Tag: Adam Rippon

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Several Prominent Winter Olympians Won’t Be At White House Reception Today

Gus Kenworthy & Adam Rippon at Opening Ceremonies of 2018 Winter Olympics

The White House will host members of the 2018 U.S. Winter Olympic and Paralympic teams this morning but several of the bigger names from this years’ Games won’t be in attendance.

From USA Today:

Lindsey Vonn won’t be there. Neither will opening ceremony flag bearer Erin Hamlin, or Adam Rippon, or almost all of his figure skating colleagues, or Chloe Kim, or Gus Kenworthy, or Jessie Diggins, or David Wise.

Some, like Vonn, Rippon and Kenworthy in particular, have made it clear they are skipping the U.S. Olympic Committee’s White House visit because they do not want to stand with the controversial Trump, who, among other things, bragged about sexually assaulting women in a video released during the 2016 presidential campaign, mocked a disabled person during the campaign and called some white supremacists “very fine people” after the deadly Charlottesville rally.

Others have just said they are going to be, um, busy.

Rippon has a full schedule with Dancing with the Stars rehearsals even as he’s touring with “Stars On Ice.”

But it was a foregone conclusion neither he nor Kenworthy would be attending today.

Rippon told USA Today:

“I have been invited to so many incredible things, to the Human Rights Campaign dinner, the GLAAD Media Awards. I was so honored and so excited to go to those, more so than I would be to go to the White House. I feel like it was more important for me to go to those events because it’s a cause that I really believe in, it’s a message that I believe in. It’s important for me to align myself with those people who have the same ideals that I have.”

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News Round-Up: April 26, 2018

(image via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• Paleontologist Francesc Gascó (above) redefines the old saying, “Walk tall and carry a big… hammer?” Ok, I’m not complaining… 🙂

• Out Olympic bronze medalist Adam Rippon not only attended the TIME 100 Gala in New York City as one of the news magazine’s “100 Most Influential of 2018” but he got to sniff country music star Keith Urban along the way.

• Hottie Simon Dunn trolled anti-LGBT Australian rugby player Israel Follau for saying gays will go to hell by kissing his bf after his own rugby match and then retweeting the pic to Follau. Follau has doubled-down in his hateful comments saying he’d rather end his career than take back what he said.

• Diver Tom Daley, married to Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black, says girls can still turn his head.

• A NYC subway rider found DWTS and ANTM champ Nyle DiMarco so hot she took creeper pics of him. She didn’t know he did the same 🙂

• Parker Matthews dropped his new music video for “Hit and Run” recently. In writing about the video, Pop Dust gushed, “Matthews’ confidence in his sexuality glows onscreen.”

I interviewed the talented popster back in February. You can catch my chat with him here and check out the video below.

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Cher Honors Adam Rippon For TIME’s “100 Most Influential People Of 2018”

Cher pens a glowing essay in honor of out Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon for TIME Magazine's "100 Most Influential People of 2018"

The one and only Cher, Grammy-winning singer and an Oscar-winning actor, wrote a tribute to Olympic figure skater and now-LGBTQ icon Adam Rippon who is being honored by TIME Magazine as one of 2018’s “100 Most Influential People.”

From a perspective that only Cher could write from, she shares her view on our man Adam:

All figure skaters are beautiful, but Adam Rippon is different. He isn’t just a beautiful skater. He has humility, grace and an incredible sense of humor.

You could see in the leather-harness suit he wore to the Academy Awards that he isn’t afraid to take chances. It wasn’t about the suit, really. It was about the fact that he dares to be different in a world where being different always comes with a cost. I thought it was fabulous, of course.

Adam is a skater who happens to be gay, and that represents something wonderful to young people. When I was young, I had no role models—everyone looked like Sandra Dee and Doris Day. There was nobody who made me think, Oh, I could be like them. They represent me. Adam shows people that if you put blood, sweat and tears into what you’re doing, you can achieve something that’s special. You can be special. And I think that’s very brave.

Click here for the full list of 2018 honorees.

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News Round-Up: April 13, 2018

Alabama Sen. Doug Jones' hottie gay son, Carson Jones
Carson Jones, son of Alabama Sen. Doug Jones

Some news items you might have missed:

• Alabama Senator Doug Jones has become the 46th co-sponsor to The Equality Act, which seeks to add ‘sexual orientation and gender identity’ protections to existing civil rights laws. Jones says his (hottie) openly gay son Carson’s coming out helped shape his political views on LGBTQ rights.

• The city of Columbus, Indiana, which just happens to be virulently anti-gay Vice President Mike Pence’s hometown, will celebrate its first-ever LGBT Pride Festival tomorrow.

• Amazon video just got that much more gay as the streaming giant has just added dozens and dozens of LGBTQ films that screened at Outfest in L.A. to Amazon Prime.

• A recent report by Goldman Sachs analysts pointed out that curing diseases doesn’t make nearly as much money for Pharma companies as creating drugs that treat (but don’t cure) chronic illnesses. The statement adds fuel to the conspiracy theory that should cures for diseases like AIDS might be discovered, they might be withheld in favor of “treatment” drugs.

• The Maine House of Representatives has approved legislation that would protect LGBTQ youth from so-called “ex-gay therapy.”

• It appears Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, liked to record conversations with associates. Folks in TrumpLand are worried some of those recordings which might have been included in the Monday raid on Cohen’s offices, contain material damaging to Trump.

• Olympian Adam Rippon opened last night’s GLAAD Media Awards by calling his bestie Gus Kenworthy onstage and explaining, “I’ve had such a big year, but my biggest achievement so far is finally getting Gus to come out of his shell. Four years ago he was afraid to kiss his boyfriend after he won silver in Sochi. Now, he’s unleashed.”

Gus agreed saying, “Literally, I’ll kiss anybody.” And with that laid a big smooch on Adam.

Watch below.

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Full Cast List For “Dancing With The Stars” Announced

ABC revealed the full cast of the upcoming “all-athletes” edition of Dancing with the Stars this morning on Good Morning America.

We knew Olympic bronze medalist Adam Rippon was going to be part of the season (looking forward to his antics), but the surprise this morning is that woofy Chris Mazdzer of the U.S. Olympic luge team will be cha-cha-ing his way into living rooms in the next few weeks.

Please, oh please, oh please let Mazdzer dance shirtless. Oh please, oh please…

Here’s the full cast list for DWTS “All-Athletes” edition:

• Adam Rippon (Olympic figure skater) with Jenna Johnson
• Arike Ogunbowale (Women’s basketball player) with Gleb Savchenko
• Chris Mazdzer (Olympic luger) with Witney Carson
• Jamie Anderson (professional snowboarder) with Artem Chigvintsev
• Jennie Finch Daigle (Olympic softball player) with Keo Motsepe
• Johnny Damon (Former MLB star) with Emma Slater
• Josh Norman (NFL star) with Sharna Burgess
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Former NBA star) with Lindsay Arnold
• Mirai Nagasu (Olympic figure skater) with Alan Bersten
• Tonya Harding (Former Olympic figure skater) with Sasha Farber

In case you needed reminding why I’m excited about Chris Mazdzer’s participation… 🙂

A post shared by Chris Mazdzer (@mazdzer) on Mar 25, 2018 at 11:37am PDT

A post shared by Chris Mazdzer (@mazdzer) on Jun 5, 2017 at 4:37am PDT

A post shared by Chris Mazdzer (@mazdzer) on Jun 1, 2017 at 9:41am PDT

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News Round-Up: April 6, 2018

(image via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• Max Emerson and Abram Hodgens (above) know how to April in style! Oh, to be in Park City right now…

• Ok, so now I have to watch the upcoming all-athletes edition of Dancing with the Stars because oh-so-awesome Olympic bronze medalist Adam Rippon will be taking part in the reality competition. Two Olympic skaters have won in the past, so, just saying… 🙂

• Fitness model Quin Bruce is giving you “off-duty Superman”… #woof

A post shared by Quin Bruce (@quin_bruce) on Apr 6, 2018 at 1:36pm PDT

• HuffPost: Everyone got the Pulse massacre story completely wrong. Available evidence now suggests Pulse Nightclub was “chosen at random.”

• Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego on Donald Trump: “I will gladly work with the President when his ideas aren’t stupid and detrimental to the United States.” #SoundsAboutRight

 • Hawaii has become the 7th state to legalize the right to medically assisted suicide. #Good #Dignity

• For a little #TBT action, I’m digging re-visiting American Idol alum Frenchie Davis’ single “Love’s Got A Hold On Me” from back in 2012. Oh – and are those hot, shirtless guys in there…?

I met and interviewed the openly bi singer during the promo for the single and she was an absolute doll.

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OUT: Gus Kenworthy & Adam Rippon On Friendship, Hate Mail & “That Kiss”

In an extremely candid interview with Cyd Zeigler for OUT, Gus Kenworthy and Adam Rippon reflect on the adventure that was the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang and the pressures most of the world was unaware that they faced.

An excerpt:

Gus Kenworthy: I got so many messages, like, “Why are you even there? You got last place.” Well, first of all, I didn’t get last place, I made it to the final. But also, I was at the fucking Olympics. I didn’t get here because I’m a gay athlete — it wasn’t handed to me. I qualified the same way that everyone else did. It took a lot of fucking grit and gumption and hard work to get to this position. Anyone that discredits it is truly just a troll.

But also, it does suck. Being out was such a fucking cool experience, but no straight athletes were checking their messages or comments the day before their event and seeing death threats and super-hurtful shit from internet bullies. The day before my event I read messages that were like, “I hope you fall, I hope you break your legs, you’re a piece of shit.” I had a message that was like, “I want to curb stomp you, you faggot.” I’m like, OK, cool, there’s someone out there that wants to put my teeth on a curb and stomp on my neck. It takes a lot to read that about yourself and know that there are people out there that don’t want you to succeed.

Adam Rippon: And then you go and represent those people. I’m an American representing the United States of America, and I would get a pit in my stomach every time there was somebody on social media with an American flag in their name. The most consistent message I got was, “I hope you fail, I hope you fall. I’ve never cheered against someone in my entire life.” That was really consistent — it was pretty much across the board.

That somebody could go out of their way to say they’re proud of their country and that they love it, and they’re a patriot, and then turn around and taunt their athletes is incredibly disrespectful. They’re the opposite of a patriot. You don’t represent America. You represent you and your family and your small-minded whatever. That’s not American.

But the boys of winter make it clear that PyeongChang was very much a huge net positive for them as the first out men to represent the U.S. at the Winter Olympics.

You can watch the bromance between the BFFs in action during their OUT photo shoot below:

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Los Angeles: Adam Rippon Honored With HRC Visibility Award

Adam Rippon (All images via Getty Images for HRC)

Out Olympian Adam Rippon was honored in Los Angeles last night with the Human Rights Campaign’s Visibility Award.

Adam’s fellow “out Olympian” Gus Kenworthy, who received the same award last year, presented Adam with the Visibility Award.

Here’s Gus’s introduction and Adam’s full speech, which is very much worth the watching.

Additionally, Adam finally met Oscar-winner Sally Field’s son, Sam Greisman, who she very publicly campaigned to meet Rippon.

In a text message to her son during the Olympics Field wrote, “He’s insanely pretty. Find a way.” Looks like mission accomplished:

More pics from the event courtesy of Getty Images for the Human Rights Campaign:

Out Olympian Gus Kenworthy introduces Adam Rippon

Presenting the Visibility Award

Josh Duhamel of Love, Simon

Congresswoman Maxine Waters

DWTS/ANTM champ Nyle DiMarco with Adam Rippon

Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin
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HRC To Honor Adam Rippon With 2018 Visibility Award

Today the Human Rights Campaign announced this year’s Visibility Award with honor out gay Olympian Adam Rippon at the 2018 HRC Los Angeles Dinner this Saturday, March 10, 2018.

“One word best describes Adam Rippon — fierce,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “By being out and proud, Adam is bringing LGBTQ visibility to a whole new level while capturing the hearts of millions around the world with his incredible talent and personality. He isn’t afraid to use his global platform to speak out for equality, and we are proud to honor him with the HRC Visibility Award at the 2018 HRC Los Angeles Dinner.”

Adam Rippon made history as the first openly gay U.S. American male figure skater to compete in the Olympic games. Rippon publicly sparred with Mike Pence in the press and on social media, bringing a new focus on Pence’s long anti-LGBTQ record. Rippon publicly voiced his concern over Pence leading the diverse U.S. delegation to the Olympics.

In an exclusive interview with HRC, Rippon said, “At first, I had a few hesitations to come out, because I was afraid of repercussions that it might have. But at the end of the day, I felt like it was important, and it was an opportunity to shine a light on a subject that was bigger than me. I know when I was coming out I drew strength from learning about other people’s stories and hopefully my story will do the same for others.”

The HRC Los Angeles Dinner brings together more than 1,000 of HRC’s most active members and supporters in the greater Los Angeles area to raise crucial funds in the fight for LGBTQ equality.

Fellow out Olympian Gus Kenworthy will also be in attendance. Kenworthy was honored by the HRC with the same award last year.

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News Round-Up: March 7, 2018

Ammar Alkatib

Some news items you might have missed:

• Hat-tip to Towleroad for pointing up InstaHunk Ammar Alkatib (above). How about that face??? About all I know is he lives/spends time in Madrid and is uber-handsome. Imma gonna just sit here and stare at that gorgeous face, m’k? #WOOF

• Hawaii’s state Senate voted to protect LGBTQ youth from harmful “conversion therapy.” The legislation now moves to the state House of Representatives.

• During the after show of Watch What Happens Live last night, out Olympian Adam Rippon was asked if there was anything to the rumors that figure skater-turned-announcer Johnny Weir might have been jealous of the attention Adam received at the PyeongChang Olympics. Check out Adam’s answer below as he makes it clear he’s not looking for Weir’s job.

• Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi paid a visit to RuPaul’s Drag Race and praised the queens: “You’re an inspiration, I hope you know. Because you really know your power. It’s about taking pride, and you take pride in yourself when you know your power.”

• New Hampshire’s House of Representatives passed HB 1319 which would prohibit discrimination based on gender identity in employment, housing, and places of public accommodation. The bill, HB 1319, now heads over to the state Senate.

• Out singer/songwriter Calum Scott recently teamed up with 3-time Grammy nominee Leona Lewis for a duet version of his hit single, “You Are The Reason.” Check out the newly-released music video below. Scott’s debut album, Only Human, drops on Friday.