Robert Stafford—the father of queer musician Lil Nas X— came to his son’s defense, arguing that the rapper’s recent “breakdown” shows that the price of fame is too high, according to Entertainment Weekly. “I understand how the music business is. It’s like a high,” the gospel singer told the British outlet Sunday Times. “When you get to that level, you want that drug again, you want to hit that high again. I went to visit him in jail, and as soon as I walked through that door, I couldn’t do anything but cry.” On Aug. 25, the Grammy-winning rapper pled not guilty to four felony charges after police claimed he assaulted officers who approached the singer while he was found wandering the streets of Los Angeles in his underwear and white boots, Reuters reported.
Ariana Grande is returning to touring for the first time in seven years, per Variety. The initial dates for the 2026 tour include nine major North American cities (including Chicago, Montreal, NYC and LA) and a five-night run in London, but more will almost certainly be added. The last musical journey for Grande—who will soon be promoting the second part of Wicked—ended in December 2019 in support of her Sweetener and Thank U, Next LPs.
Lionsgate and Fathom Entertainment are set to release the five films of the Twilight saga in a nationwide movie marathon from Oct. 29 to Nov. 2 in honor of the 20th anniversary of the first book in Stephanie Meyer’s series, Deadline noted. Those films—which launched the careers of queer actress Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner—have grossed more than $3.3 billion worldwide. Also, Warner Music Group will re-release the Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse movie soundtracks on Halloween.
Kick Ass actress Chloe Grace Moretz wed model Kate Harrison over the Labor Day weekend after seven years of dating, News.com.au noted. According to Vogue, Moretz wore a powder-blue gown with matching opera gloves by Louis Vuitton while Harrison matched her in white. “A big part of the wedding [is about] sharing things that Kate and I love with everyone that’s going to be there,” Moretz told the outlet ahead of the event.
At the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at this year’s US Open tennis tournament, the fifth annual Open Pride celebration took place. The event featured the Queer Big Apple Corp marching bands at the gates and an LED light show in Arthur Ashe Stadium, among other highlights. The tournament also celebrated the 75th anniversary of Althea Gibson breaking the color barrier at the 1950 U.S. National Championships—now known as the US Open.
In Texas, Harris County gave an LGBTQ+ softball event nearly $500,000 after Gov. Greg Abbott’s office denied the money, ABC 13 noted. Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia offered the Gay Softball World Series nearly half a million tax dollars budgeted for tourism—and the commissioners approved it. “Looking forward to welcoming all of these thousands of visitors to Houston and Harris County, where they’re going to spend money on hotels and food,” Garcia said. The event will take place Sept. 21-27 in Houston.
Queer actor Colman Domingo said he decided to appear in out director Gus Van Sant’s new hostage thriller Dead Man’s Wire because he was drawn to the movie’s timely subject matter, Variety noted. The film—set in 1977 and starring Bill Skarsgård—is based on the true story of Tony Kiritsis, a real-estate developer who took his broker hostage after falling behind on his mortgage payments. At the Venice Film Festival, Domingo said, in part, “We need to tell stories like that again and again because this is exactly what happens when people are up against the wall. We can prevent things like this by really examining these people as human beings.”
The queer horror-comedy The Restoration at Grayson Manor will be shown at Fantastic Fest on Sept. 21 and 23, a press release announced. The plot is described thusly: “Boyd Grayson (played by Glee alum Chris Colfer) and his mother, Jacqueline (played by veteran actress Alice Krige), reluctantly share their sprawling family estate, a mansion that feels more like a gilded cage than a home. When an accident leaves Boyd handless and helpless, Jacqueline spares no expense, converting an entire wing of the house into a state-of-the-art recovery ward. But beneath her generosity lies a single expectation: an heir to continue the Grayson legacy. Boyd, however, has other plans.”
Federal Election Commission records show that “I Will Survive” singer Gloria Gaynor donated nearly $22,000 to right-wing politicians and groups from August 2023 to June 2025, Yahoo! News Singapore noted. The records show Gaynor—under her birth name, Gloria Fowles—donated hundreds or thousands of dollars to the campaigns for Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz, Marsha Blackburn and Josh Hawley, among others. President Trump recently named Gaynor as one of this year’s Kennedy Center Honorees, alongside George Strait, Michael Crawford, KISS and Sylvester Stallone.
Out U.S. runner Yared Nuguse fell short of qualifying for the world championships in Japan by not winning the 1,500-meter race in Zurich on Aug. 27-28. In an Instagram post, he stated, “Going from the high of a medal in Paris [at the last Olympics] to not even making worlds has been difficult to swallow. But I won’t let what boils down to two off races determine how I view my 2025. I did a lot that I’m proud of and that’s what matters.”
Queer singer-songwriter Morgxn (birth name: Morgan Karr) released his Heartland: Part 1 EP in July and dropped the new single “Heartland” on Aug. 1, with more music on the way, People noted. The record is inspired by his Nashville-area homecoming, since settling down on a fruit farm with his husband following the COVID pandemic. He told the magazine, “The truth is I’m from the heartland. I want to reclaim the heartland for myself; I want to reclaim what it’s like to be a sensitive feeling human in the heartland. There’s people like me all over the heartland, and I’m not just talking about queer people—I’m literally just talking about the rainbow cornucopia of humanity.”
Lance Bass, Marissa Jaret Winokur and Eileen Dietz have officially joined the producing team of Exorcistic: The Rock Musical, which opens Monday, Sept. 8, at The Asylum NYC, a press release announced. Winokur is also set to appear as a rotating guest star, while Dietz —best known as the original demon stunt double in The Exorcist—brings an added layer of authenticity (and chills) to the project.
A screenwriter who contributed to the screenplay for the Pixar movie Lightyear has responded to rapper Snoop Dogg, who criticized LGBTQ+ representation in the film, Queerty noted. The musician, while on a podcast, said that he took one of his grandsons to see Lightyear (2022) and was confronted with a question from his grandson about a same-sex couple with their kids. On Threads, LGBTQ+ writer Lauren Gunderson (who was behind the recent Chicago-run play Billie Jean) said, in part, “As small as that detail [having a female couple] is in the film, I knew the representational effect it could have. Small line, big deal. I was elated that they kept it. I’m proud of it. To infinity. Love is love.”
RuPaul’s Drag Race season-eight winner Bob the Drag Queen talked with Entertainment Weekly about feeling appalled by “mean girls” on America’s Next Top Model over the treatment of groundbreaking trans contestant Isis King. While the show’s judges sometimes criticized King for not feeling fully comfortable doing a photo challenge that required wearing a bikini while submerged in a pool, King also endured transphobic comments from fellow contestants like Clark Gilmer (now Clark Florian) and Hannah White. Bob said, in part, “I’ve got to say, Isis handled this, first of all, way better than I could’ve on my best day. I could’ve never, ever handled this as well as Isis did.”
Actress, comedian, singer, and recently crowned RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars winner Ginger Minj has added 11 new cities to her upcoming North American tour of “Hokus Pokus Live!” that is kicking off Sept. 4, a press release announced. The production—which co-stars Sapphira Cristal, Jujubee and Landon Cider—will now visit 33 cities through Oct. 26, including Dallas, Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, Toronto and Boston, among others.
Chloe Malle, the current editor of Vogue.com, will become the head of editorial content for U.S. Vogue, CNN noted. In addition to managing the website’s editorial direction in her former role, in 2022 Malle became the voice of Vogue by co-hosting the magazine’s podcast, “The Run-Through with Vogue,” alongside Chioma Nnadi. Anna Wintour will remain Vogue’s global editorial director as well as Condé Nast’s global chief content officer, overseeing titles such as GQ, Architectural Digest, Vanity Fair, Bon Appétit and Teen Vogue. Malle—the daughter of actress Candice Bergen and the late French director Louis Malle—will be taking over Vogue’s daily operations across print and digital but will report directly to Wintour.
Musical icon Boy George is apparently not a big fan of the Culture Club hit “Karma Chameleon,” The New York Post noted. George spoke of his disdain for “Chameleon,” telling The Post that singing it is like “diarrhea through a wet sock.” He added, “People think that’s all I’ve ever done,” while noting he understands why fans still want to hear it all these years later.
MrBeast (real name: Jimmy Donaldson) received a lot of blowback for wondering why out comedian Caleb Hearon ranked above him on Rolling Stone’s list of the most influential creators, per Out. MrBeast took a screenshot of Hearon’s number-six ranking and asked, “According to this list, a guy with 1 million followers is more influential than me. What did I do to piss off the Rolling Stones?” Donaldson’s post was very unpopular on X—so much so that he deleted it and walked back his statement, saying, “Ngl after this I watched some of his stuff and it’s actually good. I deleted the tweet I don’t want the smoke from the shooters, spare me plz.”