In an interview for Axios on HBO, Axios co-founder Jim VandeHei asks Donald Trump Jr. about his father’s hiring and firing of high-level cabinet members and then making derogatory remarks about them later. Some of those comments include: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson: “Dumb as a rock.” Secretary of Defense James Mattis: “World’s most overrated general” Attorney General Jeff Sessions: “Weak… scared stiff… mixed up and confused.” Steve Bannon: “Sloppy man who cried like a little dog.” Junior says his dad is “getting there.” “You have a guy that functioned as a businessman for a long time. It’s an entirely new world. I think now he’s figuring that out.”
L-R Chandler Massey and Freddie Smith (screen capture) After years of playing Salem’s resident on-again/off-again gay couple on Days of Our Lives, actors Freddie Smith and Chandler Massey have been informed their contracts were not renewed for the long-running daytime drama. Breaking the news on his Twitter account, Smith (who plays Sonny Kirakis on the series) wrote, “Days of Our Lives releases Freddie Smith and Chandler Massey from contracts. I will miss Salem so much!!” “Thank you all for the incredible love and support throughout the years,” he added. “I really feel we told a love story that will live on forever.” Massey (who plays Will Horton) followed that up with his own tweet writing, “Wish it weren’t coming to an end, but I will be forever grateful to everyone who went on this journey with us.”
Wish it weren’t coming to an end, but I will be forever grateful to everyone who went on this journey with us. https://t.co/Wv0ZfQwFGo
The tweet linked to a YouTube video where Smith shared with fans that he and Massey may be done shooting Days episodes as early as this week. Without giving up any details as to how the couple departs the show, Smith shares the viewing audience won’t be saying goodbye to Will and Sonny (affectionately known as ‘WilSon’ to fans) until September 18, 2020, due to the show shooting episodes six months in advance. Smith adds that the decision “was not our choice,” and that he and Massey were looking forward to staying on and keeping their storyline going. But it appeared to Smith as though the writing was on the wall. “As the scripts started coming in, I was like, ‘This doesn’t look good. This doesn’t look like we’re going to get re-signed to a contract.’” Still, Smith acknowledges the history that the show and ‘WilSon’ made. “In 2011, for Days of Our Lives, hats off for taking that risk, telling that love story, and I’m just really happy to be a part of it.” Over nine years and around 900 episodes, Smith says “We’ve done something special.” Special indeed when you consider the couple exchanged vows in the first male-male wedding in US daytime drama history. In recognition of the characters and storylines of Sonny and Will, the GLAAD Media Awards honored Days as ‘Outstanding Daily Drama’ four years in a row (2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015). Additionally, Massey won the Daytime Emmy three years in a row (2012, 2013, 2014) for ‘Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series’ marking the first time a gay character was recognized in that category. In 2015, Smith took home the same trophy.TVLine reports Days released the entire cast from their contracts last fall in a belt-tightening decision as the producers waiting to see if the show would be renewed for its 56th season. Once the renewal was announced, the series began negotiating contracts with some (not all) of the show’s players. In announcing the news online, TVGuide.com called the gay couple “the heart and soul of the long-running soap.” You can watch Freddie Smith share his thoughts in the video below.
(image via Instagram) Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Fitness guy Nik (above) says “six-packs are overrated – especially after Christmas!” I second that notion 🙂 • Instinct Magazine: A Manhattan school teacher says he was fired for being gay and for standing up for a non-binary gender-nonconforming student. • Hulu: A trailer has been released for the latest installment of Hulu’s Into The Dark, a monthly horror event series. Each feature-length installment is inspired by a holiday. The latest episode – Midnight Kiss – stars Scott Evans and premieres on December 27. According to the official synopsis, “A group of longtime gay best friends head to a beautiful desert home to celebrate New Year’s Eve. One of their annual traditions is to play MIDNIGHT KISS, a sexy but ultimately dangerous challenge to find that special someone to help you ring in the New Year. As friendships have grown strained with secrets, jealousy and resentment, the group faces another challenge when a sadistic killer wants in.”
• NBC News: Donald Trump said Tuesday he wouldn’t rule out pardoning Republican operative Roger Stone, describing what happened to his former confidant as “very tough” and criticizing federal prosecutors and investigators as “dirty cops” and “evil people.” • Out: Dame Judi Dench says her “Deuteronomy” in the now-infamous film version of Cats is transgender. • CNBC: Trump supporters were outraged to hear a version of Home Alone 2 aired on Canada’s CBC network which omits Donald Trump’s cameo in the film. Chuck Thompson, the CBC’s head of public affairs, said in a statement that the edits to the film “were done in 2014 when we first acquired the film and before Mr. Trump was elected president.” • Instagram: Madonna canceled her final ‘Madame X’ tour date in the U.S. due to “indescribable” pain.
(stock photo via Depositphotos) A gay man working at an event company found his salary cut in half after his boss found out he was gay. Two weeks later, the gay employee was fired. The New York Post reports Wesley Wernecke was recruited, hired and began working for Eventique in New York City on June 3 as a Senior Producer. One week into settling into the new gig, a coworker noticed his wedding ring and asked, “So what does your wife’s ring look like?” According to court papers filed with the Manhattan Supreme Court on Wednesday, Wernecke shared that his partner, Evan, had a similar ring. Eventique founder and executive producer Liron David was in the room at the time of the conversation, and soon Wernecke found himself left out of conference meetings as well as being excluded from after-work drinks with other male colleagues. Court documents for the lawsuit allege, “David took all these tactics to exclude Wernecke because David had already made up his mind that, despite the proficiency of Wernecke’s work, he would not accept having an openly gay man working in the office, and he intended to get rid of Wernecke.” Wernecke soldiered on for months, but on September 20 David informed Wernecke that he was reducing his salary from $145,000 to $70,000. “I couldn’t sleep at night thinking you were being paid so much more than the other females in the office,” David told the 32-year-old reports the Post. Wernecke says he believes David made the comment “to reinforce Wernecke’s understanding that David considered Wernecke to be a sexual deviant and unfit to work at Eventique.” Wernecke soon discovered his pay was actually slashed to $58,000. And two weeks later, on October 4, Wernecke was told he was being fired due to “deficiencies” and “errors” in his work. Wernecke’s lawyer, Anthony Consiglio at the law firm Cary Kane, told the Post his client is an “accomplished marketing director and producer of live events” who is now seeing a therapist for the first time in his life due to the discriminatory treatment. “These acts cannot be reconciled with the liberal anti-discrimination positions written into law in New York City and State to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and transgender people in their workplaces,” Consiglio said. Gena Zaiderman, David’s attorney, told the Post her client considers the allegations in the court filing “baseless” and “shocking.” “Mr. David firmly stands by his long-standing reputation for fairness and professionalism,” said Zaiderman. “We expect that the facts will be revealed in due course.” (source: NY Post)
Dr. Josh Hamilton (screen capture) Dr. Josh Hamilton teaches professional communications and college readiness at Grapevine High School near Fort Worth, Texas. He is also the coach for the school’s competitive speech team that won state and national championships last year. But the school district he works for recently fired him saying he texted inappropriate messages to a student. Hamilton says the trouble started the day after he mentioned being gay to his speech team. During preparation on September 5, 2019, for an upcoming oral interpretation tournament, Hamilton felt his team was distracted by personal issues instead of the topic at hand. “Guys, I get it,” Hamilton told the students in an attempt to motivate them. “We all have something going on. Heck, you all watched me struggle last year with my mental health and met me this year on the other side as a happy, open and honest gay man.” “So, I get it life is hard,” added the PhD. “Let’s put that to the side and get our work done.” The next day he was called into Human Resources where he says he was asked about his communication with students, did he text them, and what was the content? Hamilton said he did text some students as the team coach and in the context that one of the students handled babysitting chores for him. Finally, the HR representative asked, “Josh, have you told the students anything about your personal life changes in the last month?” Hamilton says his response was as straight-forward as he could make it. “Are you asking if the kids know that I am gay?” he told the representative. “Sure, just like they know that I was married, I have kids and travel each day from Fort Worth, sure they do its part of my life.” He was placed on administrative leave at that time pending an investigation into whether he ‘shared too much information’ with his students. That was a Friday. On Monday, he was told by the HR persona, “Josh, we have done our investigation and decided we are no longer going to continue employment.” Hamilton says he was given no due process nor provided with any evidence. When he asked to see the text messages the school insisted he was being dismissed for, he was told, “No, we need to protect the privacy of the student.” After hiring a lawyer, who asked for the text messages in question to be forwarded pending legal action, the school stopped communicating. A few days later, he was finally allowed to review the text messages that the school says are the basis for his firing. The messages were with a student who regularly took care of Hamilton’s young son, Jackson. Hamilton says the topics in the 8 text messages ranged from his son to separating from his wife to his new dating life. The instructor says the student was babysitting when he would go on dates, so the issue came up. “If we’re going to fire a teacher for texting a kid, we’re going to fire a lot of teachers in Texas,” Hamilton told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. And he insists none of the messages have ever been inappropriate. The student’s parents didn’t see it that way. At a meeting this week of the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District, board members voted unanimously to fire Hamilton due to the District’s policy on texting students. During the meeting, Human Resources executive director Gema Padgett said, “Dr. Hamilton violated the standards by developing inappropriate relationships with students, providing inappropriate information to the students concerning his personal life, through text messages, treating students as family members or close friends and providing inappropriate personal information to the students.” Hamilton told the local NBC News affiliate NBC DFW, “Sitting in the board room and hearing her use the word inappropriate, inappropriate, inappropriate painted me to the public as a child predator. This has been the worst experience of my life.” But the school district, contending Hamilton’s firing was not because he is gay, issued this statement: “Mr. Hamilton has been proposed for termination for good cause due to violations of the District’s electronic communications policy, violations of student privacy, failure to follow written directives, and violations of the Texas Educator’s Code of Ethics. In GCISD, we hold all employees to high standards for their interactions with our most important people, our students. His conduct is not acceptable for an educator in GCISD.” Hamilton plans to appeal the decision to the Texas Education Agency, which would provide a due process hearing. He says he hopes to retain his teaching position. The state of Texas has no legal protections on the books prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ people in the workplace. (source: NBC DFW)
Todd Starnes’ contract at Fox News is not being renewed. The host will no longer be working at the network, its website, or its premium subscription service, Fox Nation.
He made headlines as recently as Monday for comments during his radio program that Democrats do not believe in the Christian God and instead may worship Moloch, a pagan god often associated with child sacrifice. When asked for comment, Fox News confirmed the news that Starnes is no longer working at the network but did not elaborate on the reasons behind Starnes’ departure.
The conservative talking head is best-known for his incendiary anti-LGBT, xenophobic, and racist remarks both on-air, across Fox News programming and on his Fox Nation and Fox News Radio shows, and in his FoxNews.com columns. Perhaps most famously, Starnes compared migrants to Nazis and declared that America is being “invaded by a horde.”
Starnes also has a long history of erroneous reporting, having once been fired from Baptist Press over “factual and contextual errors” and “misrepresentations.”
(screen capture) The woman pictured above went viral last week, and not for a good reason. Video was shared across the interwebs showing her leaving a CVS drug store in Los Angeles’ Eagle Rock neighborhoo while throwing the n-word around like she says it ALL the time: “If the law didn’t say I couldn’t kill the nig*ers they’d be all dead” According to news reports, the LAPD has begun a hate crime investigation. This is pretty hideous. Click the video in the tweet below.
“If the law didn’t say I couldn’t kill the nig*ers they’d be all dead”
This racist lady told a Black woman that she would kill all black people if it wasn’t illegal in a CVS in California WHO IS SHE?! SHE NEEDS TO BE IN PRISON FOR LIFE! pic.twitter.com/iiShKgmkPL — StanceGrounded (@_SJPeace_) September 26, 2019
Internet sleuths seem to have determined that the woman’s name is Heather Lynn Patton and that she works (worked?) in Hollywood in costume design. In screen captures included in the tweet below, she apparently says she lost her job due to the rant which she blamed on being drunk. “Please do not contact me,” reads a screen capture of her Instagram story before it was deleted. “I was intoxicated and I sincerely apologize to everyone whom I disrespected and let down for my actions. Please forgive me.”
The woman who unleashed a horrific racist rant at a California CVS is revealed to be a Hollywood costume designer. She posts an apology on social media, claims she was intoxicated, and says she has been fired from her job. pic.twitter.com/7gYH1QksHV
Roseanne Barr tells the Daily Mail she was fired from the successful reboot of her sitcom Roseanne because she supports Donald Trump and Hollywood hates him.
‘When it happened it was like I thought I was gonna lose my life,’ she recalled. ‘It was devastating and horrible and is unprecedented too that they would do that to me.’
She feels like there is more to her departure from ABC than just the shocking social media post and wonders if there was some sort of conspiracy at play.
‘It was a perfect storm,’ she told Palmer. ‘That’s what I think, just the perfect storm at the perfect time. Kind of a little bit too perfect. Sometimes I think “was this orchestrated? The whole thing?”’
Barr reckons that her continued support of President Donald Trump played into ABC’s decision to boot her.
‘All of Hollywood, they just hate him and they hate those of us who like him. There is no way around it.
‘So, yeah, I think they took me off because I liked him and I like him because I’m a Jew and he likes Israel,’ Barr said matter-of-factly.
In the aftermath of referring to former Obama administration adviser Valerie Jarrett an ape on Twitter, Barr was fired from her own show. The series was initially cancelled but then revived as a spin-off, The Connors. The revamped series is now heading into its second season. Barr, who is about to begin a comedy tour with Andrew Dice Clay, says she is not in contact with any of her former cast mates. (image via Instagram)
Donald Trump announced via Twitter this morning that he has fired national security adviser, John Bolton, a well-known war hawk. From the New York Times:
President Trump fired John R. Bolton, his third national security adviser, on Tuesday amid fundamental disagreements over how to handle major foreign policy challenges like Iran, North Korea and Afghanistan.
Mr. Trump announced the decision on Twitter. “I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House. I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration, and therefore I asked John for his resignation, which was given to me this morning. I thank John very much for his service. I will be naming a new National Security Advisor next week.”
His departure comes as Mr. Trump is pursuing diplomatic openings with two of the United States’ most intractable enemies, efforts that have troubled hard-liners in the administration, like Mr. Bolton, who view North Korea and Iran as profoundly untrustworthy.
Bolton was Trump’s 3rd National Security Advisor following Michael Flynn and H. R. McMaster, both of who also were asked to tender their resignations. Bolton joined the Trump administration April 9 2018. According to Newsweek, Bolton opposed the idea of Trump meeting with Taliban leaders this week at Camp David. There are also reports that he “clashed” with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for months to the point that the two men haven’t spoken for some time. Bolton says he technically ‘resigned’ and was not fired. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1171452880055746560
….I asked John for his resignation, which was given to me this morning. I thank John very much for his service. I will be naming a new National Security Advisor next week.
In the aftermath of being fired from the Broadway-bound play, Tea At Five, earlier this month, the New York Post’sPage Six reports Faye Dunaway is now being sued for homophobic abuse by her former assistant.
Actress Faye Dunaway relentlessly berated her gay personal assistant on the play “Tea at Five,” calling him “a little homosexual boy” before he was fired for complaining, a new lawsuit alleges.
Michael Rocha says in his Manhattan Supreme Court suit that he began working for the Broadway-bound production — from which Dunaway was eventually fired — on April 5 and was tasked with shopping, helping the actress take her meds, arranging her schedule and getting her to and from rehearsals.
Rocha — who worked at the Oscar-winning star’s East 57th Street apartment and was paid $1,500 per week — alleges that Dunaway “regularly and relentlessly subjected plaintiff to abusive demeaning tirades” and used his sexual orientation as a gay man to “demean and humiliate him at work,” the court papers charge.
The Post reported the Oscar winner was dismissed from the production last month just minutes before a performance after she allegedly slapped a crew member.
One source told the newspaper they were “fearful for their safety.”
In an interview for Axios on HBO, Axios co-founder Jim VandeHei asks Donald Trump Jr. about his father’s hiring and firing of high-level cabinet members and then making derogatory remarks about them later. Some of those comments include: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson: “Dumb as a rock.” Secretary of Defense James Mattis: “World’s most overrated general” Attorney General Jeff Sessions: “Weak… scared stiff… mixed up and confused.” Steve Bannon: “Sloppy man who cried like a little dog.” Junior says his dad is “getting there.” “You have a guy that functioned as a businessman for a long time. It’s an entirely new world. I think now he’s figuring that out.” 
Special indeed when you consider the couple exchanged vows in the first male-male wedding in US daytime drama history. In recognition of the characters and storylines of Sonny and Will, the GLAAD Media Awards honored Days as ‘Outstanding Daily Drama’ four years in a row (2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015). Additionally, Massey won the Daytime Emmy three years in a row (2012, 2013, 2014) for ‘Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series’ marking the first time a gay character was recognized in that category. In 2015, Smith took home the same trophy. 
