Jonathan Groff Talks Sex Scenes, Coming Out And “Annie Get Your Gun”

The ever-charming and talented Jonathan Groff (Spring Awakening, Hamilton, GLEE, HBO’s Looking) recently sat down with Kevin Sessums for the Curran Theater’s “Groundbreakers with Kevin Sessums” series to talk on a range of subjects.

On sex scenes in LOOKING:

“One of the cool things about ‘Looking’ is that after the first season, a lot of people – shockingly, liberal, open artists in New York and L.A. – said they didn’t know that gay people could have sex while facing each other. The show illuminated intimacy in sex [between men] without being porny or salacious. Those scenes felt very real and true to life. I was excited to do them.”

On coming out:

”When I came out, I had come to terms with it, but I wasn’t thrilled. If I could snap my fingers or meet some girl who made me feel I wasn’t gay, that would be awesome. I didn’t feel proud. I told my mom, ‘I’m gay, but I’m not gonna lead a parade.’

“And then last year, I was asked to be one of the grand marshals of the Gay Pride parade in New York. I said, okay, sure. But when I got to the parade, I was so moved and blown away by the importance and the power of expressing yourself, by all the joyfulness and celebration. I’m really proud to be gay.”

You can watch a few excerpts of the immensely charming Groff below, and find the entire interview here.

Hunky Gus Kenworthy Covers Attitude Magazine

Out Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy on the cover of Attitude Magazine

The handsome, swoon-worthy Olympic skier took time out from his extreme-sports competition schedule for Attitude Magazine.

In an exclusive 10-page shoot and interview in our brand new March Issue – available to download now and in shops today – the Gus reveals how heartbreak helped inspire him to finally go public about his sexuality, recalls the homophobic he used to be confronted with from his friends and fellow competitors, and admits he thinks Russia’s anti-gay laws made it “unfit” to host the Sochi Winter Olympics back in 2014.

Kenworthy has mentioned recently that his publicist had asked him to pull back on the shirtless pics, much to our dismay. But there’s plenty of biceps and smiles to hold us over here.

Check out the behind-the-scenes video below.

Oregon: “Bundy Militia” Indicted By Federal Grand Jury

Members of the “Bundy Militia,” domestic terrorists who took over a federal wildlife sanctuary last month, have been indicted by a federal grand jury for preventing federal employees from doing their jobs.

From NBC News:

The armed occupation, which began over a month ago at the Malheur National Wildlife Center, lost its momentum last week after its leaders, brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy, were arrested during a traffic stop. Another occupier, Robert LaVoy Finicum, was fatally shot by authorities in the same incident.

A total of 11 people, including the Bundy brothers, were arrested, although two members of the group — including the only female — were later released from jail, The Associated Press reported.

Federal prosecutor Geoff Barrow told the AP on Wednesday that the indictment involves the people arrested so far “and others,” perhaps a reference to the four people who have stayed put at the federal refuge — despite Ammon Bundy’s calls for them to leave.

The indictment, which was unsealed Thursday and obtained by NBC News, alleges that the defendants conspired together since last October to prevent refuge employees from doing their work at the wildlife sanctuary “by force, intimidation, and threats.”

The maximum penalty is six years in prison.

The Bundy brothers — sons of infamous Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy — remain jailed. The occupiers took over the refuge as part of a larger demand that the federal government turn public lands over to local control.

A small group of the militants continue to occupy the wildlife refuge.

“Pharma-Bro” Martin Shkreli Escorted From Congressional Hearing After Pleading The Fifth

“Pharma-bro”/douchebag Martin Shkreli made his appearance today in front of the House Oversight Committee hearing regarding his now infamous pricing-gouging activities.

The smarmy one decided to hide behind the Fifth Amendment and not answer a single question, including one about his Wu-Tang Clan record purchase. Most of his appearance was comprised of laughing, yawning and twirling a pencil.

Eventually he was booted from the hearing. Shkreli broke his silence on Twitter by calling the congressmen “Imbeciles” on Twitter.

Coward.

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton weighed in via Twitter herself:

Rick Santorum Endorses Marco Rubio, Can’t Name One Of Rubio’s “Accomplishments”

Truly cringe-worthy TV there.

Rick Santorum has gone from the guy who won the 2012 Iowa Caucuses to coming in next to last this year, to endorsing someone for president that he can’t name ONE political accomplishment other than “winning a tough election.”

Santorum made an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to praise Rubio, but clearly left his talking points in the dressing room.

From Mediaite:

“What do you list as Marco Rubio’s top accomplishment?”.

What followed was a dizzying array of questionable sidesteps and half-answers from Santorum, who himself won the Iowa Caucus in 2012. To Scarborough’s question, Santorum meekly managed to say that Rubio, “[Won] a tough election in Florida, pull[ing] people together from a variety of spots.”

Scarborough wasn’t having it, and repeated the question multiple times while others on the Morning Joe panel laughed at the absurdity of the situation.

“He’s someone who brings people together!” Santorum admitted sheepishly.

“He’s been in the Senate four years. Can you name his top accomplishment?” pressed Scarborough once more.

Mika Brzezinski pushed the former Pennsylvania Senator further, leading him with “Jeb Bush ran Florida. Donald Trump built a company. Marco Rubio… finish the sentence.” Predictably, Santorum could not, though he maintained his smile throughout the brief interview.

Rick Santorum Drops Out Of GOP Race, Endorses Sen. Marco Rubio

Anti-LGBT Rick Santorum endorsing anti-LGBT Marco Rubio tells you everything you need to know about Marco Rubio.

Santorum is the third Republican candidate to quit suspend his campaign since Monday night’s Iowa Caucuses.

Chaz Bono Talks To Oprah About Body Dysphoria And His Transformational Weight Loss

In an upcoming appearance on Oprah: Where are They Now?, transgender trailblazer Chaz Bono talks about his difficulties in losing weight and having a healthy view of himself before transitioning in 2009.

From People:

“I would have never been able to do it before [transitioning],” Bono, 45, tells Oprah Winfrey. “I was too disconnected from my body, and the dysphoria that I had with my body was too much to be able to have cared enough to anything like that.”

Bono adds his body dysphoria made it hard for him to treat his body well.

The Dancing with the Stars alum has been steadily losing weight over the past few years after making a public mission to drop at least 50 lbs. in 2012. In fact, he’s done even better, dropping an impressive 75 lbs.

Before sitting down with Winfrey, 62, for the interview, Bono looked at old photos with one of the show’s producers. Unlike previous guests, however, this trip down memory lane wasn’t all that fun.

“For most transgender people, we don’t really like to see pictures of us before transitioning because life was really hard beforehand,” he explains. “They’re generally not happy memories.”

Bono, who transitioned from a woman to a man in 2009, explains to Winfrey that those pictures remind him of a time when he was unhappy because he wasn’t really being himself.

“It doesn’t, you know, bring back fun nostalgia. You just are reminded of the pain you were,” the actor says.

The episode airs this Saturday. Watch the advance clip below:

Jeb Havens Sets Drop Date For New Solo CD “Home Base”

http://tickets.rockwell-la.com/event/bf58daae180719c5ce28f58d9ab2ed93

Just got word that one of my favorite singer/songwriters, the very talented/handsome Jeb Havens, is releasing his new solo album, titled “Home Base,” on February 17th!

Los Angeles gets to share in the excitement with a release concert + birthday celebration  at Rockwell on the date.

Look for an upcoming exclusive interview with Jeb on The Randy Report radio show, plus some early teases of some of the new songs from the CD.

I’ve previously written about Havens here and here and here.

Good Hump Day kind of news 🙂

A photo posted by Jeb Havens (@jebhavens) on Sep 5, 2015 at 8:37pm PDT