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.”
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.
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.
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!”
Leaving Neverland, the new four-hour documentary that focuses on two alleged cases of sexual abuse by pop star Michael Jackson, debuted last night at the Sundance Film Festival.
The emotional film was only halfway through when viewers began sharing their thoughts on the “sickening” claims from James Safechuck and Wade Robson, both of whom say they endured years of Jackson’s inappropriate behaviors and manipulation.
“It’s halftime at the four-hour Michael Jackson doc and I’m already gonna need 400 showers to ever feel clean again. #Sundance” David Ehrlich, a Senior Film Critic at Indie Wire, tweeted after the doc’s first two hours.
“On a 10-min break halfway through Sundance’s 4-hour Michael Jackson child sex abuse documentary,” wrote Kevin Fallon, Senior Entertainment Reporter at The Daily Beast.
“Whatever you thought you knew or were aware of, the content of this is more disturbing than you could imagine. And again, we’re only halfway through.”
In response, fans argued back that there was “no evidence” and that people “never tried to understand Michael and see who he really was.”
“You are falling for the wrong stuff & you are being played and you will see that pretty soon! Wait on it,” wrote one fan.
Robson claims he first met Jackson at the age of 5 in his native Australia.
Two years later, his family was invited to stay at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch home in California, where he claims he slept in Jackson’s bed and said he was first sexually abused by him.
Robson says the abuse went on for seven years and ended because he grew out of an age that Jackson was interested in.
However, Robson testified as a witness for Jackson’s defense during a sexual abuse trial in 2005 where the pop star was acquitted of child molestation charges.
Safechuck claimed in 2014 that he was sexually abused by the icon when he was 10 years old after appearing in a Pepsi commercial with him.
Safechuck says that his relationship with Jackson culminated in joining Jackson on his Bad tour, and it was then that the alleged sexual abuse began.
The Jackson estate issued a statement to People in advance of the premiere of Leaving Neverland, which read:
“This is yet another lurid production in an outrageous and pathetic attempt to exploit and cash in on Michael Jackson.
“Wade Robson and James Safechuck have both testified under oath that Michael never did anything inappropriate toward them. Safechuck and Robson, the latter a self-proclaimed ‘master of deception’, filed lawsuits against Michael’s Estate, asking for millions of dollars. Both lawsuits were dismissed.
“This so called ‘documentary’ is just another rehash of dated and discredited allegations.
“It’s baffling why any credible filmmaker would involve himself with this project.”
Jackson died in 2009 at the age of 50 in his L.A. mansion.
Donald Trump shifted gears from his 35 day government shutdown to focus on the indictment his longtime associate, Roger Stone.
Trump railed at the Twitter crowds asserting if Stone is charged with lying to Congress, then the former FBI and CIA officials who were involved in the early days of the investigation into Russian election interference should be as well.
Ok, so fact check: No evidence exists that any of those folks – including former directors of FBI, CIA and National Intelligence –
There is no evidence that the former officials mentioned by Trump — which — lied to Congress. None of them have been charged with any crimes.
Stone was indicted Friday morning on charges of obstruction of an official proceeding, false statements and witness tampering.
Trump ended the rant with a little rhyming, “Build the Wall and Crime will Fall!” signaling the beginning of the Dr. Seuss portion of his presidency.
If Roger Stone was indicted for lying to Congress, what about the lying done by Comey, Brennan, Clapper, Lisa Page & lover, Baker and soooo many others? What about Hillary to FBI and her 33,000 deleted Emails? What about Lisa & Peter’s deleted texts & Wiener’s laptop? Much more!
We have turned away, at great expense, two major Caravans, but a big one has now formed and is coming. At least 8000 people! If we had a powerful Wall, they wouldn’t even try to make the long and dangerous journey. Build the Wall and Crime will Fall!
I mean, seriously, it took him 35 days to figure out what any other president would have figured out in ten minutes.
He got shivved by Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, ran around claiming the ‘sky is falling/national emergency,’ and after 35 days it was just a big nothing burger.
EXCEPT American workers and the economy got hurt.
His first negotiation out of the box with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and he was ‘not ready for prime time.’
Trump intimated this afternoon he still might cry ‘national emergency.’
But, if there was a national emergency, he would have called it now, right?
But, there’s not a national emergency.
‘The Art of the Deal’ my ass…
Good news for George Herbert Walker Bush: As of today, he is no longer the biggest wimp ever to serve as President of the United States.
– Ends shutdown without wall – #TrumpCaved is trending – Nancy Pelosi piles on – Ann Coulter goes berserk – Trump is losing his base – Roger Stone arrested – MUELLER IS COMING – They’re all going to prison – It’s still only 6pm
Thanks to new Democratic control of the New York state Senate, Gov. Andrew Cuomo was finally able to sign two important LGBT bills into law today.
With an American flag, a New York state flag, a rainbow flag and a transgender flag displayed prominently, the governor signed his name at a ceremony held at the New York City LGBT Community Center.
After many years of fierce advocacy and activism, we are thrilled to see GENDA and the conversion therapy ban signed into law! Thank you @NYGovCuomo for your commitment to our community. #RiseOutpic.twitter.com/7twVZG4XBs
One, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, or GENDA, adds gender identity to the New York Human Rights Law to which bans discrimination in employment, housing, public spaces and education.
GENDA took a 16 year journey to receiving a New York state governor’s signature. While it was passed 11 times in the state Assembly, the Republican-controlled Senate kept the important legislation out of reach.
New York is now the 20th state in the country with statewide protections banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks at signing ceremony at NYC LGBT Community Center
The second piece of legislation bans the use of so-called ‘conversion therapy’ on LGBTQ youth.
Major medical organizations like the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have all denounced ‘conversion therapy’ which treats being gay as a mental illness.
Also known as ‘ex-gay therapy,’ the practice has been shown to lead to depression, decreased self-esteem, substance abuse, anxiety and, in some cases, suicidal behavior.
Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, issued a statement which read:
“Today, with Governor Cuomo’s signature, New York has made bold, historic progress by making GENDA the law of the land and banning the abusive and life-threatening practice of so-called ‘conversion therapy’ on LGBTQ youth.
“These laws will literally save lives, and their passage would not have been possible without the tireless work of advocates and allies across New York over the last decade. We also owe today’s celebration in large part to Senator Hoylman and Assemblymembers Gottfried and Glick for their strong leadership on this legislation, and to Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins, who made them a top priority this session.”
New York is now the 15th state to prohibit the harmful practice on LGBTQ youth.
Other states that have enacted similar laws are Connecticut, California, Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Washington, Maryland, Hawaii, New Hampshire, as well as the District of Columbia.
It’s a great day to celebrate in New York state.
Check out video from the event today in New York City below.
Jeffrey Cannon & Aaron Lucero (image via Facebook)
A Dallas area wedding venue has been dropped from a major wedding planning site for turning away a gay couple’s business.
Jeffrey Cannon and Aaron Lucero had been dating for three years when they became engaged last summer.
The couple decided they wouldn’t make a rush to the alter as Lucero is a teacher. “We knew we wanted to wait over a year just because of all the stresses of starting the new school year,” Lucero told OUT.
They had opened a couples profile on the popular wedding planning site, The Knot, which helps connect wedding vendors with possible clients.
So, after spending some weeks doing online research for options for their big day, the couple set out last Saturday to check out possible venues.
But at the end of a day of viewing venues, the couple received an email from The Venue at Waterstone, just outside of Dallas. The couple had visited The Venue that day and it was their leading choice for their wedding.
The owner of the wedding company, Lyle Wise, shared with the couple that the business was founded 27 years ago after he had a vision ‘from God.’
Writing that “The design for marriage that we hold to is based upon the design [God] set forth which is a representation of the bride of Christ joined to the groom,” Wise informed Lucero and Cannon that The Venue does not host same-sex weddings.
“Though we do not host LGBTQ weddings or receptions,” added Wise, “we are more than happy to converse and further explain our beliefs and the love God has shown us as well as how He is conforming our lives to himself.”
The couple posted the email to their Twitter account.
Note: nowhere on the website for The Venue does the company state it is a religious-based organization.
Lucero told OUT the email felt like “a punch to the gut.”
Cannon chose to respond to the email sharing with Wise that they, too, grew up with a religious background.
“Our prayer is that God will one day open your hearts as well so that you will be able to welcome all of His children into your beautiful venue,” wrote Cannon.
“Until that day comes however, we would petition you to please make your faith known to the public on your website and with Knot.com so that other same sex couples do not have to go through the same rejection that we have gone through with you,” he added.
After the denial, the couple decided to reach out to other venues and disclose they were gay in an effort to avoid any further awkward situations.
It turns out two of their appointments set for Sunday cancelled on the couple upon receiving the news saying they were not ‘well-equipped’ to host same-sex weddings.
Now, The Knot has a strict policy about discrimination which includes LGBT people.
In a June 2018 Instagram post, The Knot’s CEO Mike Steib, wrote, “When we learn that a vendor has violated these terms of service, we will remove the vendor’s storefront and refund his or her money.”
“We love our couples, and all of our couples deserve a marketplace free of unfair prejudice,” he added.
The parent company for The Knot, XO Group, issued a statement to OUT, which read, “Our company supports everyone’s right to marry the person they love and prohibits any vendor on our site from discriminating against a couple based on their race, religion, sexual orientation, etc.”
OUT has since confirmed that The Venue at Waterstone has been banned from The Knot.
Lucero admits the action by The Knot was appreciated, but he says the website should be more transparent about vendors’ positions on same-sex weddings.
“They have the power to make a difference, not just by kicking companies off their market place, but by using their influence and power to really make a difference,” he told Out.
Apparently, companies can get a badge for their profile on The Knot that shows they welcome same-sex couples, but the website doesn’t offer a way to filter or search for those LGBT-inclusive businesses.
Brittny Drye, editor-in-chief of Love Inc. Magazine, says even though the U.S. is years past the legalization of marriage equality nationwide, there are still many wedding vendors who are not open to working with same-sex couples on their big day.
“While most are, I still receive responses from many who are not, even in progressive cities like New York and San Francisco,” says Drye. “Enough for me to know that we still have a long way to go.”
Earlier this week, users of the popular gay dating app Scruff were greeted by a message from the company of a change in policy regarding profile pictures.
Titled, “Profile photo guidelines are changing,” the alert went on to state, “To comply with platform policies, photos in underwear, jockstraps or bikini style bathing suits are no longer permitted in profile photos.”
In a statement on the site’s support page, Scuff CEO Eric Silverberg wrote, “All gay and queer apps must enforce app store content policies or risk being removed from the app stores altogether, and this happened to SCRUFF earlier this year.”
“Had this removal been permanent, it would have been devastating to our company and our community,” he added.
Silverberg didn’t elaborate which App Store had temporarily removed his app.
“The primary profile photo may not show jockstraps, underwear, or bikini-style swimwear,” explained the CEO.
Also, profile photos that show “sexually suggestive embraces” might not “align with App Store guidelines.”
Additional guidelines include:
• No exposed genitals (not even a small, tiny part)
• No visible erections or visible outline of genitalia in clothes.
• No shower shots
• No shots of genitalia obscured by towels or hands
• No cropping of shots to make the crotch focal point of the photo
• No collages or compositions of multiple photos
The complete list of no-no’s regarding profile photos is posted here.
“Given that Scruff is a community that speaks openly and positively about sex, bodies, and intimacy, some feel that such policies are at odds with those values,” wrote Silverberg in closing. “Such criticism is not unfounded,”
“Scruff respects the concerns voiced by our community on this matter, and we encourage everyone to continue to hold us, and all tech companies, accountable for the content and conduct standards we enforce,” he added.
The CEO told Out that all profile photos will be “graded on a case-by-case basis.” He also noted that the app doesn’t require a public profile photo.
Scruff had apparently received a warning earlier this month by distributors of their app with a warning on the subject following the recent ban of adult content on Tumblr.
Here’s an example (pulled from Scruff’s own Instagram account) of what is NOT allowed as a profile photo now:
