Queer musician Joy Oladokun will release their new album, Observations From a Crowded Room, on Oct. 18 via Amigo Records/Verve Forecast/Republic Records, per a press release. In advance of the release, two new songs—“No Country” and “I’d Miss the Birds”—have been released. According to the release, “the 15-track collection—[composed] of 12 songs and three spoken interludes—finds Oladokun reflecting on her place in the world, both as a person and an artist, while blending her pop-folk roots with electronic and psychedelic elements.” Since her breakthrough in 2020, Oladokun has released a pair of acclaimed full-length albums: 2021’s in defense of my own happiness and 2023’s Proof of Life.
After Universal moved up the release date of the first part of Wicked’s two-part film adaptation of the Broadway musical, the second part has gotten the same treatment, Playbill noted. Initially announced to hit movie theaters on Christmas Day in 2025, Wicked: Part Two will now be released Nov. 21, 2025. Also, it appears the “For Good” subtitle has been dropped from the second movie’s official title. The first movie—starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande—is slated to hit theaters on Nov. 22, 2024; joining them in the cast are Jonathan Bailey, Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh, Emmy winner Peter Dinklage, Jeff Goldblum, Bowen Yang and newcomer Marissa Bode, among others.
In California, the 26th anniversary of Gay Days Anaheim took place Sept. 13-15, with more than 30,000 members of the LGBTQ+ community donning their red shirts and enjoying the weekend, WeHo Times noted. The festivities kicked off with events such as a Q&A with Knots Landing stars Michele Lee, Joan Van Ark and Donna Mills. Following this, Cheyenne Jackson performed his one-man show, “Signs of Life.” Some of the other weekend highlights (per the event’s website) included the drag-focused “Not so Disney Disney featuring Raven, Chad Michaels and Morgan McMichaels,” a scavenger hunt, cocktail socials and “Varla Jean Merman: The Errors Tour.” Also, Disneyland Resort offered limited-time rainbow treats (rainbow macarons, rainbow linzer cookies and rainbow cake) to coincide with the event, per Inside the Magic.
Flavor Unit Entertainment, Westbrook Studios and Jesse Collins Entertainment are jointly producing hip-hop biopics about artists—the first of which will be about the rise of LGBTQ+ icon Queen Latifah, Deadline noted. Latifah and Will Smith are among the producers. The slate will be independently financed by HarbourView Equity Partners, which will provide a portfolio of more than 70 music catalogs that feature thousands of titles spanning numerous genres, eras and artists for potential development opportunities.
The Hulu documentary Child Star is now on Hulu, per a press release. In the documentary, queer singer/actor/co-director Demi Lovato sits down with former child stars such as Drew Barrymore, Kenan Thompson and Christina Ricci as well as LGBTQ+ entertainers Raven-Symone, JoJo Siwa, Alyson Stoner, and others, to reflect on their personal experiences working in the entertainment industry in never-before-heard stories. The film marks Lovato’s directorial debut.
Like many individuals, trans RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Sasha Colby is concerned about Donald Trump winning in November. Ahead of the MTV’s Video Music Awards Colby (where she introduced “daughter” Chappell Roan, per EW), Colby told TMZ that Trump’s rhetoric is dangerous—saying he’s “weaponizing ignorant minds”—and she took issue with his unsubstantiated claims about the LGBTQ+ community, such as when he said during the Sept. 10 debate that Vice President Kamala Harris “wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.”
Shortly after winning her third Olympic gold medal at the Paris Games last month, queer New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart (or “Stewie,” as she is known by WNBA fans) announced a new signature shoe—the Stewie 3, the website them noted. However, the shoe, created in partnership with Puma, is inspired by the Harry Potter films—and author J.K. Rowling is known for her anti-trans views. Queer fans have expressed their disappointment about the collaboration; Stewart has had a deal with Puma since 2021, and the press release announcing the partnership noted that “Stewart is known for advocacy work around equality and social justice, standing up for… the LGBTQ community.”
Joaquin Phoenix is still refusing to open up about his sudden and expensive departure from the gay romance film he was making with director Todd Haynes, according to Out. While sitting next to Joker: Foie a Deux director Todd Phillips and co-star Lady Gaga at the Venice International Film Festival, Phoenix was asked if he wanted to comment on his abandonment of his and Todd Haynes’ planned NC-17 queer drama. Phoenix responded, “I think if I do, I would just be sharing my opinion from my perspective, and the other creatives aren’t here to say their piece and that just doesn’t feel like that would be right, not sure how that would be helpful, so, I just don’t think I will. Yeah. Thank you.” Because the film was Phoenix’s idea, there are no plans to recast and the movie will most likely never happen.
Jackass star Steve-O was going to get breast implants as a bit—until he talked with a trans cashier, EW noted. “On the day the scheduled surgery was supposed to happen, I was checking out at the supermarket, and the person ringing up my groceries was evidently transgender, and it struck me as a sign from the universe,” Steve-O told Consequence of Sound. “So I asked the transgender person if I could run something by them, and I had a conversation with this person that had a profound impact on me.” Steve-O added, “[They] described how they weren’t allowed to use the bathroom at their place of work, that there were like maybe 28 states in the country that would arrest them for having an ID that said female on it, … It was really pretty heartbreaking—the level of oppression that was described.”
After coming out as trans back in 2021, RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Laganja Estranja just underwent gender-affirming surgery and shared the results with her fans, Yahoo! News noted. “My gender-affirming surgeries went so so well! I am very sore and a bit bruised but I’m already up and walking on my own. Here’s a sneak [peek] at the new body…. It’s giving Marie Antoinette,” she wrote, along with two cake emojis.
Pop star Lady Gaga responded to an old Facebook group made by her college peers who predicted she’d never be famous, according to EW. Gaga posted a comment Wednesday under a TikTok video that highlighted the group, titled “Stefani Germanotta, you will never be famous,” which her fans have regularly posted about over the years since 2009, when she hit it big with the single “Just Dance.” “Some people I went to college w made this way back when,” Gaga said of the group. “This is why you can’t give up when people doubt you or put you down—gotta keep going.”
The life of the late British gay writer, director, actor, songwriter, singer, film director and poet Noel Coward is explored in the movie Mad About the Boy: The Noel Coward Story, from Greenwich Entertainment, per a press release. The release described the film as telling Coward’s “rise from a shabby suburb of London to becoming the greatest multi-talented artist of all time—told in his own words, music and extraordinary home movies.” Alan Cumming narrates while Rupert Everett voices Coward. The film will debut Oct. 9 at the IFC Center, and Oct. 11 in select theaters nationwide and on VOD.
On NFL legend and sports host Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast, actor/comedian Marlon Wayans (who has a trans daughter) railed against Elon Musk for the latter’s lack of a relationship with his trans child, Out noted. “I don’t like what he be saying about his trans child—that made me mad,” Wayans said. “You don’t treat them babies like that. You don’t disown your baby. Love your child!” Also, Wayans admitted that his son Kai’s transition was hard for him at first, but that he got over it. Musk’s daughter, Vivian Wilson, came out in 2022 and has stated that she wants nothing to do with him.
However, speaking of Sharpe, he was left explaining why (and how) he streamed audio of him having sex with a woman on Instagram Live, Outsports noted. Talking with fellow former NFL superstar Chad Ochocinco Johnson on his Nightcap show, Sharpe said that, when he tossed his phone on the bed, it somehow started an Instagram Live broadcast—even though Sharpe said he’d never used IG Live. Sharpe has been followed by rumors and speculation about his sexual orientation—and some people wondered if he had staged the entire thing purposefully, so people would hear him having sex with a woman to throw off the gay rumors. However, Johnson talked about how happy he was that Sharpe had not been with a guy.
Kelly Clarkson said she couldn’t comprehend why Beyoncé was snubbed by the 2024 CMA Awards—although it’s something she can relate to, according to Yahoo!, citing The Hollywood Reporter. “I kind of find it fascinating,” Clarkson said of Beyonce’s snub, “because I feel like those songs were everywhere.” Clarkson added that the country genre is a “hard” space to break into, even when she tried several years ago with “Don’t Rush,” featuring Vince Gill; “Tie It Up”; and “Don’t You Wanna Stay,” her duet with Jason Aldean. The Beyonce album Cowboy Carter not only scored No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart but also on the Top Country Album chart.
The National Retail Federation announced that fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger will receive The Visionary award at the 10th annual NRF Foundation Honors on Jan. 12, 2025, in New York City. Previous recipients of The Visionary award include DICK’S Sporting Goods Executive Chairman Ed Stack; Levi Strauss & Co. President and CEO Chip Bergh; former Kohl’s CEO Michelle Gass; and Target Corp. Board Chairman and CEO Brian Cornell, among others. Hilfiger will participate in a fireside chat with Shay on Jan. 13 at NRF 2025: Retail’s Big Show.
After delivering Netflix two hit movies, The Mother and Atlas, Jennifer Lopez is readying her next feature with the streamer again, this time with two-time Emmy winner Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso) in the romantic comedy Office Romance, per Deadline. Producers on Office Romance include Aaron Ryder and Andrew Swett for Ryder Picture Company; Goldstein and co-writer Joe Kelly; and Lopez, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, and Benny Medina for Nuyorican Films.
Cher dropped her bid for legal control over son Elijah Blue Allman’s personal and financial affairs, the BBC noted. The singer applied for a conservatorship last December, citing Allman’s alleged substance-abuse and mental-health issues. The dismissal comes after the “Believe” singer and her son agreed to pause their court battle in May to try to resolve the matter privately. Cage & Miles—the law firm representing Allman—told the BBC in a statement that the outcome “allows the parties to focus on healing and rebuilding their family bond, a process that began during mediation and continues today.”
The iconic British duo Tears for Fears announced their first-ever official live album, Songs for a Nervous Planet, which is set to drop on Oct. 25, per a press release. The album includes 4 brand-new studio tracks, including new single “The Girl That I Call Home,” which is available now. Also, aAlong with the album, they’ve announced a concert film shot and recorded at the FirstBank Amphitheater at Graystone Quarry in Franklin, Tennessee, during their sold-out global Tipping Point Tour Part 2; Tears For Fears Live (A Tipping Point Film) will be distributed in cinemas worldwide via Trafalgar Releasing.
Morrissey has claimed that ex-bandmate Johnny Marr now owns all of the “trademark rights and Intellectual Property” of the UK act The Smiths, and can tour as a band without him, NME noted. “J Marr has successfully applied for 100 per cent trademark rights / Intellectual Property ownership of The Smiths name,” Morrissey’s post began. “His application has been accepted on whatever oaths or proclamations he has put forward. This action was done without any consultation to Morrissey, and without allowing Morrissey the standard opportunity of ‘objection.” The two were bandmates in The Smiths for six years and released four albums together during that time. However, they’ve had friction over the past few years over their contrasting political views; last year, Morrissey was criticized when he, among other things, referred to Hitler as “left wing” and said that London Mayor Sadiq Khan “can not talk properly.”
A concert by the reunited Jane’s Addiction in Boston ended suddenly when an angry Perry Farrell threw a punch at guitarist Dave Navarro, Variety noted. This emotional explosion—coming on the heels of some moments in other cities that have already been a subject of discussion in reviews and on social media—has some fans wondering if the remaining gigs on the band’s reunion tour (their first in more than a decade) will proceed as scheduled. The band later apologized and canceled its next step-in Bridgeport, Connecticut—and then cancelled the remainder of the tour altogether. The canceled shows were in Bridgeport, Toronto, Rochester Hills, Milwaukee, Chicago, Indianapolis, Huntsville. St. Louis, Denver, Sandy, Seattle, Portland, Reno, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Kelly Osbourne compared rehab to a “university on how to be a better drug addict,” per NME. Osbourne, who was first admitted to rehab at 19, made the claims in an episode of TMZ Investigates: Matthew Perry & The Secret Celebrity Drug Ring, saying, ““I’d learned so many tricks—so many things that I never even thought of from my fellow addicts that were in there.” The daughter of Ozzy and Sharon first began to experience addiction at 13 after being prescribed opioid medication after a tonsil removal procedure.
Multiple cast members from The Goonies denied rumors that The Goonies 2 is in the works, despite suggestions from one of their co-stars that the project might be underway, according to AOL. After The Sun reported that Warner Bros. was developing a sequel, Corey Feldman, who played Clark “Mouth” Devereaux in the 1985 adventure classic, said he has no information about a potential sequel. Martha Plimpton and Joe Pantoliano also shut down rumors after Sean Astin, who played Mikey Walsh in the original film, posted a fake poster for a hypothetical sequel titled Goonies Are Good Enough.