool temperatures.; no $900 bottle of wine were served; and no one attended thinking they would become besties with Mayor Pete. • Advocate: Schitt’s Creek creator and star Dan Levy called out UK television channel 4Music for editing out same-sex moments from the series. • Will & Grace: Sean Hayes tweets a photo of the fab four taking a final bow as the last episode of Will & Grace was shot, and the unexpected revival of the hit sitcom comes to a close.
And that’s a wrap from Stage 22 on the backlot of Universal Studios. What a glorious end to an amazing experience. Thanks to all of the fans. This was all for you. ❤️ #WillandGracepic.twitter.com/KJgttteFRC
Jim Newman (via Instagram) Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Woofy Jim Newman’s words of wisdom for the holidays – “Don’t blend in.” Follow the hunky singer on Instagram here. • Metro: A teenager who attacked a lesbian couple on a night bus because they refused to kiss was sentenced to an eight-month youth referral order (parole), 12 hours’ reparation and ordered to pay £220 in fines and prosecution costs. • NBC News: A Texas grand jury on Friday indicted a former Fort Worth police officer for murder after fatally shooting a young woman who had been babysitting her nephew at home. According to police and body camera footage, the officer didn’t identify himself before shooting and killing the victim through a window. • KIT212: Kenneth rounds up the what’s what in gay publications across the country. • FiveThirtyEight: The four candidates leading the polls nationally and in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg — have qualified for the seventh Democratic debate in January, as well as Sen. Amy Klobuchar who has hit at least 5 percent in just enough polls and her campaign says she has the donors. • Instinct: A woofy bear in the front row of last night’s Democratic debate stole the show for many Twitter gays. • Washington Post: After meeting privately in July 2017 with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin at the G20 summit, Trump grew more insistent that Ukraine worked to defeat him, according to multiple former officials familiar with his assertions. The president’s intense resistance to the assessment of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia systematically interfered in the 2016 campaign led many of his advisers to think that Putin himself helped spur the idea of Ukraine’s culpability. • The Gaily Grind: A 14-year-old girl is in the hospital after an Iowa woman struck her with her SUV in a hit-and-run incident resulting in attempted murder charges after the woman behind the wheel said she did it because the teenager is “a Mexican.” • Lip-Sync This: Billy Porter has had quite the year after slaying on the red carpets throughout the awards season, picking up an Emmy, and now snagging a 2nd Golden Globe nomination for his work on the ground-breaking FX series, POSE. But he ain’t done yet! Check out this celebrity lip-sync of his #1 Billboard Dance Club hit, “Love Yourself.” The celebrity lip-sync features Porter’s POSE co-stars MJ Rodriguez, Ryan Jamal Swain, Dyllon Burnside, Jeremy McClain, and Jason A. Rodriguez; Kinky Boots cast and creatives Cyndi Lauper, Jerry Mitchell, Stark Sands, Annaleigh Ashford, Lena Hall, and the Ogunquit Playhouse cast of the smash hit musical; the Broadway cast of Ain’t Too Proud; along with Kelly Ripa, Debra Messing, Lin Manuel Miranda, Patina Miller, Nathan Lee Graham, Miss J, Peppermint, and designer Christian Siriano.
Tyler James (via Instagram) Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Hottie Tyler James has folks’ safety in mind when he asks, “Anyone need their driveway shoveled?” Is that a euphemism…? • The Hill: The latest Iowa State University–Civiqs poll finds Mayor Pete Buttigieg currently leading the race in Iowa at 24 percent, followed by Sanders at 21 percent, Warren at 18 percent and former Vice President Joe Biden at 15 percent. No other candidate is polling above 4 percent in the survey. • Buzzfeed News: High school students in Missouri responded to Pride flags being handed out by flying the Confederate flag. After the racist flag was removed, the school decided there would be no disciplinary action taken hoping instead to “teach our students to respect each other and to respect different viewpoints on a variety of social issues.” Note – LGBTQ pride is pride; the Confederate flag stands for a war fought to keep slavery. • DListed: The highest-paid YouTuber is an eight-year-old named Ryan Kaji who has earned $26 million this year reviewing toys. • NBC News: Until Wednesday afternoon, the fictional country from the popular 2018 Marvel superhero movie “Black Panther” was listed as a free trade agreement partner of the United States by the USDA’s tariff tracker. • Des Moines Register: An Ames man was sentenced Wednesday to about 16 years in prison after he set fire to a church LGBTQ flag in June. Adolfo Martinez, 30, of Ames, last month was found guilty of a hate crime — a class “D” felony — third-degree harassment and reckless use of fire. • NY Post: While Donald Trump was hunkered down in the White House monitoring impeachment proceedings Wednesday, his predecessor in the Oval Office was hitting the links in Hawaii. Barack Obama — a native of Honolulu — was photographed on the course at the Mid-Pacific Country Club in Lanikai, O’ahu, playing a round of golf under sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s.
@juliemason Obama golfing in Hawaii – living the best life. It looks like he’s been working out. Profiles in presidential golfing. pic.twitter.com/gM0e3fnCTx
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Here in Las Vegas, they do things a little differently during the holidays. For instance, a cactus could be used as a Christmas tree. But I could only find this pic (above) of a Chippendale and…what was I saying? Dangit – I know I had some point to make. Oh well 🙂 • The Daily Beast: Stonewall House, the first-ever LGBT-welcoming senior housing development in New York City has officially opened. The first residents are expected to move into the 145-unit building in Brooklyn before Christmas, with the rest of the residents moving in throughout January. • CNBC: A judge on Wednesday dismissed New York state criminal charges filed against Paul Manafort, the fallen Republican lobbyist who served for several months as President Donald Trump’s campaign chief in 2016. Judge Maxwell Wiley said during a hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court that New York’s double-jeopardy law barred the state indictment against Manafort. • Medium: Over 1,000 American historians have signed a letter supporting the impeachment of Donald Trump. “It is our considered judgment that if President Trump’s misconduct does not rise to the level of impeachment, then virtually nothing does.” • Reuters: Germany could become the first major European power to ban so-called ‘conversion therapy’ across the entire country. The legislation, which parliament is expected to pass by the summer, will punish violations with imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 30,000 euros ($33,100). • Christmas Music: In its first 12 months, the 1984 all-star charity recording “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” raised £8 million to help efforts to ease famine in Ethiopia. The original recording remains one of the biggest selling singles in UK history.
L-R Josh Rimer and Heath Busse (via Instagram) Some news items you might have missed: • The Gaily Grind: After hottie Josh Rimer, travel blogger and Mr. Gay Canada 2019, shared that he and his fiancé Heath Busse were turned away by the Sheraton Hotel in Puerto Vallarta for their upcoming wedding, Hilton reached out: “We’ll gladly host your wedding ceremony and feast for FREE for you and your 45 guests at Hilton Puerto Vallarta!” • Miss Manners: A ‘committed Biblical believer’ wrote to an advice columnist asking for help after a ‘presumptuous’ gay relative mentioned bringing his boo to a family holiday dinner. Miss Manners had the perfect response. • Military Times: A new survey shows some 50 percent of troops said they had an unfavorable view of him. By comparison, just a few weeks after his electoral victory in November 2016, 46 percent of troops surveyed had a positive view of the businessman-turned-politician, and 37 percent had a negative opinion. • The Hill: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Monday responded to Donald Trump’s suggestion that the Supreme Court could stop the impeachment process, saying “the president is not a lawyer.” The Constitution states that the U.S. House of Representatives “shall have the sole Power of Impeachment” and the Senate “shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments.” • Yahoo News: Outgoing Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin commuted the sentence of a man who had been convicted of decapitating a woman and disposing of her body in a 55-gallon barrel. Since his November defeat to Democrat Andy Beshear, Bevin has issued 428 pardons, many of them controversial. • NBC News: Rick Gates, the former deputy campaign manager for Donald Trump and ex-business partner of Paul Manafort, was sentenced to three years probation and 45 days in jail on Tuesday after he cooperated extensively (more than 500 hours) with federal investigators. • Transformation: Comedic actor Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick, HBO’s Silicone Valley) adds “thirst trap” to his resume. Sharing that he never thought he’d be “one of those people” who post shirtless pics, he told his Instagram followers he found out a year ago he was going to be in Marvel’s Eternals and “decided I wanted to transform how I looked.” He adds that he’d have never been able to achieve his new fitness on his own crediting a full year with “the best trainers and nutritionists paid for by the biggest studio in the world. I’m glad I look like this, but I also understand why I never did before. It would have been impossible without these resources and time.”
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