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News Round-Up: January 28, 2019

Some news items you might have missed:

• I just came across InstaHunk Thara (above), who basically has it ALL going on. #woof

• Speaking to Rolling Stone, Oscar winner Michael Caine calls his same-sex kiss with Christopher Reeve in the film Deathtrap “a bit of a disaster.”

• Longtime Donald Trump confidant, Roger Stone, told reporters the FBI stormed his house “with greater force than was used to take down bin Laden.” Note – Bin Laden was shot in the head and dropped in the ocean. I don’t think the two experiences are comparable…

• Acting attorney general Matthew G. Whitaker told reporters today that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation is nearing the end.

• A guy goes on Jeopardy, wins almost $100K and wins hearts by blithely mentioning his husband in passing.

• I’ve been meaning to post this for days: a dad and son, both dressed as Frozen’s Elsa, dance to “Let It Go.” The video was captioned, “Mom is gone, no stress.”

The dad told CBS News, “It’s important to teach children you can do whatever you want to do. It’s important to embarrass yourself and let go.”

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Nyle DiMarco Drops ASL Version Of Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings” Video

Deaf activist and model Nyle DiMarco has dropped his own special version of Ariana Grande’s latest music video, “7 Rings.”

Deaf activist and model Nyle DiMarco has dropped his own special version of Ariana Grande’s latest music video, “7 Rings.”

An outspoken advocate for the Deaf community, the dashing DiMarco tweeted Grande back in November when she released her “Thank U Next” video asking her to “add captions for 466 million people with hearing loss (deaf here and we do enjoy your music).”

When la grand Grande released her “7 Rings” video, the former America’s Next Top Model champ tweeted the good news: “@ArianaGrande dropped WITH CAPTIONS!”

Even so, DiMarco decided to take things a little bit further and shoot his own version of the video with director Jake Wilson.

DiMarco’s take on “7 Rings” uses Ariana’s as a guide, but shifts the color scheme from pink to cool blue, and features American Sign Language by the sexually fluid hunk. Along the way, he’s joined by some fine looking dancers who drop some ASL alongside him.

Through it all, DiMarco stalks the camera making eyes at me the viewing audience.

“Captioning enhances the viewing experience,” DiMarco recently told Out. “It should be a standard part of any filmed media, and not as an afterthought, but as a part of the ultimate golden standard of universal design.”

On the official website for his foundation, DiMarco shares, “Two percent (2%) of the world’s Deaf population has access to education in sign language.”

Additionally, only 25% of parents use sign language to communicate with their Deaf child.

Imagine living in a world where language was not available to you.

Check out Nyle DiMarco’s ASL version of “7 Rings” below.

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Report: #TrumpShutdown Cost US Economy $11 Billion

Donald Trump's knee-jerk reaction to criticism by Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, which triggered the longest government shutdown in US history, cost the US economy $11 billion, reports the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s knee-jerk reaction to criticism by Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, which triggered the longest government shutdown in US history, cost the US economy $11 billion, reports the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The analysis takes into account lost output from federal workers, delayed government spending and reduced demand.

Via CNBC:

The report, which was released Monday, estimated a hit of $3 billion, or 0.1 percent, to economic activity during the fourth quarter of 2018. The impact was projected to be greater during the first quarter of 2019: $8 billion, or 0.2 percent of GDP.

Although most of the damage to the economy will be reversed as federal workers return to their jobs, the CBO estimated $3 billion in economic activity is permanently lost after a quarter of the government was closed for nearly 35 days.

“Among those who experienced the largest and most direct negative effects are federal workers who faced delayed compensation and private-sector entities that lost business,” the report said. “Some of those private-sector entities will never recoup that lost income.”

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Music Video: Courtney Act “Fight For Love”

Courtney Act in “Fight For Love”


RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Courtney Act drops her brand new music video, “Fight For Love,” today as she preps to become Australia’s entry at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest.

Act will participate in ‘Eurovision – Australia Decides’ on SBS on Saturday, February 9, where the winner will be determined via the combination of a public vote (50%) and the votes of a professional jury panel (50%).

She calls the dance-pop single “a dancefloor banger about coming together and fighting for the things we believe in.”

Echoing a message of social justice, she adds, “I think it’s so important to think about the basic human rights of others and to use our collective voices, minds and bodies to lift those people up and bring about change.”

Courtney Act (image via Facebook)

The 36-year-old first made her way into the public spotlight during the debut season of Australian Idol in 2003. Making it to the Wild Card round, she was the first competitor to bring the art of drag to a reality show.

Since that time, she’s placed 3rd on Season 6 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, won the 2018 season of Celebrity Big Brother UK, celebrated her own 2018 holiday TV special, Courtney Act’s Christmas Extravaganza, and is now the host of the UK bisexual dating show, The Bi Life, on E!

And along the way, she’s help to educate her fans on LGBTQ issues like HIV stigma and gender fluidity.

“A sweet 16 years after Australian Idol, I have the chance to show the world how I have grown as an artist and performer and I am so excited,” says the drag superstar.

“Fight For Love” harkens back to the heyday of music videos with several glam looks for Act, dancing drones, and an undeniable dance beat perfect for the Pride dance floor.

This is certainly material Eurovision embraces.

Check out “Fight For Love” below.

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New From Randy Rainbow “The Donald Trump Cellblock Tango (Part One)”

Randy Rainbow’s satirical take on ‘The Cellblock Tango’

Squee!!! It’s always a good Monday when we start out with new material from satirist Randy Rainbow.

Randy’s take on the Kander and Ebb show-stopper “Cellblock Tango” from Chicago the Musical is pure lyric wizardry.

I don’t want to give away any of the jokes, so hit the play button below and enjoy.

Happy Monday!

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Podcast: Good News In Angola, 2019 GLAAD Media Award Nominations, Generals Speak Out Against Trans Ban

In this week’s podcast:

• Angola repeals anti-homosexuality laws and passes LGBTQ protections

• Observing the International Holocaust Remembrance Day

• The 30th annual GLAAD Media Award nominations were announced

• Four star generals are still opposing Donald Trump’s transgender military ban

• A new study looks into which states men most exaggerate most about ‘size’

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

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‘RENT: Live’ Actor Sprains Ankle In Dress Rehearsal, But The Show Will Go On

One of the lead actors for tonight’s live presentation of the hit Broadway musical RENT on Fox TV sprained his ankle yesterday during the final dress rehearsal.

But, as the saying goes, the show must go on.

Brennin Hunt, who plays one of the male leads, Roger, injured his ankle during the last ‘commercial break’ of the run-through on Saturday.

Update: US Weekly is reporting the injury as a broken ankle.

Brennin Huntin ‘RENT’ (Pamela Littky/FOX)

He did take part in the final 15 minutes of the show, but was described as ‘crestfallen’ over the injury.

Producers say Hunt will participate in the presentation tonight, albeit with some modifications.

According to The Hollywood Reporter,  Fox TV records the final dress rehearsals of their live musicals.

Fox may choose to drop in some recorded segments for the more athletic moments in Hunt’s show where he’s staged to run and jump up and down stairs, etc…

Rent: Live director Alex Rudzinski told reporters, “I think on Grease we lost sound for eight seconds and we switched. I think we had to switch to the backup for eight seconds, and no one noticed.”

The show will go on tonight starting at 8pm ET (PT tape delayed). Check out the cast of RENT Live rehearsing the Act Two opener, “Seasons of Love.”

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Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper Surprise Las Vegas Audience With Live “Shallow’ Duet

Bradley Cooper joins Lady Gaga onstage in Las Vegas for surprise performance
of ‘Shallow’ from A Star Is Born

Lady Gaga stunned her Las Vegas audience with a surprise guest during the finale of her Lady Gaga Enigma show at the Park Theater at Park MGM last night.

As she got ready for her finale, her A Star Is Born director and co-star – Bradley Cooper – appeared onstage for the first live performance of their film duet, “Shallow.”

The song has already been honored at the Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Awards.

The movie received 8 Oscar nominations this week, including two for Gaga (Best Actress and Best Original Song) and a Best Actor nod for Cooper.

Also making the Oscar list for A Star Is Born is Sam Elliott (Best Supporting Actor), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Picture.

Cooper was snubbed in the ‘Best Director’ category, which is appalling since the entire endeavor was his vision.

I enjoyed Gaga in the film, but I thought Cooper was sensational.

Watch the performance below.

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SNL Cold Open: Steve Martin Guests As Newly-Indicted Roger Stone

SNL’s cold open recapped the week’s biggest political stories including Donald Trump’s failure to get even one dollar for his beloved border wall before ending the longest government shutdown in history.

From the YouTube description: Tucker Carlson (Alex Moffat), Jeannine Pirro (Cecily Strong), Ann Coulter (Heidi Gardner), Wilbur Ross (Kate McKinnon) talk about the government shutdown and Roger Stone (Steve Martin) stops by to talk about his arrest.

Riffing on his recent gaffe wondering why furloughed government workers were struggling to make ends meet during the shutdown, McKinnon’s Ross says, “I simply meant that there are other ways of getting money – like, they could have liquidated some of their stocks or sold one of their paintings.”

“Even if they sold a lesser Picasso, that’s still going to get you through a week or two of yacht maintenance,” McKinnon as Ross said. “We all have to make sacrifices in times of hardship. For example, instead of going out to dinner you could open a restaurant in your house, or, for a period of time, you could have your horses attend public school.”

And Martin was spot on as Roger Stone mocking the political operative for being a “broke… feeble old man” who is drowning in legal fees and can’t get anyone to buy his books (“because they’re bad!”).

“Just tell people how they can donate money to help you,” Carlson says.

“I set up a donation pageant based on a phrase people have been yelling at me: ‘Hey, Roger, go fund yourself!’” says Martin’s Stone.

Watch the clip below.

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Olivia Newton-John, Kylie Minogue & Magda Szubanski Honored On Australia Day

Kylie Minogue, Olivia Newton-John, Magda Szubanski

Three Australian LGBTQ allies – Olivia Newton-John, Kylie Minogue, and Magda Szubanski – were among the women announced on the 2019 Australia Day honors list.

On Saturday, Kylie, 50, and Magda, 57, were appointed Officers of the Order of Australia (AO) for their work in the performing arts.

Magda, the former star of the hit TV series Kath & Kim, was also honored for her tireless efforts as a proponent for marriage equality.

“To be acknowledged in this way is absolutely one of the highlights of my life,” Magda said.

She joked that people can now called her ‘Your Mag-desty’.

Olivia was honored with the Officer of the Order of Australia in 2006 for “service to the entertainment industry as a singer and actor, and to the community through organizations supporting breast cancer treatment, education, training and research, and the environment.”

This year, the ‘Physical’ singer received an upgrade, if you will, with the Companion of the Order of Australia ‘for her efforts in health service via the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness’ and Research Centre, in addition to her decades-long acting and music career.

The 70-year-old pop star said in a video greeting: “I just want to say how excited and delighted and honored I am to have this honor bestowed on me by the Governor General. I’m so proud to be an Aussie, and this couldn’t have come at a better time. Happy Australia Day!”