Queer actor Kristen Stewart will make her TV series-starring debut in The Challenger—a limited series in which she’ll play Sally Ride, the astronaut and physicist who became the first U.S. woman to fly in space, Deadline noted. Kyra Sedgwick’s Big Swing Productions developed and brought the project to Amblin.In 1983, Ride became the first American woman to fly on the space shuttle, and became an instant celebrity. That joy was short-lived, however, when three years later the space shuttle Challenger blew apart 73 seconds into its ascent, killing all seven members of the crew. Ride—who died from cancer at age 61 in 2012—then became the only astronaut to become part of the Rogers Commission, a presidential commission to investigate the disaster. Ride’s obituary publicly revealed for the first time that she’d been in a long-term relationship with former Women’s Tennis Association player Tam O’Shaughnessy, according to media reports.
SAG-winning Glee veteran Amber Riley and queer musician Micah McLaurin have released the music video for their reimagination of multiple Grammy-winning, cross-genre songwriter Jimmy Webb’s hit single “MacArthur Park,” per a press release. The video is a collection of special, behind-the-scenes footage from across two continents that shows the song being created. Performing the single for the first time live at Chicago Pride Fest on Sunday, June 23, Riley and McLaurin’s “MacArthur Park” draws inspiration from Donna Summer’s #1, multi-million-selling live version of the song.
The Critics Choice Association (CCA) presented the inaugural Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television—which Sherry Cola hosted—on June 7 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles, per a press release. The show will stream on June 21 on HereTV. Some of the honorees included Abe Sylvia, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Chris Perfetti, Kristen Kish, Michaela Jae Rodriguez and the RuPaul’s Drag Race team; Nathan Lane received the Career Achievement Award. Among the presenters were Karamo Brown, Ricky Martin, Charlize Theron, and Alan Yang and Ron Funches. This event marked the newest addition to the CCA’s series of Celebrations (The Critics Choice Association’s Celebration of Latino Cinema and Television, The Critics Choice Association’s Celebration of Asian Pacific Cinema and Television and The Critics Choice Association’s Celebration of Black Cinema and Television).
The 51st annual Daytime Emmy Awards took place live at the Westin Bonaventure, with Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner hosting, People noted. History was made when Dick Van Dyke became the oldest winner—at age 98—for his guest role as Timothy Robicheaux on Days of Our Lives. General Hospital took some of the top soap awards (including Outstanding Daytime Drama) while Kelly Clarkson, Ina Garten, and Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos were also named winners. In addition, The Young and the Restless actress Melody Thomas Scott, veteran soap opera producer Edward J. Scott and TV food host Lidia Bastianich received lifetime achievement awards.
Instinct Magazine recommended the Prime Video film Glitter & Doom to see this Pride Month. The film, with Tom Gustafson directing, is about the titular male characters (played by Alex Diaz and Alan Cammish) who fall in love and share their dreams, anxieties, and the challenges of dealing with their strong-willed mothers, played by Ming-Na Wen and Missi Pyle. The film is also set to the iconic songs of Grammy-winning folk duo Indigo Girls, with Amy Ray and Emily Salier making brief cameos. The pair even wrote and released a brand-new track for the film called “What We Wanna Be”—their first new song in four years.
In the absence of Outfits this year, the noir-inspired LGBTQ+ drama Spark will premiere at Dances With Films on June 24, a press release noted. Spark—featuring nonbinary actors Theo Germaine and Vico Ortiz as well as LBGTQ+ Olympic athlete-turned-actor Danell Leyva—is being called a queer Memento. The 89-minute film follows a hopeless romantic stuck in a time loop, reliving the same day over and over in which he has an intense sexual encounter with a handsome and mysterious stranger. As his feelings for the man grow, so do his suspicions that this stranger may be inexplicably involved in the endless cosmic insanity.
Oscar-nominated trans actor Elliot Page will narrate and executive-produce Second Nature—a documentary that explodes myths about sexuality and gender in the animal world, according to Deadline. A sneak peek of an hour-long version of the film will screen at San Francisco’s Frameline Film Festival later this month. The full feature-length version of the film is in production and will be released at a later date. Second Nature explores “the 1500+ animal species who engage in same-sex sexual behavior and parenting, change sex, form matriarchies, and more,” according to a release.
Bunim/Murray Productions, which is behind shows like Vanderpump Villa, is collaborating with former WNBA player Sue Bird’s media company, TOGETHXR, to develop an untitled docuseries that takes viewers behind-the-scenes and into the lives of the top female athletes in the United States, per Deadline. The docuseries—with Bird and life partner/soccer icon Megan Rapinoe as executive producers—will follow athletes from the WNBA, NWSL, PWHL and more, along with their families, wives, girlfriends, partners and more. TOGETHXR is a media/commerce company founded by Bird as well as athletes Alex Morgan, Chloe Kim and Simone Manuel.
Singer Maren Morris publicly came out as bisexual in a post on social media in honor of Pride Month, according to Page Six. “Happy to be the B in LGBTQ+, happy pride 
,” she captioned images on Instagram. In January, Morris finalized her divorce from Ryan Hurd after being married for five years.
Also regarding Morris, she will be one of three guest artists (along with Blu DeTiger and Jeremy Zucker) at this year’s Grammys camp, per a press release. They will discuss their career paths and help students prepare for the music industry. The signature music industry camp for U.S. high school students will be held July 14-20 The Village Recording Studios. More than 80 high school students from 76 U.S. cities across 22 states have been selected as participants in the 20th annual Grammy Camp® program. Applications for Grammy Camp 2025 will be available online in September at www.grammycamp.com.
Non-binary alt-R&B singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Forest Claudette has released the new single “Moonlight,” per a press release. “Replete with evocative, coming-of-age imagery and a deep groove, the track exemplifies the latest stage in Claudette’s musical evolution,” the release stated. “It’s accompanied by a striking and emotional video that examines identity.” “Moonlight” is the first single from Claudette since the release of their four-track EP Jupiter.
Todd Haynes, who’s openly gay, will be the writer and director of Trust, a limited series starring Kate Winslet that is currently in development at HBO, Variety noted. The official description reads, “In a story told from multiple, competing perspectives, a 1920s Wall Street tycoon amasses a sudden fortune but loses a beloved wife. Decades later, his attempts to control the narrative of his life are undone by a biographer who uncovers the ultimate secrets of the legendary marriage.” The series is based on the novel of the same name by Hernan Diaz; the book won a Pulitzer Prize last year.
Queer musician Talia Keys released her cover of The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army,” per a press release. “To me, Seven Nation Army is about not giving up. If people are talking behind your back, you still push through. About fighting to exist, and then existing loud and proud.” Keys said. “The track has always resonated with me; as I’ve pushed through barriers and biases just to be let into the music industy. I’ve been mocked, ridiculed, talked about and hated on since my career began. So to me, the song represents a battle cry—to not let anything hold me back.”
Team USA named the 12 players on the women’s basketball team for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics—and half the team is LGBTQ+, according to Outsports. The out players on the squad that famously doesn’t include Caitlin Clark are Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi, Chelsea Gray, Alyssa Thomas, Brittney Griner and Jewell Lloyd. The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics are July 26-Aug.11.
Actor Jake Gyllenhaal discussed the advantages of being legally blind, per Yahoo! The Brokeback Mountain actor was born with a lazy eye that naturally corrected itself, and has been wearing corrective lenses since he was 6 years old. “I like to think it’s advantageous,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “I’ve never known anything else,” adding, “When I can’t see in the morning, before I put on my glasses, it’s a place where I can be with myself.” In 2017, he told The Telegraph that wearing thick glasses in school made him subjected him to bullying. “I was an easy target,” he said. “And I was always a sensitive kid.”
Amazon MGM Studios has a star-filled cast for Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Movie, a live-action comedy with animation veteran Kyle Balda (Minions: The Rise of Gru) helming it, per Deadline. Hugh Jackman, Emma Thompson, Nicholas Braun (Succession) and Nicholas Galitzine (the LGBTQ+ movie Red, White & Royal Blue) are just some of the cast members. The film follows George Hardy (Jackman), a shepherd who loves his sheep and raises them only for their wool. Every night he reads aloud a murder mystery, pretending his sheep can understand—but never suspecting that not only can they understand but they argue for hours about whodunnit.
On Today, Celine Dion said that singing with Stiff Person Syndrome is “like somebody’s strangling you,” according to Variety. Dion demonstrated to Hoda Kotb the physical effects of the syndrome; pressing inward on her throat with her fingers, Dion said “it’s like somebody’s pushing your larynx, pharynx, this way.” Stiff Person Syndrome—which Dion was diagnosed with in December 2022—is a rare neurological disorder that causes progressive muscular stiffness.
All Things Go announced its expansion to New York City with its inaugural festival at the iconic Forest Hills Stadium, a press release noted. Headlining this year’s New York lineup are Renee Rapp, Janelle Monae, Chappell Roan, MUNA, Ethel Cain and Julien Baker. The festival will take place on Sept. 28-29 on the same weekend as its D.C.-area counterpart. Tickets for New York will go on sale June 14 at allthingsgofestival.com.
British actor Matt Smith was praised online for gently correcting a red-carpet interviewer who misgendered his House of the Dragon co-star Emma D’Arcy, who is nonbinary, according to Variety. Sue Perkins incorrectly used “she” when referring to D’Arcy. “I can’t take the credit, [but] I have to say, aren’t they brilliant?” Smith answered, using D’Arcy’s preferred “they/them” pronouns. “They are absolutely brilliant and you’re in for a real treat with Emma this year, I think Emma’s put in … a really great performance.” Season two of House of the Dragon will premiere June 16.
The Boys Series creator Eric Kripke announced that the series will end with its fifth season, Deadline noted. “Season 5 will be the Final Season!,” Kripke posted on X on June 11. “Always my plan, I just had to be cagey till I got the final OK from Vought. Thrilled to bring the story to a gory, epic, moist climax. Watch Season 4 in 2 DAYS, cause the end has begun!” The show’s fourth season premiered June 13.
On Piers Morgan Uncensored, Kevin Spacey cried to the host about having to sell his Baltimore home because he “can’t pay the bills” that have piled up, The Wrap noted. The embattled actor explained that the many legal bills for the criminal charges he’s amassed from sexual-assault allegations have left him reeling financially. The two-time Oscar winner also used the interview to admit to “being too handsy” and “touching someone sexually” without their consent. The most recent allegations came from the Investigation Discovery documentary Spacey Unmasked, which contained interviews with Spacey’s brother Randall Fowler and alleged victims detailing alleged incidents that took place at London’s Old Vic Theatre.
With the 40th anniversary of the original Gremlins film taking place this year, Max revealed that the second season of the animated prequel series from Amblin Television, in association with Warner Bros. Animation, will be titled Gremlins: The Wild Batch and debut this fall, per a press release. The series follows Gizmo, Sam and Elle as they travel from their home in Shanghai to San Francisco, bringing even more magic, mystery and Mogwai mayhem. An all-star cast will join returning series regulars Ming-Na Wen, James Hong, BD Wong, Izaac Wang, AJ LoCascio and Gabrielle Nevaeh. The first season was Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai.