The trailer has dropped for the film Janis Ian: Breaking Silence, about the LGBTQ+ singer, per a press release. The film chronicles the life and music of Ian, a maverick singer-songwriter who spent her teen years as a member of the vibrant music scene of 1960’s Greenwich Village, jamming with legends like Pete Seeger, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. With her hit “At Seventeen”—Ian’s take on adolescent pain and alienation—she cements her place as a voice for outsiders everywhere. In the 1980s, beset by financial difficulties, Ian moved to Nashville and reinvented herself as primarily a songwriter, collaborating and falling in love with fellow songwriter Kye Fleming. With the release of her 1993 album Breaking Silence, Ian began to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. In 2022, she released her final album, Light at the End of the Line, and launched her final tour.
Talking with Entertainment Tonight, actress Carrie Coon couldn’t tease much about season three of HBO’s The Gilded Age—but thanked “the gays” for their support in getting the Julian Fellowes-created drama renewed, Deadline noted. “The gays saved it,” Coon joked. “Thank you, right now, you saved it. We would not have a season three without you.” The show is an ensemble drama telling the story of The American Gilded Age—a period that featured the established rich versus the nouveau riche.
Oprah Winfrey recently praised LGBTQ+ actor Colman Domingo for his acclaimed performance in Sing Sing, according to Variety. “This is an invitation I could not pass up,” Winfrey said as she walked onto the stage at the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara to present Domingo with the Montecito Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Winfrey is also a previous recipient of the same prize, awarded in 2014 for her work in The Butler—which is where her friendship with Domingo began. The twosome also teamed for 2014’s Selma, and then with Winfrey as producer and Domingo playing the abusive Mister in the 2023 musical reimagining of The Color Purple.
The American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League announced that queer Tony, Emmy and Grammy winner and three-time Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo will host The 78th Annual Tony Awards on June 8, per a press release. Erivo burst onto West End and Broadway stages in The Color Purple; she most recently starred as Elphaba opposite Ariana Grande’s Glinda in Universal’s record-breaking film adaptation of the hit musical Wicked from director Jon M. Chu, with part two slated to be released on Nov. 21. Nominations for this year’s Tony Awards will be announced on May 1; this year’s ceremony will return to the legendary Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
The A24 movie Queer will make its streaming debut exclusively on Max in the U.S. on Friday, March 28, per a press release. The film will debut on HBO linear on Saturday, March 29 at 8 p.m. ET. The film stars Daniel Craig—whose performance earned nominations from the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards and SAG Awards—along with Drew Starkey, Lesley Manville, Jason Schwartzman, Henrique Zaga and Omar Apollo.
Actress Tilda Swinton got political as she accepted Berlin Film Festival‘s Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement at its opening ceremony, saying “the inhumane is being perpetrated on our watch” and that “state-perpetrated and internationally-enabled mass murder is currently actively terrorizing more than one part of our world,” per Variety. She added that the “great independent state of cinema [is] innately inclusive— immune to efforts of occupation, colonization, takeover, ownership or the development of riviera property.” This year’s Berlinale comes amid political turmoil in Germany, with elections having been marked by the rise of right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has caused controversy with its anti-immigration stance. Also, Swinton plans to not work again for the rest of the year, Deadline noted.
Rami Aizic has released the memoir My Dream of Fatherhood: An Unconventional Journey (published by Franklin Publishers), per a press release. According to the release, “he opens up about the challenges he faced as a gay, Jewish man in the 1980s and 1990s, when the idea of men like him pursuing parenthood—let alone biological fatherhood—was unheard of.” Among other things, he talks about the difficulties of finding women who would be willing to have a child with him, but he also discusses the rich rewards that come with not giving up on one’s dreams.
Out WNBA star Brittney Griner pulled out of a speaking engagement after finding a piece of tape in her hotel room with the words “Gay Baby Jail” written on it, NBC News noted. Griner was slated to speak at the Women Grow 2025 Leadership Summit—dedicated to cannabis policy and industry—in National Harbor, Maryland, when she discovered the note. Griner had been imprisoned in Russia after vape canisters with cannabis oil were found in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in February 2022; she was released the following December in a prisoner swap that the Biden administration brokered.
The Revry show Unconventional has arrived, per a press release. The premiere video introduces viewers to Noah and Margot—two queer siblings played by creator Kit Williamson (EastSiders) and Aubrey Shea (Nashville), who are navigating their personal and professional ambitions in Los Angeles. Things take a turn when their estranged conservative father, played by Beau Bridges, re-enters their lives. Talking with Variety, Williamson said, “So much of our media focuses on fighting for a seat at the table, but what happens when you actually get one? What do you do with it?”
The NYC organization GMHC (formerly Gay Men’s Health Crisis) honored Broadway songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman with the annual Howard Ashman Award at Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater on Feb. 10, Gay City News noted. The event featured a special performance from Shaiman, who sang Ashman’s song “Sheridan Square.” Also, Darlene Love, who was the lead singer of the group The Blossoms, performed “I Know Where I’ve Been,” while comedian/actress/singer/writer Bridgett Everett sang “I’ll Take You Home.” J. Harrison Ghee sang “You Coulda Knocked Me Over with a Feather,” and actor couple Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick presented awards.
Out actor Kevin Spacey refuted comments made by his fellow actor Guy Pearce, who recently said he was “targeted” by Spacey while they filmed the 1997 movie L.A. Confidential, according to CNN. On The Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcast, Pearce said, “I don’t want to use the word ‘victim’ even though I probably was a victim to a degree. I was certainly not a victim, by any means, to the extent that other people have been to sexual predators.” “We worked together a long time ago. If I did something then to upset you, then you know you could have reached out to me. We could have had that conversation,” Spacey replied in a video posted to X, speaking to Pearce. Responding to the media, Spacey said, “You really want to know what my response is? Grow up.” Spacey also commented in his video statement that Pearce visited him in Savannah, Georgia, about a year after filming concluded to spend time with him. “Did you tell the press that, too, or does that not fit into the victim narrative you have going?” Spacey asked.
Dave Chappelle talked about many topics during his 15-minute monologue when hosting the Jan. 18 episode of Saturday Night Live—but, according to him, he was not allowed to discuss Gaza or trans people, Out noted. SFGate’s Dan Gentile, who attended the show, reported that Chappelle said he was told by SNL producers to not approach the two topics during his monologue. Chappelle didn’t bring up trans people but ended his monologue saying, “Do not forget your humanity and please have empathy for displaced people, whether they’re in the Palisades or Palestine” in a message to President Donald Trump. Chappelle has spoken about trans people in several specials, dating back to the early 2000s; people such as Wanda Sykes have called him out for his anti-trans jokes.
A feud between actor/comedian Marlon Wayans and rapper Soulja Boy peaked when the musician directed homophobic and transphobic comments at Wayans and his transgender son, Kai, according to USA Today. “You know you can get cancelled for transphobic slander like this… Fortunate for you that you don’t have a career. Apparently, You BEEN cancelled for the last 17 years. Crank that was 2007. We waiting,” Wayans posted alongside a screenshot of one of the “Kiss Me Thru the Phone” rapper’s posts. In 2023, Wayans revealed on The Breakfast Club radio show that he was a parent to a transgender child.
Draven Bennington—the 22-year-old child of the late Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington—has come out as transgender, Page Six noted. “For a long time, I tried to be someone, someone I truly wasn’t on the inside,” Draven, who now goes by she/her pronouns, wrote on Instagram on Valentine’s Day. Draven said she “decided to take the path of happiness and being true to myself” in August 2024 by starting hormone replacement therapy, adding, “It has been the best decision I’ve ever made in my life” while noting support from her family, including mother Samantha Bennington.
Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn hosted Project Runway from its inception in 2004 through 2017, and then moved together to the Amazon Prime Video series Making the Cut, but Gunn won’t be returning with Klum for Runway’s new season—because he wasn’t asked, he told People, according to EW. “Heidi sent me a text saying, ‘There’s talk about bringing Project Runway back with us, with you and me, and would you do it?’ And I said, ‘Would I do it? Of course, there’s not a moment of hesitation in me,'” Gunn related. But when Klum asked Gunn later if he was happy with his contract, he responded that he hadn’t seen one. The executive directors of the show said they didn’t want him, according to Gunn. Reps for Freeform declined to comment on Gunn’s remarks.
LGBTQ+ film producer Christine Vachon gave her take on the return of Donald Trump to the White House, per The Hollywood Reporter. Vachon—a longtime collaborator of Berlin Film Festival International jury president Todd Haynes (who’s also queer)—said, in part, “I feel like the only thing I can do is look back at my own experience … when there was also a president [Ronald Reagan] that many of us felt was dangerous to marginalized [people]. That lent a sense of urgency to which stories were told. Perhaps we’re looking at that same kind of urgency in these coming years.” On her advice for independent filmmakers, Vachon said, “I feel like independent film is always at its most successful when it is a true alternative. I’m not sure what you distill from that as advice, you know, be original. Duh. But I guess it comes back to looking for those opportunities.”
After its landmark 50th birthday celebration, Saturday Night Live (SNL) will return in March with back-to-back episodes, Variety noted. Shane Gillis will host for the second time on March 1 with musical guest Tate McRae while Lady Gaga will pull double duty on March 8, serving as host and musical guest for the second time. Gaga, who recently performed at the SNL concert at Radio City Music Hall, will release her new album Mayhem on March 7; in addition, the 14-time Grammy winner will headline Coachella in April.
Emilia Pérez’s Zoe Saldaña won Best Supporting Actress at the UK’s BAFTA Film Awards. According to Variety, Saldaña dedicated the prize and the film itself to her trans nephew. “I’m dedicating all of these awards and the film Emilia Pérez to my nephew, Eli. He is the reason—they are the reason—I signed up to do this film in the first place,” she told journalists in the winners’ room. “So as the proud aunt of a trans life, I will always stand with my community of trans people.” Even though transgender lead actress Karla Sofía Gascón did not appear after past racist tweets resurfaced in recent weeks, Saldaña still thanked her in her acceptance speech. Emilia Pérez also won for best non-English language film.
Also at the BAFTA Film Awards, host David Tennant (Doctor Who) mentioned Donald Trump and film run times in his opening monologue, earning much applause for the former, Deadline noted. Tennant said it was unlikely that Trump had seen The Apprentice film because “it’s a 15 [the film’s UK rating] and it’s not on Nickelodeon, adding, “Donald Trump. I’m worried. I’ve said his name three times. It’s like Beetlejuice—I have summoned him.” The actor joked that audience members would not get a comfort break like viewers enjoying The Brutalist’s intermission, urging, “Keep speeches the opposite of your films: nice and short.”
Saltburn and Euphoria star Jacob Elordi will play a lover of Babylon star Diego Calva in Daniel Minahan’s On Swift Horses, due in theaters April 25, according to Edge Media Network. The two play lovers in 1950s California, in the wake of the Korean war. A description of the movie’s plot finds that among the characters forging new ties is Julius (Elordi), a card sharp and former U.S. serviceman; Julius survived the war in Korea and now, working in a casino in Las Vegas, finds love with Henry (Calva), despite the homophobic climate of ’50s America. In the film, the magazine recounted, Julius and Henry “develop a steamy sexual chemistry that includes several rich, emotional, and explicit love scenes,” Vanity Fair noted.
Del LaGrace Volcano’s 1988 photo series Queer Dyke Cruising is being published for the first time in full, by Climax Books, according to AnOther. The photos were shown at Tate’s group show Women In Revolt! Art and Activism in the UK 1970-1990 last year. In part, they told journalist Amelia Abraham, “I like making work out in the world, combining the urban or natural landscape with the artificial or constructed, where we perform for the camera, for each other, and for the sheer pleasure of being seen on our own terms.” In addition, when asked about the cruising they did, Volcano responded, “I didn’t think of it as cruising back then but it was similar in the sense that fear of the unknowable was an ever-present factor. Looking back today, I actually find it somewhat hard to understand what was driving me to do all the super kinky things I did.”
WOW Presents Plus will be the exclusive streamer for the 2025 Gayming Awards when they’re run on July 8, per a press release. Presented by Gayming Magazine, The Gayming Awards is the world’s only LGBTQ+ video game award show; it celebrates queer excellence from the entire video game world. There are 13 categories, such as LGBTQ+ Voice Actor of the Year Award, the Industry Diversity Award, Best LGBTQ+ Contribution to Esports Award and the Authentic Representation Award. Nomination submissions are now open in nine of those categories; people can visit gaymingawards.com to submit their favorites.
Bluestone Entertainment has locked down rights to Basketful of Heads, a darkly comedic horror-comic series that Natasha Lyonne will star and executive-produce, according to Deadline. Basketful of Heads watches as June discovers that every bad guy she decapitates leaves a talking head behind; with each kill, June adds a new voice to her twisted Greek chorus. Lyonne recently produced the Independent Spirit Award-winning His Three Daughters, in which she stars opposite Elizabeth Olsen and Carrie Coon; she also currently stars in the Emmy-nominated series Poker Face.
Distributor Mubi—known for acquiring Queer and The Substance—picked up The History of Sound, the anticipated gay romance drama starring Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor, for North America, Variety noted. Announced back in 2021, “The History of Sound” became the first project Mescal shot after his starring role in Gladiator II and follows two young men, Lionel (Mescal) and David (O’Connor), in the shadows of WWI who are determined to record the lives, voices and music of Americans; during the process, they fall in love.
Fort Lauderdale’s Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library will welcome gay icon Bruce Vilanch on March 11 for an exclusive reading and book-signing of his new memoir It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time, a press release announced. Head writer of the Oscars as well as a writer for the Tonys, Grammys and Emmys, Vilanch’s career led to him writing for some of the most influential celebrities in the industry, including Cher and Eartha Kitt. According to a release, the book “offers a fascinating look into the infamous projects Vilanch has worked on, including The Star Wars Holiday Special, The Paul Lynde Halloween Special, Rob Lowe dancing with Snow White at the Oscars, and The Brady Bunch Variety Hour.”
In a post-event interview at the Millrose Games (where they finished third), trans track-and-field athlete Nikki Hiltz was asked about President Trump’s executive order banning trans athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s categories at sports competitions, per Sportskeeda. “I think there’s a lot of people struggling right now. It’s hard. The news — everyday it’s something else. A lot of minority groups, and the trans community specifically, are under attack and it sucks. There’s no other word for it. It sucks and a lot of it’s rooted in cruelty and fear and just not knowing and ignorance; just encourage people to educate themselves,” Hiltz responded.
Rapper/queer ally NLE Choppa recently addressed rumors surrounding his sexuality, aiming to put an end to claims of “gay baiting,” Hot 97 noted. The Memphis rapper, who was on Playgirl’s cover, is once again facing accusations of either being gay or intentionally courting attention from gay men, stemming from a provocative photo shoot that features a glimpse of his backside. NLE said, “I really don’t care, and I think that’s the problem. … Do not say that I’m a gay baiter because I’m comfortable enough to show off the perfection that God has orchestrated over my physical, my mental, my spiritual and even my emotions. … I love gay people but I would never want to bait gay people to love me for a certain reason. That’s not what I wanna do.”
In celebration of their 20th anniversary, Jonas Brothers announced JONASCON, a special one-day event taking place in their home state of New Jersey on March 23, a press release noted. This event will feature live performances, DJ sets, Q&A panels, fan activations, pop-up surprises, immersive experiences, and special guest appearances to celebrate the band’s two decades. Register for free at www.JonasBrothers.com.
Musician Sheryl Crow apparently wants nothing to do with Elon Musk, including his car brand, The Hollywood Reporter noted. Crow said on Instagram that she’s selling her Tesla and donating the money to NPR, which President Trump has attacked. The “All I Want To Do” artist added, “Money donated to @npr, which is under threat by President Musk, in hopes that the truth will continue to find its way to those willing to know the truth. #PresidentMusk #PresidentTrump #Call1-202-224-3141 #ProtectTheConstitution.”
Right after Valentine’s Day, Karamo Brown’s ex Carlos Medel confirmed his split from the talk-show host/Queer Eye star, according to Us Weekly. “Although this year I’m single I still want to make sure love is around! All my love to my friends and family, thank you for being part of my life one more year! 
,” Medel posted. Brown and Medel had been dating since 2021.
Amazon MGM Studios and Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine cast Lexi Minetree in the role of Elle Woods to lead its upcoming Legally Blonde prequel series, per Deadline. Elle follows Elle Woods in high school as viewers learn about the life experiences that shaped her into the woman who led the films Legally Blonde and Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde.
Former talk-show host Wendy Williams took a step toward ending her guardianship by signing an affidavit asking the judge presiding over her case to set her free, according to The Root, citing TMZ. In it, she argues that she’s “regained capacity” to function without the need for the legal guardian. She also claims that she never had frontotemporal dementia. And a Hot 97 item, also citing TMZ, stated that Williams said her son had access to her accounts and withdrew money without her knowledge. “My son crossed the line. … He was using my money without telling me anything about it,” Williams revealed.
The raunchy TV comedy Blue Mountain State is getting closer to having a new season, per Deadline. A sequel to the 2010 comedy from Lionsgate TV, with Reacher’s Alan Ritchson set to reprise his role as Kevin “Thad” Castle, hit the marketplace a year ago; later, it was quietly set up for development at Prime Video, home of Reacher, and Amazon MGM Studios, where Ritchson has a first-look deal. The original college-football series’ co-leads, Darin Brooks and Chris Romano, also are expected to be back for the follow-up.
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Teddi Mellencamp is being sued by a former employee for alleged racial discrimination and other claims, per Page Six. El Salvador immigrant Julia Umana, filed her lawsuit in Los Angeles the day after Mellencamp underwent emergency brain surgery to have tumors removed. Umana claimed Mellencamp abused her power, created a hostile work environment, and engaged in racial bias and harassment in addition to overworking her and short-changing her.
Kanye West and Bianca Censori have split after two years of marriage—but it wasn’t (necessarily) the nude Grammys stunt that caused the split, per The Jerusalem Post, citing The Daily Mail. Censori left shortly after the “Gold Digger” rapper started selling shirts with swastikas on them. “She’s had enough,” a source told the New York Post. “The Swastika shirt was the last straw. She told him that’s not who she is and that she can’t be associated with that.”