• InstaHunks: LGBTQ ally Ben Cohen is inviting supporters of his anti-bullying foundation to come out and join him for cross-training. I’ll go, but only if I can follow Ben 🙂
• New York Times: A federal judge on Thursday denied bail for Jeffrey Epstein, the financier facing sex-trafficking charges in Manhattan, rejecting his request to await trial under home detention at his Upper East Side mansion.
• NPR: Some of Puerto Rico’s biggest stars rallied a crowd of many thousands in San Juan on Wednesday, calling on the island’s governor, Ricardo Rosselló, to resign. It was the fifth day in a row of protests in the U.S. territory, following a leak of hundreds of pages of misogynistic and homophobic texts between the governor and his main advisers.
• Washington Post: The House passed a bill by a vote of 231-199 that would raise the federal minimum wage for the first time in a decade. However, don’t expect the legislation to be taken up in the Republican-controlled Senate.
• AFP News: Donald Trump asked Nobel laureate Nadia Murad how she won the Nobel Peace Prize after she explained how she won the Nobel Prize. Murad survived in the aftermath of her mother and six brothers being killed by ISIS and that 3,000 Yazidis remained missing. Trump asked, “And you had the Nobel Prize? That’s incredible. They gave it to you for what reason?” Murad paused, then repeated her story.
• The Lion King: Check out Beyoncé’s musical contribution to the upcoming live-action remake of Disney’s The Lion King.
Titled “Spirit,” I find the video gorgeous. I’m on the fence about the melody. Let me know what you think.
The trailer for the upcoming live-action movie of CATS the musical has landed.
I think it has some amazing visuals going on, although the anthropomorphic/naked cat look will take a bit of getting used to.
Along the way, there looks to be some fantastic casting with Rebel Wilson as ‘Jennyanydots,’ Sir Ian McKellen as ‘Gus the theater cat,’ Dame Judi Dench as ‘Deuteronomy,’ and James Corden as ‘Bustopher Jones.’
Oh, and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson belts out the show’s hit tune, “Memory,” throughout.
Judi Dench in CATS
In theaters this Christmas. Take a look below.
Longtime readers of The Randy Report may recall being cast in the national touring company of CATS back in the mid-80s was my first big gig after moving to New York City.
Paramount Pictures dropped the official trailer for the upcoming Top Gun: Maverick, the sequel to the 1986 blockbuster, Top Gun, which helped launch the career of a young, hunky Tom Cruise into the stratosphere.
The new trailer doesn’t have much story-telling going on, but let’s face it – folks will be coming for the action. And by ‘action,’ we mean Tom Cruise in action.
There’s that smile, the confident quips, that leather jacket, Cruise on a motorcycle,…oh – and some shirtless volleyball shots as well.
Tom Cruise in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’
According to reports, the film picks up 34 years after the original where Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Cruise) is now a flight instructor at the Navy’s Fighter Weapons School at Naval Air Station Miramar.
“You should be at least by two-star admiral by now,” says veteran actor Ed Harris (Westworld, Apollo 13), “yet here you are, a captain. Why is that?”
Maverick responds, “It’s one of life’s mysteries, sir.”
Cue the fast-paced montage of action scenes before we hear Harris continue, “The end is inevitable, Maverick,” to which Cruise replies, “Maybe so, sir, but not today.”
In the film, Mitchell discovers one of his students, played by Miles Teller (Fantastic Four, Only the Brave), is the son of his late partner, Nick “Goose” Bradshaw, who is following the old man’s path in the Navy.
The film also sees the return of Val Kilmer as ‘Iceman,’ and features new stars Jon Hamm (Good Omens, Mad Men) and Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind, Alita: Battle Angel).
Not only was the original Top Gun a hit at the box office grossing over $357 million worldwide, but the iconic soundtrack was a monster in the 1980s.
In addition to the score by composer Harold Faltermeyer, the soundtrack featured two major radio hits written by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock: “Danger Zone” performed by Kenny Loggins (#2 on Billboard) and “Take My Breath Away” (#1 on Billboard, Oscar & Golden Globe winner) performed by Berlin.
Both Loggins and Faltermeyer have signed on to update their musical contributions for a new generation.
Look for Top Gun: Maverick to land in theaters June 26, 2020.
At last night’s campaign rally, Donald Trump whipped up the crowd to such a frenzy, they began chanting “Send her back,” referring to Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Trump claims he “disagreed it,” and tried to stop the chant saying he began speaking “very quickly.”
But if you watch the video, 13 long seconds of chanting goes by before he continues speaking. And when he does, it isn’t to admonish the racist chant.
We do have video recordings, you know…
President Trump said he tried to stop his supporters’ chants of “send her back” after he railed against the congresswoman Ilhan Omar. But video from last night’s rally contradicts him. Read more: https://t.co/sBEQr2Sa5Opic.twitter.com/pDGpfd75P5
I asked the President why he didn't stop the "send her back" chants from his supporters last night.
"I think i did," he answered. "I started speaking quickly. I disagree with it by the way."
Fact: the chant went on for 13 seconds before he started speaking again.— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) July 18, 2019
A chant like “Send her back!” is ugly and dangerous, and it is the inevitable consequence of President Trump’s demagoguery. This is how history’s worst episodes begin. We must not allow this man to take us to such a place.
CNN interviewed a group of women presented as ‘Republican’ voters who happen to support Donald Trump, when they are actually part of an organized group that promotes the Donald.
The seemingly random group of eight women were, in fact, members of an organized group dedicated to promoting Trump. The group calls itself the Trumpettes of America 2019 Palm Beach Team, although CNN and correspondent Randi Kaye didn’t mention anything about such a group. Nor did the anchors, including Anderson Cooper, who introduced Kaye’s report.
The network simply identified the panelists individually, with their names appearing onscreen next to the word “Republican.” Kaye gave no hint that the women knew one another and had a common cause.
As a result, the segment left the impression that CNN had assembled a panel reflecting a cross-section of opinion from Republican women about the crossfire between Trump and four freshman Democratic congresswomen of color, whom Trump told to “go back” to their own countries in Sunday tweets, despite all four being American citizens.
Rather than a cross-section, however, the Trumpettes were plainly of one mind.
Some of the women had appeared on CNN before, and neither time was an affiliation to being part of an organized Trump group acknowledged.
Edward Wasserman, dean of the University of California at Berkeley journalism school, described the lack of disclosure as “a fraud on the viewer.”
Wasserman told the Post the network may have withheld the identity of the group “to cover up the lack of news value in the interview and to provide ‘something that looks like balance’ in the face of Trump’s criticism that CNN is anti-Trump.”
The women do seem pleased with how the segment went, even going so far as to promote the clip on their Facebook page.
However, note that they encouraged their followers to watch them on “the Anti-Trump Fake News CNN Show.”
Organizer’s of the so-called ‘Straight Pride Parade’ scheduled for August 31 in Boston, got all butt-hurt after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from streaming giant Netflix informing them to remove their logo from the organizer’s website as a “prospective sponsor.”
The organizers, operating under the name ‘Super Happy Fun America,’ included Netflix along with dozens of other major corporations on their website.
Journalist Ford Fischer was first to tweet the letter written by Netflix to the organization informing them they were infringing on trademark and other intellectual property.
“Super Happy Fun America” – the organizers of the Boston “Straight Pride Parade” have apparently received a cease and desist letter from Netflix over apparently claiming that Netflix supports them.
The group says Netflix “is a heterophobic company steeped in hatred and bigotry.” pic.twitter.com/eIIsoTsBBd
“You are using the Netflix logo to promote your event, which despite its name is about hate–-not pride,” read the letter from Netflix’s legal team. “That’s gross and deeply hurtful, but it’s also deceptive misinformation and infringes our legal rights. Netflix has nothing to do with your organization or event. Indeed, it’s telling that you feel the need to lie to gain legitimacy.”
Saying that the streaming giant is “unafraid of bullies,” Netflix closed with, “Our legal department is here, it’s queer, and it’s telling you to steer clear.”
BOOM! Suh-nap!
‘Straight Pride Parade’ organizers posted on their website that they had reached out to Netflix “with an offer to sponsor” their event “based on their reputation as a progressive and forward-looking company.”
The organizers added they believed that Netflix “would jump at the opportunity to become involved” in what they describe as a “young civil rights movement.”
“Sadly, we have learned that Netflix is a heterophobic company steeped in hatred and bigotry,” continued Super Happy Fun America. “They not only rejected our offer but threatened us with litigation if we did not stop using their name and logo, which is perfectly legal for editorial or informational purposes.”
“Obviously, Netflix has no qualms about using their position of power to threaten marginalized groups who are exercising their 1st Amendment rights,” added the organizers. “It appears that their legal department is staffed by gay supremacists who are so accustomed to privilege that our goal of equality for straights feels like oppression to them.”
“In fact, it is Netflix that is acting like a bully,” they wrote in conclusion. “We have every right to inform the public about our attempts to gain sponsors for our parade and their hate will not stop us.”
Speaking of hate, The Independent has previously reported that the ‘Straight Pride Parade’ organizers have been “heavily linked with far-right movements and nationalist protests.”
Netflix isn’t the only company calling the ‘Straight Pride’ folks out.
Bank of America has also reached out informing Super Happy Fun America to “remove Bank of America name and logo from all of your organization’s print and online materials.”
Prosecutors in Massachusetts have dropped criminal charges against Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey just days after his accuser invoked his Fifth Amendment rights while on the witness stand.
Spacey was facing charges of indecent assault and battery in connection to allegations stemming from an incident in 2016 where he was accused of ‘groping’ an 18-year-old male at a Nantucket bar, the Club Car Bar, where the then-18-year-old worked.
According to the accuser, he was a fan who sought to meet Spacey for an autograph. Over a period of time, Spacey bought the teen a few alcoholic drinks.
In chat messages to his girlfriend, the accuser claimed Spacey ‘groped’ his leg and eventually worked his hands down the boy’s pants where the groping continued for about three minutes. The teen admitted he didn’t try to stop Spacey.
Spacey pleaded not guilty to the charges in January adamantly denying he forced his hands down the young man’s pants, calling the incident a “mutual and consensual flirtation.”
Local CBS news affiliate WBZ reports the accuser and his parents were ordered to testify under oath after telling the court the young man’s cellphone, which he used the night of the alleged assault to send multiple text messages, could not be found.
The accuser says he gave the phone to investigators early in the investigation and it was never returned.
But a state trooper gave testimony he had given the phone back to the family, and another officer testified he saw the trooper hand over the phone to the family. The trooper also testified the boy’s mother shared that she’d deleted “frat boy activities” from the phone.
Spacey’s lawyers had asked to examine the phone to recover deleted text messages they said would bolster Spacey’s case.
The young man denied deleting messages from the phone or editing screen captures of his chat conversations from the night of the alleged incident he had provided to investigators.
But when defense attorneys asked the young man if he knew tampering with evidence is crime, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
At that point, Judge Thomas Barrett ordered the testimony removed from the court record, and turned to the prosecutors asking how the trial could move forward if the accuser would refuse to testify.
During that same hearing, the accuser’s mother, former Boston news anchor Heather Unruh, admitted she “deleted a few things” from the phone concerning her son’s “frat boy activities” before handing it over to the authorities. But added there was “no intent” on her part to deceive.
According to WBZ, Cape and Island District Attorney Michael O’Keefe announced on Wednesday the charges against Spacey were being dropped “due to an unavailability of the complaining witness.”
There was speculation that a private settlement between the parties had been reached, but the young man’s mother denied there was any payment or settlement between the two camps.
The accuser’s attorney told the press the civil lawsuit was dropped because the young man was ‘overwhelmed’ and wanted only “one roller coaster ride at a time.”
Spacey’s career virtually collapsed beginning in November 2017 after a series of allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment beginning with actor Anthony Rapp telling Buzzfeed that Spacey made inappropriate sexual advances towards him when he was 14-years-old in 1986.
Earlier this month, Varietyreported that Scotland Yard is still investigating sexual assault allegations regarding Spacey during his time as the artistic director of the Old Vic theater in London.
• InstaHunks: Steve Raider and Ocan Jan (above) barely fit in the same photo. #TheresTheBeef
• CBS News: The House voted 230-198 to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in criminal contempt of Congress for obstructing a probe into the administration’s failed bid to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.
• Twitter: A gay teen, Brandon Austin, slayed the inter webs with his graduation ‘death drop’ on Twitter, which has now been ‘Liked’ over 230,000 times.
— Brandon Austin (Sophia Stardust) (@sophia_stardust) July 12, 2019
• NBC News: A Florida man is in custody for allegedly using a pair of scissors to cut off the penis of a man he suspected of sleeping with his wife, according to a police report.
• Axios: The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) projects the federal deficit will surpass $1 trillion this year, the first time the U.S. deficit has surpassed the $1 trillion level since the 4-year period following the Great Recession. In 2016, Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to wipe out the deficit and also the entire federal debt, which has surpassed $22 trillion.
• Netflix: The streaming giant gave a giant slap to the folks at the upcoming ‘Straight Pride’ event for using their logo and claiming Netflix was a ‘possible’ sponsor. In their cease and desist letter, the legal team for Netflix wrote, “Our legal department is here, its queer, and its telling you to steer clear.”
• Out Music: Carly Rae Jepsen teamed up with Jordan Alexander and Bud Light for a performance of the ‘Pride Remix’ of her single “Feels Right” at Toronto Pride. The single is from her fourth album, Dedicated, out now.
A Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Alabama told supporters over the weekend the problem with the United States today is Americans are too “preoccupied with homosexual activities” and “the wife swap shows.”
It would seem the Senate race is also a race to prove who is the most homophobic politician in Alabama…
John Merrill, currently serving as Alabama’s Secretary of State, is one of many Republicans looking to unseat Sen. Doug Jones (D) in the 2020 election cycle.
The senate seat was held for 20 years by former Donald Trump toadie, Jeff Sessions, who vacated the position to become U.S. Attorney General, which didn’t work out too well for him, but that’s another story.
At a town hall event in DeKalb County this past weekend, Merrill was asked his thoughts on “culture shift” in the country (that’s code for the gays emergence in the mainstream) and the erosion of moral principles.
It was great to be back in Fort Payne this morning and speak to the folks in attendance at the DeKalb County Republican Breakfast at the Western Sizzlin! I was honored to talk to them and answer questions about my campaign for the United States Senate! #All67pic.twitter.com/00cN2DmzUC
“[T]hat’s what we’ve allowed to happen,” said Merrill first reported by YellowHammerNews. “How have we allowed it to happen? There are no more good TV shows on like ‘Gunsmoke,’ ‘Bonanza,’ ‘The Virginian,’ ‘Andy Griffith,’ ‘I Love Lucy.’”
“We don’t have those shows anymore,” continued Merrill. “We’re too interested in homosexual activities. We’re too interested in seeing how this family’s finding a way to mess on this family or to see how people are trying to date on TV, or having wife-swapping on TV. That’s what we watch.”
Bolding is mine.
So, basically, Merrill longs for the good old days of TV shows that glorified guns and had wives stay at home in the kitchen.
The comments were confirmed by Alabama news site AL.com on Monday evening during a phone interview.
“The foundational principles which we have grown up as a nation are no more,” lamented Merrill. “There’s no more TV shows like ‘Gunsmoke’ or ‘Bonanza’ or ‘The Virginian’ or ‘I Love Lucy’ or ‘Andy Griffith.’ I said people are too interested in homosexual activities. They’re too interested in the wife swap TV shows and the shows that are not morally uplifting. That’s the problem.”
Asked by reporter Howard Koplowski what exactly that means, Merrill repeated himself.
“I meant what I said. People are too interested in anything that is not uplifting, edifying. They’re too busy being preoccupied with homosexual activities and the wife swap shows.”
According to Koplowski, Merrill demurred from offering any specific examples of how Americans are too preoccupied with “homosexual activities.”
The secretary of state did bemoan about the lack of TV shows “that are based on biblical foundations,” however.
I guess we should have seen that coming.
“Shows that promote family and culture with a father, a mother and children based on biblical teachings and biblical principles on which our nation was founded,” explained Merrill.
Merrill also told USA Today, “There are too many TV shows preoccupied with people’s sexual orientation instead of messages that edify our basic moral foundation.”
The Human Rights Campaign’s Project One America Director Meghan Kissell issued this statement regarding Merrill’s comments:
“This attack on LGBTQ people and our values only further underscores the fact that the Alabama Senate Republican primary is becoming a race to the bottom and a competition for who is the most virulently anti-LGBTQ. Alabamians deserve a leader who fights for the equality of everyone and every community, not someone who would feel more comfortable in America’s oppressive past.”
I seriously think people in the republican party are more obsessed with “homosexual activities” than I am.
