Actress Sophia Bush (of the TV shows One Tree Hill and Chicago P.D.) has come out as queer—a year after announcing that her short-lived marriage had ended, CNN noted. Writing in Glamour, she described the cold feet she experienced before tying the knot with entrepreneur Grant Hughes in July 2022. Bush also wrote about "falling in love" with Ashlyn Harris, whom Bush said she had known for four years and who was splitting from her wife and former pro soccer teammate, Ali Krieger. Bush added, "I sort of hate the notion of having to come out in 2024. But I'm deeply aware that we are having this conversation in a year when we're seeing the most aggressive attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community in modern history." Bush and Harris made their official public debut at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, per Page Six.
Queer multiple Grammy nominee Janelle Monae (The Glass Onion; Moonlight) has found her newest film role in Universal Pictures' coming-of-age musical from director Michel Gondry and producer Pharrell Williams, Deadline noted. Details as to her role in the untitled feature project haven't been disclosed. Set in Virginia Beach, Virginia in the summer of 1977, the film is inspired by the neighborhood where Williams grew up and its Atlantis Apartments. Kelvin Harrison Jr. leads an ensemble that also includes The Holdovers Oscar winner Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Halle Bailey, Oscar nominee Brian Tyree Henry and Grammy winner Missy Elliott.
On May 7 at a live event with Emmy-winning actress Laverne Cox, Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library will reveal her as the 16th LGBTQIA+ historic trailblazer in its "Standing on the Shoulders of Heroes" exhibition, a press release noted. This collection features icons featuring athletes Diana Nyad and Billie Jean King; award-winning actor/singer Billy Porter; trailblazing politician Harvey Milk; civil-rights leader Congresswoman Barbara Jordan and more. Curated in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, along with its sister exhibit, "Never Silent," the exhibit is at New York City's CUNY School of Labor Studies until May 7, having been transferred from Philadelphia.
And speaking of Cox, she will be part of the Tribeca Festival's lineup of talks with artists, directors and multi-hyphenate entertainers, a press release noted. The Storytellers Series will feature Emmy-winning producer, director, and writer Judd Apatow; queer singer-songwriter Michael Stipe; out host/author Andy Cohen; actor Kieran Culkin (Succession); and actress Kerry Washington talking with former U.S. ambassador Nicole Avant, among others. The Directors Series will feature queer Academy Award-winning director, producer, photographer, and musician Gus Van Sant in conversation with art dealer, filmmaker and actor Vito Schnabel. There will also be reunions and retrospectives of venerable and lauded films and TV series, including marking the 25th anniversary of The Sopranos and the 40th anniversary of Footloose, with the latter featuring a special conversation with Kevin Bacon. The festival will take place June 5-16.
The Peabody Awards recently revealed its full list of nominations for its 84th edition, with TV projects like The Bear, Bluey, The Last of Us, Reservation Dogs, Fellow Travelers, Blue Eye Samurai, The Fall of the House of Usher, Jury Duty, Dead Ringers, Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters, and All the Beauty and the Bloodshed among those making the cut, Deadline noted. Winners will be revealed May 9 ahead of an in-person awards ceremony June 9 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles.
Queer country artist Orville Peck announced the release date of his duets album, Stampede Vol. 1, per a press release. Arriving on May 10 via Warner Records, the project features songs with Elton John, Noah Cyrus, Midland, Allison Russell, Nathaniel Rateliff and Bu Cuaron in addition to the previously released Willie Nelson collaboration, "Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other."
Ellen DeGeneres opened the first night of Ellen's Last Stand… Up Tour—her new comedy show which is also set to appear on Netflix, the BBC noted. She started her Hollywood show by saying "I didn't care what other people thought of me, and I realized… I said that at the height of my popularity." People's Esther Kang, who was at the show, wrote, "Even though Ellen DeGeneres is looking back at her talk show with a sense of humor, she can't deny that her unceremonious exit [after employees on the Ellen DeGeneres show accused executive producers of keeping a toxic environment] left deep wounds." DeGeneres ended her eponymous talk show in 2021.
International alt-pop musician The Japanese House (the project of Amber Bain), who identifies as queer, announced her U.S. summer tour, a press release noted. The shows will kick off May 25 in Albuquerque; stops will include The Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York City and a special Los Angeles show at the Greek Theatre with Del Water Gap. Amber will be joined by Skullcrusher, Miya Folick, and Abby Holliday on select dates. Tickets went on sale May 3.
Pauly Shore wrote on Instagram that he was "up all night crying" after Richard Simmons continued to publicly distance himself from the biopic on his life that Shore is attached to star in, Variety noted. Also, Simmons revealed on his social-media platforms that he's talking to film studios about making his own biopic. "I just read that a man that I don't know is writing my bio pic starring Pauly Shore," Simmons posted. "I do not approve [of] this movie. I am in talks with major studios to create my own biopic with some help. Wait for this movie."
Following the news of her third studio album Hit Me Hard and Soft, set for release on May 17, Billie Eilish announced arena dates, produced by Live Nation, for her Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour, per a press release. Starting in September, Eilish will embark on her North American leg of the tour which runs through to the end of December; the tour will then continue in Australia starting February 2025 ahead of European, U.K., and Ireland arena dates slated to start in April and run until late July. North American stops include Toronto, Pittsburgh, NYC, Chicago, Denver and Seattle, among other cities.
International singer Anitta, who identifies as bisexual, released her new album, Funk Generation, via Republic Records/Universal Music Latin Entertainment, a press release noted. The album includes songs such as "Grip," "Fria" and "Ahi"—the latter featuring Sam Smith. About the record, Anitta said, "Funk Generation embodies every nuance of this 100% Brazilian musical genre that has shaped my journey as both a person and an artist. Funk is ingrained in the culture of those who live in Brazilian favelas, where I come from, and has often been unfairly judged as lacking artistic value, even associated with organized crime. It reflects the classism and racism that haunt our society."
New Zealand-British singer/songwriter Daniel Bedingfield recently opened up about his sexuality and loving a man—the first time he had done it publicly, per Instinct Magazine. During his gig at the London Palladium, he talked about writing a song, reportedly titled "Borderline," with an unnamed man. "'In my era, you had to be gay or straight, or f*ck you. I wrote this song with a man I loved about a girl we both loved," he said. Bedingfield also talked about his autism and not having friends until he was about 16. The "If You're Not the One" singer also admitted that he "wanted to die" growing up, but was thankfully saved by music and friends he later had.
Fashion designer Christian Siriano—a native of Annapolis, Maryland—will be the grand marshal and keynote speaker June 1 for the annual Annapolis Pride Parade and Festival, The Washington Blade noted, citing The Baltimore Banner. Siriano, the first Marylander to ever win Project Runway, is not new to aligning himself with organizations and causes, having previously supported LGBTQ+ rights, a national gun-violence prevention organization, Planned Parenthood and actress Cynthia Nixon's unsuccessful bid for governor of New York.
Queer actor Kristen Stewart and Oscar Isaac are set to star in vampire thriller Flesh of the Gods, from director Panos Cosmatos, per Deadline. Isaac and Stewart will portray Raoul and Alex, a married couple in glittering '80s L.A. who descend each evening from their luxury skyscraper condo and head into the nighttime scene. When they cross paths with the mysterious and enigmatic Nameless and her hard-partying group, Raoul and Alex are seduced into a glamorous, surrealistic world of hedonism, thrills—and violence.
Linda Hamilton (The Terminator) and Abbie Cornish (Three Billboards) will star opposite queer actor Kal Penn in Trust Me, I'm a Doctor, per Deadline. The film is based on the memoir of Dr. Sandeep Kapoor (Penn), whose life is turned upside down when he is implicated in the death of his former patient: model, actress, and reality TV star, Anna Nicole Smith. Cornish will play Smith, with Hamilton as Ellyn Garafalo, the attorney who served as Kapoor's lifeline and legal counsel throughout the drug-conspiracy trial.
The comedy film Encore will reunite eight-time Oscar nominee Glenn Close with Oscar winner Jeremy Irons 34 years after their critically acclaimed hit Reversal of Fortune, Variety noted. Henry Winkler and Don Johnson round out the ensemble cast. Encore follows a group of retired actors as they attempt to reignite their passion for life.
Iconic singer Barbra Streisand found herself in trouble recently, E! News noted. After Melissa McCarthy shared photos of her and director Adam Shankman in an April 29 Instagram post, Streisand added a comment that raised more than a few eyebrows. In a since-deleted comment, Streisand posted, "Give him my regards did you take Ozempic?" "Babs. No, honey. Just no," wrote one user, while another added, "Rude, Barbra." However, others came to her defense. (Streisand later explained her remark, saying she was merely praising McCarthy's appearance, per The Hollywood Reporter.) Many celebrities have used Ozempic to lose weight; last year, Sharon Osbourne revealed that she dropped 42 pounds after using the drug.
Queer singer and former Fifth Harmony member Lauren Jauregui opened up about her dating life and said that now that she's broken up with ex-partner Sasha Mallory, she's open to exploring polyamory, Out noted. "I'm also kind of in this space of exploring polyamory a little bit," Jauregui said on the Two Dykes and a Mic podcast. "I just know that I'm in a space right now at this point in my life where I'm, like, I want to belong to myself primarily." Jauregui also said that she feels like she might be demisexual, "'cause I went through the phase of trying to just sleep with people, and I hated it. I hated it."
Charithra Chandran—known for playing Edwina Sharma in the Netflix series Bridgerton—spoke out against an entertainment industry mentality that she feels pits people of color against each other, Deadline noted. "It's not a zero-sum game," she said. "You're so focused on fighting your own that you become distracted from the people doing the oppressing. The oppressors have imposed the idea that there's only one seat at the table, when what other people of color are doing is just pulling up more chairs." Actors such as Dev Patel (The Green Knight; Slumdog Millionaire), Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Melissa Fumero and Aubrey Plaza have spoken out in the past about their being limited spaces for people of color in TV and movies.
The ABC show (and Roseanne follow-up) The Conners, which just aired its 100th episode, will be getting a seventh season, Deadline noted. This final season will be an abbreviated one, with the main cast—including John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Sara Gilbert and Lecy Goranson—expected to return.
Season 50 of the TV show Survivor may be four seasons away, but the planning is officially underway, according to Variety. During a "Survivor" FYC event at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, host/showrunner Jeff Probst announced that the landmark season will feature all returning players. Probst added, "I don't know what is going to happen after this, but I'm pretty sure we're committed."
Teddy Swims released four new tracks on I've Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1.5), via Warner Records, a press release noted. The project includes the hit "Lose Control," which recently claimed the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, hit #1 at Top 40 and Hot AC radio; it also has surpassed 1 billion streams across all platforms.
The Max Original series Thirst with Shay Mitchell will debut Thursday, May 23, on Max. New episodes of the four-episode series will debut weekly. Shay Mitchell (TV's Pretty Little Liars; You) explores the world one drink at a time as she visits exotic locations, samples unique ingredients and meets expert hosts. On her journey, she encounters the latest drink trends, the best bars, and 8,000 years of sipping history.
The Goo Goo Dolls will drop a limited-edition crystal-clear vinyl release of Live in Buffalo on June 21, per a press release. The 19-song set included all their major hits including "Iris," "Name" and "Slide" as well as a cover of Supertramps' "Give A Little Bit." More than 60,000 fans attended the show and braved a torrential downpour before and during the band's 2004 performance in front of City Hall.
The federal appeals court in Chicago affirmed the 2022 conviction of onetime R&B star R. Kelly, noting that an "even-handed" jury handed down a mixed verdict "even after viewing those abhorrent tapes," The Chicago Sun-Times noted. The decision followed arguments in February that mostly involved the length of Kelly's prison sentence and whether U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber went too far by handing down 20 years. Leinenweber also ruled that Kelly could serve 19 of those years while serving a 30-year prison sentence for his racketeering conviction in New York. In 2022, a federal jury in Chicago convicted Kelly of three counts of producing child pornography and three counts of enticing minors into criminal sexual activity.