The next installment in the Knives Out series has its title, as writer/director Rian Johnson announced on social media that the film will be called Wake Up Dead Man, per Deadline. Plot details are unknown; as of now, Daniel Craig (who has played gay detective Benoit Blanc in the previous two movies) and Kerry Washington are involved, and gay actor Andrew Scott has joined the cast. The most recent Knives Out pic, Glass Onion, debuted in 2022.
Queer Emmy-winning actor/producer Lena Waithe will be honored with the Variety Creative Conscience Award at the 48th San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival (Frameline48) in San Francisco on Saturday, June 29, Variety noted. This award honors Waithe’s career as a filmmaker and entrepreneur, along with her work to champion the Black and queer communities. Also, Waithe will participate in a Q&A with Variety senior artisans editor Jazz Tangcay. Waithe is also the founder of Hillman Grad, a media and production company that empowers underrepresented voices and amplifies stories of diverse communities; its slate includes projects at Warner Bros, Netflix, BET, Disney, Amazon, Universal, Focus, HBO, Max and Showtime.
On the “Smartless” podcast (which Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett host), queer actress Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story) called out the actor who sent her six pages of unsolicited notes after watching her in a play, Variety noted. Paulson said that when she did a play called Talley’s Folly in 2013, actress Trish Hawkins—who originated the role of Sally Talley in the 1979 off-Broadway and 1980 Broadway versions of the production—visited her backstage. “Cut to two days later, I got an email that was six pages long of notes and a communication to me about what she had done when she had done the play, what she recommended I do,” Paulson said. “It was outrageous. It was really outrageous. Trish Hawkins, I have not forgotten it, and I hope to see you never.”
A scene from RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars that featured a contestant portraying a double mastectomy as they walked down the runway sparked outrage among conservative social-media users, Newsweek noted. Contestant Gottmik was seen participating in a runway challenge alongside the other contestants. Gottmik—who became the first man assigned female at birth to compete in RuPaul’s Drag Race during the show’s 13th season—depicted her transition while walking the runway. Right-wing account Libs of TikTok shared footage of Gottmik’s runway moment on X, formerly Twitter, with a caption that stated it featured a drag queen “acting out undergoing a double mastectomy surgery. This is what RuPaul and [drag] promotes. Absolutely disgusting.”
Cate Blanchett was at the Cannes Film Festival to promote Proof of Concept—an accelerator program she co-founded last year to elevate the perspectives of women, trans and nonbinary people by financially backing their short “proof-of-concept” films, Variety noted. “Their point of view, in whatever story, in whatever genre they tell it, will be different from somebody who has grown up [as a] white, middle-class male,” she said. “It’s a different perspective. They’ll put the camera in a different place in the room. And I think that’s really exciting.” Blanchett added, “Any time that I personally have advanced in my career, it is when I have taken risks. And it’s just that a lot of our male counterparts in the industry are applauded for their risks and their bravery. And they’re given $100 million and all the male actors are taking incredible risks that may not have worked, but God!”
It was another race—and another win—for LGBTQ+ sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, per ESPN. The spotlight was supposedly on 2023 world champion Richardson and Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herah (the reigning Olympic gold medalist in both the 100 and 200 meters) at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon. However, Thompson-Herah faded at the Pre, finishing last in the field of nine in the 100-meter race. Richardson ran the distance in 10.83 seconds. The Prefontaine Classic was the fifth stop of the year on the international Diamond League series; for the Americans vying for a spot on the Olympic team, it was a key tune-up.
Minnesota won the initial championship of the Professional Women’s Hockey League by beating Boston 3-0 in game five of the series, the AP noted. Liz Schepers, Michela Cava and three-time Olympian Kendall Coyne Schofield all scored for Minnesota, while Nicole Hensley stopped 17 shots for the team. Average attendance in the regular season was 5,448, giving the six-team league confidence to expand the schedule from 24 games to 30 next year.
Jeremy Pope is the face of Calvin Klein’s 2024 “This Is Love Pride” campaign alongside actress/model Cara Delevingne, Out noted. In the official video launching this Pride collection, Pope and Delevingne lip-sync to Crystal Waters’ ‘90s hit “100% Pure Love.” The campaign features Pope and Delevingne with co-stars Stella Maxwell, Janick Heilijgers, Tinglei Liu, Monet Lauren, Vinson Fraley, Greta Hofer, Diego Pasillas, Mauro van de Kerkhof and Charlie Knepper.
Following the success of his Prime Video rom-coms The Idea of You and the queer-themed Red, White & Royal Blue, Nicholas Galitzine is staying in business with Amazon MGM, starring as He-Man in the live-action Masters of the Universe movie, per Deadline. Previously in development at Sony and Netflix, the film will be released exclusively in theaters worldwide on June 5, 2026. Galitzine also recently starred opposite Julianne Moore and Tony Curran in Starz’s gay-themed historical drama Mary & George.
Netflix released the teaser trailer for the fourth and final season of its superhero series The Umbrella Academy that will debut Aug. 8, Variety noted. Elliot Page, Tom Hopper, David Castañeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher, Justin H. Min, Ritu Arya and Colm Feore are all back for the series. Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally and David Cross join the original cast for the final season.
Los Angeles’ Pride in the Park music festival will feature several big-name performers, per Out. Taking place Saturday, June 8, the 2024 festivities will feature Ricky Martin, MUNA, Sasha Velour, Jaida Essence Hall, DJ Alex Chapman, JoJo Siwa and more. Attendees can also explore the 20 acres of activities at the downtown LA event, including a ballroom competition, a trans lounge and other events.
Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series returns for its 20th season—and the first conversation will be between nonbinary actor Emma Corrin and actress Elizabeth Debicki—the two actors who played Princess Diana in Netflix’s The Crown, the outlet noted. Robert Downey Jr. will talk about acting with longtime pal Jodie Foster. Joey King reunites with Taylor Zakhar Perez, her co-star from The Kissing Booth. And Kim Kardashian and Chloe Sevigny—two stars of the Ryan Murphy universe—will talk about working with him. One conversation a day will air on Variety.com during June 3-14.
Queer artist Billie Eilish had her biggest album debut of her career with her third studio album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, a press release noted. The album had already amassed more than 500 million global streams and debuted at #1 in 14 countries. In its first week of release, the LGBTQ+ single “Lunch” was the #1 most added song in the United States, with more than 250 radio stations and 20 million in audience reach across multiple formats, and it remained the #1 most streamed song globally on Spotify, Apple Music and iTunes.
Musician and queer icon Bitch will bring her one-woman show—“Hey, Bitch!”—to Provincetown, Massachusetts’ Post Office Cabaret every Wednesday this summer (June 26-Sept. 4), a press release noted. The release stated that the show is “a funny, upbeat, and moving story of how a young quiet girl goes on to name herself Bitch. Woven together by songs mostly from Bitchcraft, she will play her electric violin and take the audience on ‘A Musical Journey To Planet Bitch.’” Since releasing the album Bitchcraft, she has toured nationally, headlining more than 100 shows and opening for acts such as Indigo Girls and Ani Difranco.
Out profiled drag personality Shannel, who made a remarkable achievement. When she was cast in All Stars 9, Shannel immediately made history by becoming the first and only queen to compete in all three decades that Drag Race has been on the air. Shannel made her reality TV debut in 2009 as a contestant in the first season of Drag Race. She then competed on All Stars 1, which aired in 2012, and returned for All Stars 9, which is airing in 2024.
Audra McDonald, a six-time Tony winner, will return to Broadway this fall in the iconic role of Mama Rose in Gypsy, Deadline noted. The revival will feature direction from George C. Wolfe and choreography by Camille A. Brown. Previews begin Nov. 21 at Broadway’s newly renovated Majestic Theatre, with opening night set for Dec. 19.
Out actor John Benjamin Hickey will lead the cast of Amazon MGM Studios’ Band, per Deadline. Other actors will include Miguel Angel Garcia, Lynley Eilers, Alex Fitzalan, Henry Hunter Hall and Chante Adams. Band is about a diverse ensemble of teens who navigate the chaos of adolescence while finding unity and belonging in their school’s marching band.
House-music icon Crystal Waters (behind the songs “Gypsy Woman” and “100% Pure Love”) just launched her global 2024 Relentless Tour and has started writing her next anticipated new single and upcoming album, a press release noted. Her last single “Dance Dance Dance,” on IAH Records, charted on UK Music Week’s Commercial Club Chart at the Top 3 position. Also, Waters will be honored as one of the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame recipients alongside Grammy-winning artist Angie Stone, Allee Willis, Maria Callas and Soon Hee Rettig on June 7.
According to Josh Young and Manfred Westphal’s book The Fixer: Moguls, Mobsters, Movie Stars and Marilyn, notorious private detective Fred Otash investigated claims of actor Rock Hudson’s homosexuality for Hudson’s soon-to-be-ex wife Phyllis Gates, per The New York Post. Otash allegedly set up a sting operation with Gates—and supposedly obtained evidence of Hudson admitting same-sex affairs. According to the book, Otash and personal attorney Arthur Crowley used the transcript to pressure Hudson’s team into a settlement. In 1985, Hudson died of complications from AIDS at age 59.
Longtime actor Richard Dreyfuss was criticized for alleged sexist and homophobic remarks at a Jaws screening after coming out in a dress, per The NY Post. Dreyfuss, 76, reportedly went on a rant that ranged from talking about Barbra Streisand to his opinions on transgender youth and gender affirmation as well as the Academy Awards’ inclusivity rules. The leadership at The Cabot Theater in Beverly, Massachusetts, apologized to patrons. One person later posted, “This was disgusting. How could the Cabot not have vetted his act better[?] Apparently (I found out too late), he has a reputation for spewing this kind of racist, homophobic, misogynistic bullcrap … We did NOT get what we paid for.”
Brooke Shields was elected president of Actors’ Equity Association, per Deadline. In winning the position, Shields edged stage manager Erin Maureen Koster and actor Wydetta Carter. Shields—who has no experience in union leadership—succeeds Kate Shindle, who announced in April that she would not seek re-election when her nine-year tenure ended May 23.
Actor Chris Hemsworth (the Thor movies; Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga) recently received the 2,781st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, KTLA noted. He’s the latest Marvel superhero to receive the honor, joining many of his costars like Robert Downey Jr. (who roasted Hemsworth during the ceremony), Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce also declared it Chris Hemsworth Day in Hollywood.