The music outlet Spin published a letter to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame asking it to “induct Tracy Chapman already!” Liza Lentini’s letter concludes, “Let’s induct the quiet one, who breaks new ground and sings about a revolution.” Chapman, a queer woman, made history as the first Black woman to singularly pen a No. 1 country song after musician Luke Combs released a cover of the 1988 song “Fast Car.” When the tue won Song of the Year at the 2023 CMAs, she became the first Black woman to take home the award. Originally, the single won Chapman the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1989; the singer also took the Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Contemporary Folk Recording for her eponymously titled debut album. Also, her single “Give Me One Reason” won the 1997 Grammy for Best Rock Song. The latest induction ceremony aired on New Year’s Day (having taken place last October), with Mary J. Blige, Cher, Kool & the Gang, and Ozzy Osbourne among the honorees.
Openly gay director Bill Condon talked with Deadline about bringing Kiss of the Spiderwoman—starring Jennifer Lopez, Diego Luna and newcomer Tonatiuh—to Sundance. (It’s been more than 30 years since Kiss of the Spider Woman opened on Broadway and won seven Tony Awards, and 40 years since the original Hector Babenco-directed movie garnered four Oscar nominations, with the late William Hurt winning Best Actor.) In part, Condon said of Lopez, “I do think having gotten to work with her in this idiom, that she is one of those people—and sometimes I think I might be, too—who was born in the wrong time. The extraordinary talent that she has, she would have so flourished in the old studio system.” He added, “it was a groundbreaking movie in the eighties. As a younger gay man, I was so grateful for that movie, and that it was one of the first independent movies to cross over in that major way.”
LGBTQ+ figure skater Amber Glenn—who recently won the U.S. women’s national title for a second consecutive year—was among those devastated by the news that Russian and American skaters were on board when an American Airlines flight collided with an Army helicopter and crashed in D.C. on Jan. 29, The Dallas Morning News noted. “I’m in complete shock. I’m sorry I don’t even know what to say,” Glenn posted on Instagram. “We are heartbroken to learn that figure skaters, along with their families, friends and coaches, are understood to be among those on board,” U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy. The Kremlin confirmed that two of those aboard were Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the pairs world title in 1994 in Chiba, Japan.
GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics has re-launched its Crimson Honors—a college film & TV criticism contest for LGBTQ+ students seeking a career in entertainment journalism, according to a press release. GALECA will award a total of $3,000 in financial assistance to the top three contenders in the program. The honorees will receive $1,000 each, along with two years of free membership in GALECA. Contest entrants may submit all materials at Galeca.org/Crimson-Honors by 11:59 p.m. PT on March 20; winners will be announced in April.
GLAAD announced special coverage from the red carpet of the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, on Sunday, Feb. 2, per a press release. GLAAD’s Anthony Allen Ramos returns this year, alongside LGBTQ+ TV personality, author and actress Chrishell Stause (Selling Sunset). “At this year’s Grammy Awards, the influence and impact of LGBTQ artists cannot be understated. From KAYTRANADA to Chappell Roan; and Billie Eilish to Durand Bernarr and many more—each artist brings a necessary, fresh, and authentic window into the lives of queer people, and I’m truly excited to celebrate these artists on the red carpet,” Ramos said.
Jewel apologized to her fans and the LGBTQ+ community after performing at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s inauguration ball, Deadline noted. “I am so sorry that I caused pain,” she said in an Instagram video. “Especially in my LGBTQIA+ community because you guys are treasures. You make the world a better place. You’ve made my life a better place. And I will not stop fighting.” The musician added that she believes that “the only way we change is in relationship. It isn’t in isolation or by isolating. It’s by being in a relationship, by reaching out, by having hard conversations, and I really hope that we can push through our hurt and move toward understanding on both sides.” In the days that President Donald Trump has taken office, he has taken aim at the queer community by banning pride flags to be flown at U.S. government facilities and calling for the federal government to define sex as only being male or female.
The late Paul Reubens, aka Pee-wee Herman, reveals that he was gay in the new two-part docuseries Pee-wee as Himself, which made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival, per USA Today. “I was as out as you could be, and then I went back in the closet,” says Reubens. “My career would have absolutely suffered if I was openly gay, so I went to great lengths for many, many years to keep it a secret.” Reubens chose his professional life over his personal life, revealing that years after they broke up, Reubens visited his ex Guy—a painter with whom he lived with in LA in the 1970s—just before Guy died from AIDS. Reubens also tells a story about coming out to his parents, and how his father wrote him an “incredible” letter: “Son, if you’re homosexual, I want you to know that I hope you can be the greatest homosexual you can be.”
There is a lot of buzz surrounding the LGBTQ+ romantic thriller Plainclothes—an undercover-cop movie that has been compared to the controversial Al Pacino movie Cruising, per IndieWire. Rising British star Tom Blyth plays Lucas, a rookie cop assigned to post up in a mall, hoping to lure men into a toilet stall; out gay actor Russell Tovey (Looking) portrays a hesitant hook-up and possible romance after Lucas catches him in the bathroom, only to end up staying too long. Plainclothes premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival that started Jan. 26.
Oscar-nominated trans Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón accused the social-media team of fellow best actress nominee Fernanda Torres of attempting to undermine her work, according to Variety. In a Jan. 21 video interview with Brazilian daily Folha de S. Paulo, Gascón praised Torres, the star of the Brazilian drama I’m Still Here. However, Gascón added, “What I don’t like are social-media teams—people who work with these people—trying to diminish our work, like me and my movie, because that doesn’t lead anywhere. … There are people working with Fernanda Torres tearing me and Emilia Pérez down. That speaks more about their movie than mine.” In a later statement sent to Variety, Gascón explained that her comments did not extend to those “directly associated” with Torres, but were intended toward “toxicity and violent hate speech on social media.”
Adam Lambert recently took a stand when laughter broke out at an antisemitic line in a song during a recent Broadway performance of Cabaret, Just Jared noted. Laughter broke out as Lambert performed the song “If You Could See Her,” which has him dancing with a gorilla; the final lines to the song are “If you could see her through my eyes / She wouldn’t look Jewish at all.” Responding to a public message from podcaster David Rigano about the laughter, Lambert stated on Instagram of the show, “It’s been relevant since it premiered in the late 60′s [sic] and I HOPE audiences walk away THINKING and feeling empathy [about] how marginalized groups can be scapegoated as political strategy. That’s my hope and motivation every show—to pull you into an irresistible community and then make you miss us as we are stolen from you. Maybe, just maybe, we can change some minds.”
Nonbinary actor/singer Demi Lovato sent a message of love and support to trans people in the wake of President Donald Trump’s executive orders against the community, LGBTQ Nation noted. “If you are trans or nonbinary like me, please know that I see you, I feel you, I am with you,” Lovato wrote in their Instagram story. “You are validated, you are loved and you are not alone. No one can take away our identities and no one can tell us who we are or aren’t. We will get thru this. I love you.” Trump has made it clear he plans to follow through on the many anti-trans threats he made throughout his campaign.
Top sports agent Jeff Schwartz said what many have already stated for years—that WNBA athletes’ salaries are “unfair to the players,” per CNBC. “It’s ridiculous what women are getting paid in the WNBA,” said Schwartz, who founded and runs Excel Sports Management. Schwartz’s comments come as the WNBA had a record 2024 season, shattering viewership, attendance and merchandise records led by stars like Caitlin Clark (one of his clients); however, WNBA salaries currently range from the league minimum of $64,154 to the maximum of $241,948. In the NBA, the league minimum is now $1.15 million and the average salary is more than $11 million.
Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and activist Ani DiFranco—aiming to expand her career in the realms of theater, film and television—has signed with Artists First, according to Deadline. DiFranco broke new ground in 1990, when she founded her own record label, Righteous Babe Records; this move allowed her to maintain full creative control over her work in an industry often dominated by major labels. She won the Grammy for Best Recording Package for her 2003 album, Evolve, and is hitting the road on a worldwide tour for her latest album, Unprecedented Sh!t.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is launching the 2025 tour of its Mamma Mia!-inspired burlesque show, Ohh Mamma!, with a one-night-only performance at the Saban Theatre in Los Angeles on Jan. 31, per Broadway World. The celebration of safer sex stars RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season-six winner Kylie Sonique Love and several of Prince’s former dancers. The one-of-a-kind celebration of love and self-expression coincides with International Condom Day (Feb. 13), which AHF established in 2009.
The queer outlet Them listed what it called the five biggest disappointments regarding this year’s Oscar nominations. The outlet initially stated, “Everyone was expecting Emilia Pérez to secure a slew of 2025 Oscar nominations, but 13 (!) nods for one of the worst frontrunners since Crash is still hard to metabolize.” Other disappointments included Challengers’ music score being snubbed; I Saw the TV Glow getting no nominations; The Substance’s Margaret Qualley not being nominated; and Queer being ignored, including lead actor Daniel Craig not getting a nod.
From Executive Producer John Wells, Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment will be releasing Shameless: The Complete Series for the first time ever on DVD, per a press release. There will be 134 episodes from the 11 seasons of Showtime’s Emmy® award-winning original Chicago-set series, along with all the previously released special features. The show starred William H. Macy, Emmy Rossum, Emmy winner Jeremy Allen White (The Bear), Cameron Monaghan, Emma Kenney, Ethan Cutkosky, Shanola Hampton, Steve Howey, Noel Fisher and special guest star Joan Cusack.
And speaking of Jeremy Allen White, he is attached to star in and executive-produce a Netflix limited-series adaptation of the André Aciman novel Enigma Variations—a bisexual romance drama, Variety reported. Previously, the Aciman novel Call Me by Your Name was turned into a critically acclaimed film starring Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer, with James Ivory writing and Luca Guadagnino directing. The novel’s official description stated, in part, “Whether the setting is southern Italy, where, as a boy, he has a crush on his parents’ cabinetmaker, or a snowbound campus in New England, where his enduring passion for a girl he’ll meet again and again over the years is punctuated by anonymous encounters with men—whether he’s on a tennis court in Central Park or on a New York sidewalk in early spring. Paul’s attachments are ungraspable, transient, and forever underwritten by raw desire.” White is slated to star as Paul.
Out gay Apple CEO Tim Cook is a part of the Apple TV+ series Severance, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Cook filmed a video getting into character to promote the second season of the hit show. In the footage, Cook is called the “core of the apple” when he’s greeted by an excited Mr. Milchick (played by Tramell Tillman) in the show’s Lumon Industries-set offices. Director/executive producer Ben Stiller shared the video on X, writing, “Was helping this new guy find his office this morning…” Cook then shared Stiller’s post, stating,“Ready to clock in for episode 2!”
RuPaul’s Drag Race alum and All Stars winner Alaska is set to return to the role of Kitty Galloway in DRAG: The Musical beginning Feb. 8 after fellow All Stars queen Jimbo ends her run on Feb. 7, according to GLAAD. The news came after the off-Broadway production was announced as a recipient of a 36th GLAAD Media Awards Special Recognition Award for its “immeasurable impact and contribution to LGBTQ acceptance and visibility.” Also, the production announced that it has extended its run through this summer, making tickets available through June 1.
Grammy-winning musician Bob James and out gay saxophonist Dave Koz have announced an album, Just Us, and an accompanying tour, per a press release. The album is slated to be released March 7 via Just Koz Entertainment. The two artists recorded the album in James’ hometown of Traverse City, Michigan—and that’s where they’ll kick off the tour, headlining The Alluvion on March 13. So far, five other stops have been revealed—Mesa, Arizona’s Mesa Arts Center (March 15); NYC’s Lincoln Center (March 20); Chicago’s Studebaker Theatre (March 22); Minneapolis’ The Parkway (March 25); and Seattle’s Jazz Alley (April 1).
Queerty has announced the nominees for the 13th Annual Queerties Awards, which focus on LGBTQ+ creators, tastemakers and storytellers, per a press release. Voting for this year’s Queerties is now open via this link, Categories include Badass, Sports Hero, Insta-Follow, Theater, Style Icon, Film Performance and many more; just a few of the nominees are Sam Jay, The Mean Gays (Aaron Goldenberg and Jake Jonez), Megan Thee Stallion, Sha’Carri Richardson, Sasha Velour, Joe Locke, M3GAN 2.0, Shygirl, P-Valley (season three), Somebody Somewhere and Chappell Roan. The awards will be presented at the live ceremony taking place on Tuesday, March 11, at The Avalon in Hollywood.
Yet another popular gaming title—this time, Beyond: Two Souls—is getting a TV-series adaptation, and this one will be via Elliot Page‘s Pageboy Productions, per Deadline. The game—which starred Page alongside Willem Dafoe—follows Jodie Holmes, a young woman with extraordinary supernatural abilities who becomes entangled in a web of government conspiracies and otherworldly forces.
Actor Taylor Zakhar Perez (from the queer movie Red, White, and Royal Blue) is now a Lacoste underwear ambassador, Instinct noted. The campaign—featuring Zakhar Perez lounges in Lacoste’s signature underwear—was shot in Paris by photographer Quentin de Briey. Lacoste also recruited top stylist Jason Bolden, who has worked closely with Zakhar Perez and been the architect of the actor’s rise to being a fashionable presence in the industry.
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi—seemingly in an effort to cut all ties to the United States, as they have moved to the UK—are trying to sell one final Los Angeles property, according to Yahoo!, citing SFGate. In 2022, the pair bought Tom Ford’s old home—a five-bedroom, 6.5-bathroom home—for $29 million. They’re now listing it for less than a million more than when they bought it (after initially listing it for $33.9 million).
Director Robert Eggers (Nosferatu) will write, along with writing partner Sjón, and direct a sequel to the Jim Henson-directed cult classic Labyrinth, EW noted. Instead of a traditional remake, the project will be a sequel. The 1986 film stars a teenage Jennifer Connelly as Sarah, whose baby brother, Toby, is taken by the goblin king, Jareth, played by David Bowie. The news came the same day that Nosferatu secured four Oscar nods—although none were for directing (Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design and Best Cinematography).
Former reality star Royce Reed has accused NBA player Dwight Howard of sexual and physical abuse in a series of social-media posts, per Collider. “Almost immediately, I regretted it. I was forced to do things sexually that I did not necessarily agree with. But because I wasn’t that experienced, I thought it was normal, and I never complained about it,” she stated. This comes after a man, Stephen Harper, filed a lawsuit against Howard in 2023; however, that case was dismissed last year. Howard denied injuring Harper, saying he did not cause any “intentional infliction of emotional distress” or “false imprisonment” during what he described in the court documents as a “consensual sexual activity,” the New York Post related.
Out gay reality-film figure Joe Exotic (aka Tiger King) said that he doesn’t just look to Trump for a pardon—he looks up to the president, per EW. “I could take my time served if somebody thinks I’ve done something wrong,” said Exotic (real name: Joseph Allen Maldonado), “and I can move on with my life being a felon, because he’s the president as a felon. And if you can become the president of the United States as a felon, hey, I can finish off my life.” Exotic/Maldonado—who said he has “two types of cancer going on and I don’t even know how much time I have left”—was sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2020 on 17 counts of wildlife crimes and two counts of attempted murder for hire.
A UK stage production of Neil Gaiman‘s Coraline has been canceled following several sexual-assault claims against the author, per Variety. The musical was slated to take place at Leeds Playhouse April 11-May 11 before touring to Edinburgh, Birmingham and Manchester. In July 2024, Tortoise Media reported that Gaiman had been accused of sexual assault by two women and released a six-part podcast, Master, which covered the allegations of five women. Gaiman released a statement at the time, expressing regret for how he’s handled some relationships. Deadline reported that Gaiman has also been removed from UK agent Casarotto Ramsay & Associates’ client list in the wake of the allegations.
Rocker Marilyn Manson won’t face sexual-abuse charges despite claims by more than a dozen women including actors Evan Rachel Wood and Esmé Bianco, according to Deadline. Newly elected Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman said, “We have determined that allegations of domestic violence fall outside of the statute of limitations, and we cannot prove charges of sexual assault beyond a reasonable doubt.” Authorities had spent four-plus years investigating “The Beautiful People” singer (real name: Brian Warner) after the multiple claims.