Forty years after Swatch and iconic artist Keith Haring collaborated on a poster for the World Breakdance Championship in 1984, the artwork is finally showing up on an actual Swatch—two, in fact, according to Esquire. A duo of Bioceramic What If? watches, available now, feature Haring’s artwork on the face. A second drop from the “Break Free” collection, as Swatch calls it, showcases a watch based on the original artwork given to Swatch and used to create the Modele Avec Personage watch from the 1986 collaboration with Haring.
Out actor Luke Evans will star in and executive-produce Emergency—a thriller series based on real events and set during a guerilla war that took place in 1950s Malaya, according to Deadline. The drama is based on true events during the Malayan Emergency, a guerilla war that took place between communist fighters and the Federation of Malaya and British Empire and Commonwealth. The story is told from three perspectives—a female Malayan Chinese guerilla fighter for the Communist Terrorists (CTs) trying to overthrow the British; a conflicted young Malay policeman, and the British army officer he reports to. Evans will play Brigadier “Mad” Mike Calvert—a closeted gay man and highly controversial British commander in charge of the elite ‘Malayan Scouts’ leading the military response against the CTs.
Buffalo 8 will release Heather onto digital platforms on Nov. 8, per a press release. The plot is as follows: “A philanderer is lured into a kinky encounter by a provocative woman, only to discover she has undergone gender-reassignment [surgery] and was once the boy he terrorized in high school.” The thriller is loosely inspired by a story told to writer/director Anthony Repinski by a friend who was bullied in high school; she later transitioned and twas reunited with her bully, who ended up becoming her lover.
Al Pacino revealed in his new memoir, Sonny Boy, that he donated his paycheck from the 1980 movie Cruising because he felt the film proved to be “exploitative” of the LGBTQ+ community, People noted. Pacino, 84 (but who was 39 when he filmed the movie), wrote that the movie “became very controversial during its production,” saying protestors were at shooting locations “almost every day” because they believed the movie would not portray the LGBTQ+ community in a positive light. While the Oscar winner said he did not view Cruising as exploitative while he was making it, he realized that it had problems after seeing the film and “remained quiet” after its release rather than promote the movie.
NewFest announced the winners of the Jury Awards, Audience Awards and Emerging Black LGBTQ+ Filmmaker Awards for the 36th Annual New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival, per a press release. Duino, directed by Juan Pablo Di Pace and Andrés P. Estrada, won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature and the jury’s Special Mention for U.S. Narrative Feature. Some of the other winners included Ponyboi, directed by Esteban Arango (Grand Jury Award for U.S. Narrative Feature); Reas (Grand Jury Award for Documentary/Nonfiction Feature); Sekiya Dorsett, Natalie Jasmine Harris and Brandon R. Nicholas (Emerging Black LGBTQ+ Filmmaker Awards); and This Is Ballroom (Audience Award for Best Documentary/Nonfiction Feature).
Ahead of the 40th anniversary of the song “Last Christmas,” Wham!, George Michael Entertainment and Sony Music announced the release of the Last Christmas 40th Anniversary EP, according to a press release. The EP will feature all the original 7” and 12” versions plus George Michael’s 2006 performance of “Last Christmas” at London’s Wembley Arena The EP will be available on limited edition 12” Snowflake white vinyl, 12” picture disc, 12” zoetrope picture disc, plus CD and digital on Dec. 13. Originally released by Wham! in December 1984, the six-time multi-platinum classic peaked at number one in 16 countries upon its release, and is officially the fourth highest-selling single of all time in the UK.
Queer musician Joy Oladokun released her new studio album, Observations From a Crowded Room, via Amigo Records/Verve Forecast/Republic Records, per a press release. Written, produced and largely performed by Oladokun alone, the 15-track collection is composed of 12 songs and three spoken interludes. Oladokun said, “This album became a way for me to write things, feel things, process things. Because, as the producer, I just had to sit with these songs for so long. It became really healing in a sense of, ‘I made this. I’m listening to an album that I genuinely love.All the sounds and bits and bobs came from me with the help of just an engineer. It was transformative. So, it started out as, ‘I quit,’ and it has ended up as a fresh start.”
LGBTQ+ DJ The Blessed Madonna has released her debut album, Godspeed, per a media release. Composed of 24 tracks—including the singles “Mercy,” ft. Jacob Lusk; “Serotonin Moonbeams;” “Edge Of Saturday Night,” with Kylie Minogue; and “Happier,” ft. Clementine Douglas—Godspeed was written over the course of three years. The release added, “Balancing the twin flames of rave and religion—both are of crucial importance to [Marea] Stamper [aka the Blessed Madonna]—Godspeed explores the full spectrum of human emotions, tackling everything from joy to grief with equal gusto.”
EGOT winner and talk-show host Jennifer Hudson released her Interscope Records debut, the holiday work The Gift of Love, per Broadway World. On the album, Hudson performs seasonal favorites like “O Holy Night,” “Winter Wonderland” and “Auld Lang Syne” alongside originals; there’s also “Carol of the Bells,” featuring The Joy—a South African quintet known for their blend of traditional Zulu music and modern a cappella. The festivities will continue with “The Gift of Love: An Intimate Live Experience,” which launches on Nov. 24 at Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre and will continue at The Chicago Theatre and Las Vegas’ Fontainebleau.
Two-time Tony recipient Hugh Jackman has doubled his initial run with 12 new performances that are now on sale, Playbill noted. Jackman will play a now-24-show concert engagement of “From New York, With Love” at Radio City Music Hall beginning Jan. 24, 2025, with subsequent dates to be held on select weekends in April, May, June, July, August, September and October. The newly announced performances, all in 2025, are for Jan. 25, April 19, May 24, June 21, July 19, Aug. 16, Sept. 19-20, and Oct. 3-4. Tickets are available here.
Also, Hugh Jackman is co-executive-producing the Fox drama series Billionaire Apocalypse, per Variety. The official logline reads, “The richest man on the planet, 200 of his employees, and his family are forced to flee to his private island in the wake of a global financial collapse, where the employees and family members—who he’s treated as afterthoughts for decades—quickly realize he’s no longer rich and thus no longer in charge.”
As he continues his festival run with his adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ Queer, Luca Guadagnino is reportedly in final negotiations for a new interpretation of the Bret Easton Ellis book American Psycho for Lionsgate, Deadline noted. While the first film—starring Christian Bale and directed by Mary Harron—has gained a following over the years, sources say that instead of being a remake, Guadagnino’s film will be a new adaptation of Ellis’ novel. Queer, starring Daniel Craig, will be released by A24 on Nov. 27.
Queer Oscar nominee Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (King Richard) and Rachelle Lefevre (Twilight franchise) have finished filming Liz Here Now, a new indie drama from director Sterling Macer Jr., per Deadline. The story follows Liz Baxter (Ellis-Taylor), who works as a nanny for a prominent, white Connor family in Oakland, California during the rise of the Black Panther Party in 1967. When Liz discovers that the Connor children are suffering under their mother, Jane (Lefevre), and attempts to step in to protect the children, she’s accused of participating in a Black Panther conspiracy.
Openly gay Oscar acting nominee Colman Domingo will make his directorial debut in Scandalous, a Miramax drama about the secret love affair between film star Kim Novak and singer/dancer and film star Sammy Davis Jr. in 1957, per Deadline. Sydney Sweeney will play Novak, and David Jonsson will play Davis Jr. The plan is to shoot the film when Domingo and Sweeney complete season three of the HBO series Euphoria.
Two-time Oscar winner Jane Fonda will be the 2025 recipient of the SAG Life Achievement Award, SAG-AFTRA‘s highest tribute, Deadline reported. The honor will be bestowed in February during the 31st annual SAG Awards, which will stream live on Netflix. Fonda will be the 60th person to receive the award, given to an actor who fosters “the finest ideals of the acting profession” as it recognizes both career and humanitarian accomplishments. She also received the 2015 AFI Life Achievement Award and the Golden Globes’ career honor the Cecil B. DeMille Award; in addition, for her longtime activism and philanthropy, she saw the Women in Film Jane Fonda Humanitarian Award named after her.
Canadian queer twin music duo Tegan and Sara ‘s 2004 indie-rock statement So Jealous (and Jackie Mittoo’s 1970s reggae classic Macka Fat) received the 2024 Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize designation, per Billboard Canada. The prize honours albums released before the Polaris Music Prize launched in 2006 and acts somewhat like a hall of fame for great Canadian albums. And in other Tegan and Sara-related news, they are the focus of a new documentary (The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara, now on Hulu) that delves into a disturbing chapter of their lives, per The Pride LA. Directed by Erin Lee Carr, the film uncovers a catfish scheme that lasted more than a decade and that targeted Tegan, her fans and the LGBTQ+ community.
Three-time BAFTA nominee Rupert Everett, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Jeremy Irvine and Layton Williams are set to star in The Light Fantastic, a comedy set in the world of ballroom dancing, Variety noted. Inspired by a true story, the film follows Jason (Irvine), a thirtysomething gay firefighter who dreams of becoming a professional ballroom dancer. Set in the heart of the British seaside town of Blackpool, Jason battles the rigid traditions of the ballroom world under the close watch of his ultra-traditional instructor, Reynolds (Everett). Choreography will be provided by the mother-son duo Mark and Shirley Ballas; Mark is a three-time winner on Dancing With the Stars.
Netflix is dealing with a dilemma over whether to proceed with the music-competition series Building the Band, which was likely Liam Payne‘s last major television project before his death, according to Deadline. Netflix will likely wish to move forward sensitively after Payne’s loved ones expressed their distress following Payne’s fall from his hotel balcony in Argentina. Building the Band involved bringing together 50 singers to compete for a chance to form their own band without seeing each other; they had to connect via musical compatibility and chemistry before finally meeting. Also, Page Six noted that Payne was reportedly dropped by his record label, Universal Music, just days before his death. His second album was reportedly put on hold before the record label cut ties.
The New Yorker Documentary shared that Kimberly Reed’s short documentary Seat 31: Zooey Zephyr has received a spot on DOC NYC 2024’s Short List, per a press release. The tagline reads as follows: “After Zephyr’s expulsion from the Montana House of Representatives for defending transgender medical care, she claims a nearby bench as her ‘office’—transforming a shocking political moment into an opportunity to defend her constituents, embrace her identity and community, and celebrate joy.” Award-winning filmmaker Kimberly Reed directed the short, and she will be present at the Nov. 15 screening.
Queer|Art, New York City’s home for the creative and professional development of LGBTQ+ artists, announced the 2024 winners and finalists for two annual grants: the Illuminations Grant for Black Trans Women Visual Artists, and the Robert Giard Grant for Emerging LGBTQ+ Artists, per a press release. In recognition of their conceptual achievements, technical execution and commitment to queer storytelling, Brooklyn-based filmmaker Nyala Moon has been awarded the Illuminations Grant, and Iowa City-based collaborative duo riel & Bianca Sturchio have been awarded the Robert Giard Grant. As this year’s honorees, Moon and the Sturchios will each receive a $10,000 cash grant and professional development support to elevate their practices.
Former Nickelodeon Latin America star Carlo Arrechea has come out about his sexuality, saying he just wants to be “who the f*ck I want to be and live as my authentic self,” Instinct Magazine noted. Arrechea formerly starred as Sebastian in the series Grachi and eventually joined CBS’ S.W.A.T. reboot, where he became a fan favorite as Gio Torres. He told Out, “As an actor, I bear the responsibility of representing the diverse tapestry of the human experience. By sharing my story, I hope to light a path for others who feel lost or unseen.”
Just days after she announced she’d be rebooting her 2024 North American tour with stadium dates next year, Shakira revealed the 2025 “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” tour dates, produced by Live Nation, Variety noted. The North America dates will now kick off Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Charlotte, North Carolina, followed by stops in Montreal; East Rutherford, New Jersey; D.C.; Arlington, Texas; Phoenix; and San Francisco, among other cities.
Ariana Grande released eternal sunshine (slightly deluxe and also live), featuring seven new live versions of songs from eternal sunshine, including hit singles “yes, and?” and “we can’t be friends (wait for your love),” according to a press release. She has also released rlive videos of the new versions on eternal sunshine (slightly deluxe and also live). Earlier this year, Ariana Grande released the album eternal sunshine, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200—her sixth chart-topping album.
And Ariana Grande apologized to queer actor Cassandra Peterson—better known as horror movie host Elvira, Mistress of the Dark—after Peterson claimed the singer snubbed her years ago, per NBC News. In a video Peterson posted to Instagram, she was asked about celebrity encounters at a Knott’s Scary Farm fan Q&A in Buena Park, California. She recounted the story of her worst run-in with a celebrity, a singer whose name she said “rhymes with Pariana Mande.” Grande stated on social media, “i’m so disheartened to see this. i actually don’t even remember getting the chance to meet you because i had an anxiety attack and to my memory, left before the rest of my family … but if i’m misremembering this moment, i sincerely apologize for offending you so.” Some fans backed Grande in the comments, with one saying, “This was in 2017 during the Manchester attack[;] she didn’t wanna be seen in the public eye.”
Rosie O’Donnell’s eldest daughter, Chelsea Belle O’Donnell, was arrested on charges of child neglect after authorities said they found her 11-month-old in a home filled with meth pipes, feces and garbage, Yahoo! Entertainment noted, citing In Touch. Prosecutors also charged Chelsea with two misdemeanors: disorderly conduct/domestic abuse and possession of illegally obtained prescription drugs. “Sadly, this is not new for our family. Chelsea has struggled with drug addiction for a decade. We are all hopeful she will find her way out of this deadly disease,” the O’Donnell family said in a statement to In Touch.
With the shocking first-season finale cliffhanger of Mr. & Mrs. Smith still sending aftershocks, the hit Prime Video series is looking for new leads, Deadline noted. Amazon MGM Studios is reportedly seeking an actor and actress in their 20s to play John and Jane, respectively, in season two—and Billie Eilish is rumored to be in the running as Jane. Two-time Oscar-winning musician Eilish made her acting debut in an episode of Donald Glover’s previous Prime Video series, Swarm; Glover co-created Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and played John in the first season opposite Maya Erskine.
Internationally acclaimed music icon and dance-music legend Crystal Waters (“100% Pure Love” and other songs) announced the partnership of her I Am House Radio Show with Utopia SiriusXM Radio, a press release noted. This partnership with Utopia SXM—known for club anthems, pop hits and underground classics from the ’90s and 2000s—promises to bring Waters’ signature house sound to a wider audience. Waters’ latest release is “Party People,” with DJ Spen and a remix by Michael Gray.
Duran Duran announced the release of the new live concert film Secret Oktober, available exclusively on StagePlayer+ starting Friday, Oct. 25—just in time for Halloween, per a press release. Secret Oktober presents the origin story of Duran Duran’s latest studio album, Danse Macabre. The concert film was recorded at the Encore Theatre at Wynn, Las Vegas, on Halloween of 2022. Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor, in full costume, took to the stage complete with 20-foot high skeletons, tombstones, cobwebs, coffins and ghouls for a unique themed set. Moreover, on Oct. 31, 2024, Duran Duran will celebrate All Hallows’ Eve in a special live show at NYC’s Madison Square Garden.
Music icons have appeared and will appear at Vice President Kamala Harris‘ campaign events in the final weeks before election day, per Deadline. Eminem will introduce Barack Obama at an event in Detroit on Oct. 24 while Bruce Springsteen was slated to perform at a rally with Obama in Atlanta on the same day. Obama and Springsteen also will appear at a concert event on Oct. 28 in Philadelphia, and Beyonce is rumored to be appearing at a Harris event in Houston on Oct. 25, per the AP. Springsteen endorsed Harris in a video earlier this month.
After teasing new music on social media, rapper Tyler, The Creator announced Chromakopia, the long-awaited follow-up to his critically acclaimed 2021 album Call Me If You Get Lost, a press release noted. Chromakopia Is expected to be released Oct. 28. A box-set edition of the album is available for pre-order now at chromakopia.com. Also, Tyler has announced a 2025 world tour to support the album, with stops in LA, Chicago, Montreal, Las Vegas, Paris, Frankfurt and Sydney, among many other cities.
Three days before she was set to take the stage at ONE MusicFest, Cardi B canceled her performance at the Atlanta festival due to a medical situation, E! News noted. While the “Bodak Yellow” rapper didn’t disclose details of her condition, she expressed her deep regret over the cancellation, saying, “It breaks my heart that I won’t get to see my fans this weekend and I really wish I could be there.” Cardi welcomed her third baby with estranged husband Offset in September—just one month after she filed for divorce from him following seven years of marriage.
In a piece for People, actor Jack Merrill (Eight Men Out; Law & Order; Numb3rs) wrote about surviving abduction and rape in 1978 at the hands of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, Deadline noted. All of a sudden he said, ‘I’ll take you home,’” wrote Merrill, who recalled his abductor telling him, “You’re not like those other kids.” Authorities said Gacy—a Chicagoland resident who sometimes dressed as a clown—sexually assaulted and murdered at least 33 young men and boys. Merrill created a one-man show called The Save Play, which deals with his upbringing and that night with Gacy; it’s currently at the Electric Lodge in Venice, California.
Controversial Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has chronic myeloid leukemia, which affects bone marrow, according to NBC News. Sources added that Weinstein is undergoing treatment in prison at Rikers Island in New York. The news of Weinstein’s diagnosis comes amid many health issues. Last month, he underwent emergency heart surgery to alleviate a significant amount of fluid in his lungs and heart; in July, he was hospitalized and tested positive for COVID-19 and double pneumonia.
Benjamin Glaze—a former 2018 American Idol contestant remembered for being kissed by Katy Perry during his audition—was arrested for possession of child sexual abuse material after Tulsa authorities allegedly recovered more than 700 images and videos, Fox 23 News reported. In April 2024, the Tulsa Police Sexual Predator/Digital Evidence Recovery Unit got information regarding alleged criminal activity of Glaze, who lives in Tulsa.