Tag: Ellen Degeneres

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News Round-Up: October 9, 2019

Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: The Griffopotamus dropped his phone and it still takes great snaps (above). Maybe if I drop MY phone my pics will come out this good, too…? • OUT: Mey Rude wonders aloud, “Ellen DeGeneres was a lesbian hero – but who is she now?  She broke ground 20 years ago, but her recent actions and words have me rethinking her lesbian icon status.” • Bloomberg: Donald Trump pressed then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to help persuade the Justice Department to drop a criminal case against an Iranian-Turkish gold trader who was a client of Rudy Giuliani, according to three people familiar with the 2017 meeting in the Oval Office. Tillerson refused. The report adds others present in the Oval Office were shocked by the request. • ABC News: Montgomery, Alabama, once known as the cradle of the Confederacy and later the birthplace of the civil rights movement, has elected Steven Reed as its first African American mayor in the city’s 200-year history.

• Facebook: Evangelist Franklin Graham recently opined about a CNN article that reported how three particular STIs – gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis – are at all-time highs in the U.S. in 2018, according to numbers from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Graham wrote that the solution to preventing STIs is heterosexual monogamy: “God made us male and female and gave sex for us to enjoy inside a marriage relationship between a man and a woman — not two men, not two women.” • Fox News: According to a new Fox News poll (FOX NEWS y’all), 51 percent wants Trump impeached and removed from office, 4 percent want him impeached but not removed, and 40 percent oppose impeachment altogether. In July, just 42 percent favored impeachment and removal. • Queerty: Indie movie maven and sometime drag performer Tyler Perry has announced the opening of a 12-sound stage 330-acre movie studio complex in Atlanta that will also feature a shelter for victims of sex trafficking and displaced LGBTQ youth.

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Ellen Defends Sharing A Laugh With George W. Bush

People got upset on Sunday when a photo of Ellen DeGeneres surfaced sharing some laughs with former President George W. Bush at this weekend’s Dallas Cowboys/Green Bay Packers football game. DeGeneres addressed criticisms that appeared on social media during the opening segment of her talk show on Tuesday. “Here’s the thing: I’m friends with George Bush,” she began, using the controversy to push for openness across social and political divides. “In fact, I’m friends with a lot of people who don’t share the same beliefs that I have. We’re all different and I think we’ve forgotten that that’s OK that we’re all different.” Here’s Ellen’s full statement:

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News Round-Up: May 28, 2019

Jersey Shore’s Vinny Guadagnino with the Chippendales

Some news items you might have missed:

• I caught Vinny Guadagnino’s final performance at Chippendales in Las Vegas this weekend. Let me tell you, the ‘Keto Guido’ killed it – the crowd was insane. That Keto Diet definitely suits him, because he’s ripped AF.

• Three LGBTQ advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration for its recent repeal of transgender healthcare rights.

• From his debut EP Loveless, out artist Jake Frost drops his music video for “Undercover,” which offers a brooding exploration of the push/pull of hidden desires and unrequited love.

Shoutout to Frost’s video co-star, Marquise Hitchcock, who created the evocative choreography.

• During a recent chat on David Letterman’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, Ellen DeGeneres shared she was sexually abused by her step-father.

• Seth Rogen told GQ Magazine he really regrets the homophobic jokes in his early movies saying, “I’ve had people come up to me and be like: ‘That made me feel like shit when I was in the movie theatre and everyone was laughing about that.’”

• The producers of musical based on the hit film Magic Mike have cancelled a November Boston tryout engagement after composer Tom Kitt, lyricist Brian Yorkey and book writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa left the show over “creative differences.”

• Jack Thompson beat out 67 other contenders to be named this year’s International Mr. Leather becoming the first trans person of color and the second trans person ever in the competition’s 41-year history to win the title.

A post shared by International Mr Leather Inc (@internationalmrleatherinc) on May 27, 2019 at 7:20am PDT

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News Round-Up: May 22, 2019

Some news items you might have missed:

• Well, hello newly-discovered InstaHunk Jefferson Ferreira. Aren’t you just a heaping helping of furry goodness…? #woof

• The U.S. federal government has settled a lawsuit for $750,000 with a gay inmate who was threatened by another prisoner over his sexual orientation. Instead of intervening, officials moved the gay inmate into his bully’s cell where the aggressor followed through on his promises to repeatedly beat and rape the gay inmate.

• Adult entertainment site XTube surveyed over 3,000 gay and bisexual men about what fetishes turn them on the most. Ranked number one was ‘partialism’, also known as a fetish for a particular part of the body like feet or a hairy chest. Some studies have shown folks who engage in kink are more likely to have positive mental health.

• Out talk show host Ellen DeGeneres has inked a deal to keep her titular chat-fest going three more years taking her through the 2022 season.

• The Trump administration is proposing a rule change to gut protections for transgender people seeking to stay at federally funded homeless shelters.

• The latest music video from Madonna – her collaboration with Swae Lee, “Crave,” from her upcoming album Madame X.

I like the song. Hit play below…

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Mayor Pete To Pence: We Don’t Need To Feud About Religion, Just Stop Being Homophobic

Mayor Pete Buttigieg on ELLEN (via screen capture)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg on ELLEN (via screen capture)

During his appearance on ELLEN Friday, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg addressed an accusation by Vice President Mike Pence that he has been attacking Pence’s “Christian faith” as a means to further his presidential aspirations.

“I’m not critical of his faith,” the mayor told Ellen DeGeneres. “I’m critical of bad policies.”

“I don’t have a problem with religion – I’m religious, too,” he added. “I have a problem with religion being used as a justification to harm people, and especially in the LGBTQ community. So many people, even today, feel like they don’t belong. You can get fired in so many parts of this country just for who you are. And that’s got to change.”

Back to Pence, the 37-year-old White House hopeful told Ellen he isn’t “interested in feuding with the Vice President.”

“But, if he wanted to clear this up he could come out today and say he’s changed his mind,” said Buttigieg. “That it shouldn’t be legal to discriminate against anybody in this country for who they are.”

Mayor Pete Buttigieg on ELLEN (via screen capture)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg on ELLEN (via screen capture)

Buttigieg also spoke about the influence of religion on his life and how it guides him.

“When I’m in church, the scripture that I hear is about taking care about the least among us it’s about lifting up those who are most vulnerable,” he explained. “It’s a message that is fundamentally about love. Love and humility. Humbling yourself before God and putting other people before you.”

Noting that many people were disappointed a woman wasn’t elected president in 2016, Ellen asked the mayor why those people should vote for him in the 2020 election.

“You gotta vote for the person you think best speaks to your values and is best able to lead the country, and you may decide that’s me and you may decide that’s somebody else.”

Underscoring the importance for administrations to have gender diversity and gender balance, Mayor Pete was quick to say he’d definitely be open to having a female running mate should he win the Democratic primary.

In related Mayor Pete news, the recent Saint Anselm College Survey Center poll shows he has surged to third place among Democratic voters in New Hampshire.

With former Vice President Joe Biden coming in on top with 23 percent, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders second with 16 percent, Mayor Pete garnered 11 percent support.

The pollster wrote in his report, “The emerging dark horse in this race may be Pete Buttigieg, who has gone from a virtual unknown to vault to 11% support, trailing only Biden and Sanders and ahead of Warren.”

The poll indicated Buttigieg has seen a 33-point increase in name recognition in recent weeks, almost all of it favorable.

And the latest poll out of Iowa from Monmouth University also shows Buttigieg in third place (9% support) behind Biden (27%) and Sanders (16%).

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Ellen DeGeneres Faces Backlash After Urging Kevin Hart To Reconsider Decision To Not Host Oscars

During today's chat, Ellen basically lets Hart have the floor to explain what hosting the Oscars meant to him, how he viewed the shit storm over his homophobic tweets involved statements from a decade ago and how he's spent ten years moving on from that 'immature' comedian into becoming a grown, cultured man. DeGeneres urged Hart to reconsider his decision on stepping down as Academy Awards host.
Kevin Hart and Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen Degeneres feels so strongly that comedian Kevin Hart should reverse his decision and host the upcoming Academy Awards, she interviewed him for her show about it.

The segment was set to air Monday, but she felt SO emphatic about the issue she moved the interview to air today.

In December, Hart stepped down as host of the Oscars after a social media uproar over past homophobic tweets.

One tweet from 2010 said a user’s profile picture looked “like a gay billboard for AIDS.” Another tweet, from 2012, read: “Yo if my son comes home & try’s 2 play with my daughters doll house I’m going 2 break it over his head & say n my voice ‘stop that’s gay.'”

During today’s chat, Ellen basically lets Hart have the floor to explain what hosting the Oscars meant to him, how he viewed the shit storm over his homophobic tweets involved statements from a decade ago and how he’s spent ten years moving on from that ‘immature’ comedian into becoming a grown, cultured man.

DeGeneres urged Hart to reconsider his decision on stepping down as Academy Awards host.

“As a gay person. I am sensitive to all of that. You’ve already expressed that it’s not being educated on the subject, not realizing how dangerous those words are, not realizing how many kids are killed for being gay or beaten up every day,” DeGeneres told Hart.

In fact, DeGeneres shares that she actually called the Academy on Hart’s behalf.

“I called them, I said ‘Kevin’s on. I have no idea if he wants to come back and host. What are your thoughts?’ And they were like, ‘oh my God, we want him to host. We feel like maybe he was misunderstood or it was handled wrong or we said the wrong thing. But we want him to host.Wwhatever we can do we would be thrilled and he should host the Oscars’”

Hart now says he’ll reconsider his decision.

The 2019 Academy Awards airs February 24.

Some LGBTQ activists are not having Ellen giving Hart a platform and her support here.

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News Round-Up: December 28, 2018

Some news items you might have missed:

• Happy, happy birthday to my awesome godson Josh (above), who I am certain hung the moon.

• Police in Colorado have arrested a woman for trashing a gay man’s apartment over his “gay behavior.” She faces charges of causing non-serious bodily injury, domestic violence, criminal mischief, and assault in the third degree, with possible bias crime enhancements.

• Outsports has named Gus Kenworthy’s slope-side kiss with boyfriend Matt Wilkas at the Olympics the “gay sports moment of 2018.”

• Thanks to the Trump Shutdown, as of midnight tonight, 42,000 Coast Guard members won’t see another paycheck until mid-January at the earliest. Other military branches are unaffected by the partial government shutdown but the Coast Guard falls under the Homeland Security Department.

• Out comedienne/TV host Ellen DeGeneres snagged a Top 10 spot (8th) on Gallup’s “Most Admired Women” poll this year. She’s the only LGBTQ person to appear on the list.

• Star Trek: Discovery star Wilson Cruz shows us how to turn a fierce 45-years-old. Just a simple wave of the hand, “45 and…”

A post shared by Wilson Cruz (@wcruz73) on Dec 27, 2018 at 12:07pm PST

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‘Will & Grace’ Serves Up Guest-Star Mashup Video

Patti LuPone guest starring on ‘Will & Grace’

Over the 8 years of its original run (plus the two reboot/revival seasons), Will & Grace has given us not only lots of laughs from the ‘fearsome foursome,’ but tons of great guest stars.

Patti LuPone, Rosie O’Donnell, Blythe Danner, Ellen DeGeneres, David Schwimmer, Matt Bomer and Adam Rippon have all dropped by the hit NBC series to take part in the hilarity.

Plus, we’ve gotten cameo spots by music icons like Elton John, Janet Jackson, Madonna, JLo, Britney Spears and the one-and-only Cher.

With so many guest stars, the series has shared this awesome mash-up of celeb visitors over the years.

The comedy champ is still going strong having already been confirmed for a third revival season for fall of 2019.

The current second revival season returns on January 31, 2019.

Who is your favorite W&G guest star? I’ll go first – the fabulous Blythe Danner (as Will’s mother) always made us giggle. Totally brilliant.

A post shared by Will & Grace (@nbcwillandgrace) on Nov 29, 2018 at 6:09pm PST

A post shared by Will & Grace (@nbcwillandgrace) on May 7, 2018 at 3:49pm PDT

A post shared by Will & Grace (@nbcwillandgrace) on Jun 5, 2018 at 10:19am PDT

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Gus Kenworthy Helps College Student Be ‘Fearless’ In Coming Out

Gus Kenworthy, Ashley Graham help John to come out to his parents

Ellen DeGeneres has launched a new web series titled, Fearless, hosted by entrepreneur and body positive activist Ashley Graham.

The digital series, hosted on EllenTube, focuses on helping people struggling with their own confidence issues to rally the courage to rise above, take the next step and become unapologetically fearless.

In this episode, Ashley helps 20-year-old college student John come out to his parents.

John admits he’s come out to his friends but the idea of telling his parents he’s gay has him “freaked out.”

He says that he first became aware of being attracted to boys in 7th grade but it wasn’t until after he graduated high school and a friend asked him point blank if he was gay.

Gus Kenworthy on coming out

Ashley brings in out Olympian Gus Kenworthy to help John get up the nerve to make the call to his parents.

Kenworthy famously came out on the cover of ESPN Magazine back in 2015. Since then, he’s become one of the leading voices for LGBTQ representation and authenticity.

Gus shares that coming out for him, while scary and nerve-wracking (he didn’t sleep the night before), was ultimately a very positive experience.

Ashley asks if Gus’s friends wanted to talk about the gay thing after he came out and Gus laughs saying, “There’s a thing that straight people are going to do to you; they’re like, ‘Oh my god, you’re gay? You should meet my friend Jason, he’s gay.’”

And with that, they send John off to make THE call to his parents.

The reaction? Watch the video below to find out. Plus, there’s a surprise twist!

At the end of the short video, Gus has these words for those facing their own coming out:

“For anyone who’s watching that’s in the closet and struggling with their identity, their sexuality, I just want to let you know that you are valid, you are seen, you are heard, you are loved. And it can be really scary thinking about taking that step and revealing who you are and being so transparent with the world. But you’re going to be so much happier for it, and you living your life authentically and unapologetically is going to make it that much easier for other people to do the same.”

Follow the digital series Fearless here with new episodes every Wednesday.

Past episodes include Laverne Cox meeting a transgender man who’s never met another trans person before, and Ashley giving a teacher a lesson on body confidence.

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Ellen Celebrates Disowned Gay Valedictorian Seth Owen

Ellen DeGeneres surprises formerly homeless gay valedictorian Seth Owen
Seth Owen and Ellen DeGeneres (screen capture)

This past summer, I reported on the story of Seth Owen, a high school student who became homeless after his father did a deep dive into his cell phone and discovered Seth was gay.

The intrusion into Seth’s personal life began a series of events that led to a year of being subjected to so-called ‘conversion therapy,’ forced to attend a church that was virulently anti-gay, and eventually being thrown out of his home.

However, homelessness would not deter Seth.

Incredibly, while coach-surfing throughout his senior year of high school, he maintained a 4.16 GPA and graduated as co-valedictorian of his class.

Even as he celebrated his amazing achievement, Seth learned after he was accepted to prestigious Georgetown University that his parents reneged on any financial support leaving him far short of the funds to attend his first semester this fall.

One of Seth’s teachers who recognized his strength and burgeoning potential launched a GoFundMe campaign to help him cover the shortfall. Seth’s story and the campaign went viral exceeding all expectations by raising over $141,000.

Thanks to the LGBT media covering the story, Georgetown University took another look at Seth’s situation and granted him a full ride to the school.

This week Ellen DeGeneres welcomed Seth to her show to celebrate him and his amazing fortitude in the face of so many obstacles.

This week Ellen DeGeneres welcomed Seth to her show to celebrate him and his amazing fortitude in the face of so many obstacles.
Ellen DeGeneres welcomes Seth Owen to her show

Chatting on the show, Seth gave credit to Ellen for his becoming co-valedictorian saying many late nights he would look up her videos for uplift and inspiration. “There were so many times, so many times that you really pulled me through,” said Seth. “I really do appreciate that.”

He also shared the story of how his dad invaded his privacy searching through his phone which led to ‘ex-gay therapy’ treatment.

“The dangerous part about that is that, as a patient, I believed this healthcare professional was doing what was best for me,” Seth explained. “I didn’t see any progress, so it’s very depressing.”

But after his incredible journey to college, Seth gushes about his first two weeks at Georgetown saying, “I love it – It’s amazing. I would not want to be anywhere else but Georgetown.”

The 18-year-old also mentioned that the school’s staff has been very supportive.

“As a Jesuit university, we have residential ministers on our floors, and she told me that she was here to support me,” said Seth. “As someone who’s been through something like this with religion, it meant the world to me to hear from a spiritual advisor to say they have my back.”

Asked about the amazing GoFundMe campaign, Seth explained that after college he’ll use leftover funds to establish a scholarship program for LGBTQ youth who find themselves in a similar situation heading to university.

Following that news, Ellen stunned Seth announcing that she and Cheerios would be donating $25,000 to help begin Seth’s scholarship program.