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Trailer: “Baywatch”

Man, who could sit still long enough to look at these hideous ugly people? (kidding…)

Synopsis: Baywatch follows devoted lifeguard Mitch Buchannon (Johnson) as he butts heads with a brash new recruit (Efron). Together, they uncover a local criminal plot that threatens the future of the Bay.

Baywatch gets wet and wild when it opens in theaters on May 26, 2017.

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Sec. Of State Kerry Formally Apologizes To State LGBT Staffers For Decades Of Discrimination

With less than two weeks left in the Obama administration, Secretary of State John Kerry took yet another opportunity to acknowledge and promote LGBT inclusion by formally apologizing to State department staffers for past discrimination due to their sexual orientation.

Here’s the full statement as posted on the State department’s website:

Throughout my career, including as Secretary of State, I have stood strongly in support of the LGBTI community, recognizing that respect for human rights must include respect for all individuals. LGBTI employees serve as proud members of the State Department and valued colleagues dedicated to the service of our country. For the past several years, the Department has pressed for the families of LGBTI officers to have the same protections overseas as families of other officers. In 2015, to further promote LGBTI rights throughout the world, I appointed the first ever Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons.

In the past – as far back as the 1940s, but continuing for decades – the Department of State was among many public and private employers that discriminated against employees and job applicants on the basis of perceived sexual orientation, forcing some employees to resign or refusing to hire certain applicants in the first place. These actions were wrong then, just as they would be wrong today.

On behalf of the Department, I apologize to those who were impacted by the practices of the past and reaffirm the Department’s steadfast commitment to diversity and inclusion for all our employees, including members of the LGBTI community.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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Donald Trump: Every Dress Shop In DC Is Sold Out For The Inauguration

Speaking to the New York Times about Meryl Streep’s Golden Globes speech last night, Donald Trump boasted that his inauguration will be “record-setting” in numbers. In fact, according to Trump, there are no formal gowns to be had anywhere in Washington for the big event.

From the New York Times:

“We are going to have an unbelievable, perhaps record-setting turnout for the inauguration, and there will be plenty of movie and entertainment stars,” Mr. Trump said. “All the dress shops are sold out in Washington. It’s hard to find a great dress for this inauguration.”

The Washington Post decided to fact-check whether or not that claim was true.

And of course, it ends up being a lie.

Definitely not, said Martha Slagle, vice president and general manager of the Neiman Marcus in Friendship Heights. If a ball attendee were to walk in today, “you have more than a thousand evening gowns to choose from,” she said, noting that the store stocks up every four years in anticipation of inauguration demand. Classic black? Got ’em. Colorful garments? Yep, those, too — plus furs and wraps and evening coats for the notoriously chilly January nights, she said.

Slagle actually laughed when we mentioned Trump’s claim about the status of Washington’s dress options. “I’m stuffed with beautiful gowns,” she said. Even the city’s smaller boutiques still have plenty of stock. “We always have dresses,” said Krista Johnson, the owner of Georgetown designer-consignment shop Ella Rue. “Unless a thousand people came in today, we’d still have choices.” Johnson said her racks include everything from on-trend formal rompers to runway pieces, from labels like Oscar de la Renta, Alexis and Moschino.

Why this guy has to exaggerate every single thing that comes out of his mouth, I have no idea.

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Trump Spokesman: Why Are You Listening To What Trump Says As Opposed To What’s In His Heart?

Trump spokesperson Kellyanne Conway tried in vain to divert from the fact that we were all reminded last night of Donald Trump’s disgusting mocking of a New York Times reporter during the presidential campaign.

After Meryl Streep’s comments during the Golden Globe Awards last night, Team Trump is again on defense about the hideous mocking of Serge Kovaleski.

Via Mediaite:

During Meryl Streep‘s fiery speech against the president-elect at the Golden Globes, she brought up the moment in the 2016 election where Trump seemed to crudely mock the disability of New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski. Conway was asked about this by CNN’s Chris Cuomo, where he pressed her to explain why Trump couldn’t just admit to what he did, apologize for it, and move on.

“That is not what he did,” Conway said when asked if what Trump did was wrong. Cuomo brought up how Trump can deny mocking Kovaleski’s arthrogryposis as much as he wants, and yet, there’s a great deal of evidence to show that that is what he did.

“Why can’t you give him the benefit of the doubt…,” Conway asked, to which, Cuomo answered “because he’s making a disgusting gesture on video about Serge.”

The two of them continued to spar as Cuomo pointed out Trump’s actions, while Conway continued to insist that the mocking behavior was about Kovaleski “groveling.”

“Why don’t you believe him? Why isn’t it taken at face value?” Conway said in exasperation. “You can’t give him the benefit of the doubt on this and he’s telling you what was in his heart? You want to go with what’s come out of his mouth rather than what’s in his heart.”

Wait – did we read that correctly? Conway wants us to stop listening to what’s coming out of Trump’s mouth and instead of “what’s in his heart???”

Good for Chris Cuomo for not letting her divert from the issue.

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Donald Trump Slaps Back At Meryl “Over-Rated” Streep For Golden Globes Speech

Well, this didn’t take long.

Via the New York Times:

President-elect Donald J. Trump dismissed Meryl Streep as “a Hillary lover” early Monday morning after the actress, in a speech at the Golden Globes award ceremony, denounced him as a bully who disrespected and humiliated others.

Mr. Trump, in a brief telephone interview, said he had not seen Ms. Streep’s remarks or other parts of the Globes ceremony, which were broadcast on NBC, but he added that he was “not surprised” that he had come under attack from “liberal movie people.”

While anti-Trump comments at the Globes were relatively restrained, Ms. Streep, one of the most outspoken progressives in the film world, mounted a powerful critique of Mr. Trump’s abilities as a performer, complimenting in a backhanded way a style of showmanship that she all but called insidious.

“There was one performance this year that stunned me — it sank its hooks in my heart,” Ms. Streep said. “Not because it was good; there was nothing good about it. But it was effective and it did its job. It made its intended audience laugh, and show their teeth.

“It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter,” she said, referring to a speech by Mr. Trump in 2015 when he shuddered and flailed his arms, seeming to mock a disabled reporter for The New York Times. “It kind of broke my heart when I saw it, and I still can’t get it out of my head, because it wasn’t in a movie. It was real life.”

Of course, Trump still denies that he was mocking the reporter, when it’s clear that’s exactly what he was doing. Not only did he use physical movements to mimic the reporter, these were movements we had never seen Trump use before.

p.s. calling Meryl Streep “one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood” is so off the mark it borders on parody. You’ll note she was accepting  the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award for her incredible body of work.

Here’s the speech again, just in case you missed it:

Here’s what Twitter had to say about Trump’s tweets:

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Broadway: Cynthia Erivo’s Final ‘I’m Here’ LIVE At The Closing Of THE COLOR PURPLE

Tonight was closing night for the brilliant revival of The Color Purple on Broadway.

As I posted a month ago, this production may be the most powerful event I’ve ever witnessed on a Broadway stage. And I don’t use hyperbole very freely.

Thankfully, the producers of the show shared Tony Award winner Cynthia Erivo’s incredible 11o’clock number, “I’m Here.”

After an evening of “Miss Celie” being beaten down for being “ugly” and unworthy, she finally utters the transformative words, “I’m beautiful. And I’m here.”

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Out Film Moonlight Wins ‘Best Drama’ At Golden Globe Awards

I took my husband, Michael, to see the brilliant Moonlight this afternoon because I needed him to understand why I’m so passionate about this moving “coming of age” film of a young gay black man in Florida.

And then, tonight, this beautiful, haunting little independent film won the Golden Globe Award for “Best Film – Drama.”

More wine!!!

To see my past coverage of the film, click here and here and here.

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Meryl Streep Delivers Epic Takedown Of Donald Trump Without Ever Mentioning His Name

Honored with the prestigious Cecil B. Demille Award tonight at the Golden Globe Awards, Meryl Streep took to the stage admitting she had lost her voice, then went on to say everything that needed to be said.

Along the way, she delivered an epic takedown of our incoming Cheeto-in-chief.

Via Mediaite:

Then, she asked, “Who are we? And What is Hollywood anyway? It’s just a bunch of people from other places. I was born and raised and educated in the public schools of New Jersey. Viola (Davis) was born in a share-croppers cabin in South Carolina,” and mentioned several other actors’ and actresses backgrounds, before asking, “Where are their birth certificates?” She added, “If you kick them all out, you’ll have nothing to watch except for football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts.”

She said there were “many powerful performances this year,” but there was one that “stunned” her and “sank its hooks in [her] heart. Not because it was good. There was nothing good about it. But it was effective, and it did its job. It made its intended audience laugh and show their teeth. It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter- someone he outranked in privilege, power, and the capacity to fight back. It kind of broke my heart,” she said, becoming emotional.

“When the powerful use their position to bully others,” she said, “we all lose.”

She then addressed the press, saying “we need the principled press to hold power to account,” and called on the “famously well-heeled Hollywood Foreign Press” to support the Committee to Protect Journalists. “We’re going to need them,” she said, “and they’ll need us to safeguard the truth.”

She concluded by sharing something Carrie Fisher once told her: “Take your broken heart, make it into art.”

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Hillary Clinton Receives Several Standing Ovations At Broadway’s THE COLOR PURPLE

My Broadway tribe 🙂

From the New York Times:

Hillary Clinton, who has kept a relatively low public profile since losing the presidential election two months ago, on Sunday showed up at the final performance of the Broadway revival of “The Color Purple,” reveling in the story of a beleaguered woman who triumphs over the oppressive men in her life (and, along the way, discovers a love for colorful pants).

Mrs. Clinton, accompanied by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and their daughter, Chelsea, received several ovations from the sold-out audience as she arrived, and then another round of applause when she was acknowledged by the cast after the show.

“There’s a lot of really awesome famous and notable people here today,” the actress Patrice Covington, who gave the farewell speech on behalf of the cast after the show, said to the audience. “I’m not going to call all of them out — I know you already know them,” she said, before pausing, looking in Mrs. Clinton’s direction, and waving at her mischievously. At that, the audience erupted into a new, loud round of applause.

The reaction was substantially warmer than the scattered booing and clapping that greeted the arrival of Vice President-elect Mike Pence when he attended “Hamilton,” just one block north, on Nov. 18.

“We love you Hillary,” some audience members shouted. Several thanked Mrs. Clinton and told her, “God bless you.”

“God bless you,” Mrs. Clinton replied.