Billy Porter shared a new remix for his new single, “Leap,” a press release noted. About the song, Porter said, “I always want to make sure I use my art to heal. Music is the universal language. We are in trying times right now and I wrote ‘Leap’ alongside the late genius Andrea Martin to inspire love across all races, creeds, identities, and value structures. Welcome to the cookout!” Porter’s Black Mona Lisa UK Tour will kick off on Oct. 18 in Swansea, Wales at Swansea Arena, and conclude Oct. 28 in Brighton, England at Brighton Dome.
Speaking of Porter, he provided an update on his biopic of James Baldwin on what would have been the writer /civil-rights icon’s 100th birthday, PinkNews noted. Porter revealed that the script is now ready to move on to the next stage of production, following the Hollywood strikes. “My writing partner [Dan McCabe] and I turned in the script a couple of months ago, the third draft, and it’s in good shape to start shopping for financing,” he told the UK outlet. However, he added, “The industry is really, really bad right now, you know, post-strike. There’s not a lot of stuff being greenlit. I read an article where just 40 percent [of the industry is] back. It’s horrible. That’s a failing grade.”
And speaking of James Baldwin, queer musician Me’Shell Ndegeocello has released her second Blue Note album and tribute project No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin, per Bass Magazine. The article states, “With No More Water, Ndegeocello embarks on a prophetic musical odyssey that transcends boundaries and genres, delving headfirst into race, sexuality, religion, and other recurring themes explored in Baldwin’s canon.” Besides music, the album showcases spoken word by venerated poet Staceyann Chin and Pulitzer Prize-winning author/critic Hilton Als. Baldwin would have turned 100 on Aug. 2, 2024.
Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and musician Shelby Lynne released a new song entitled “Gone To Bed,” per a press release. “Gone To Bed” precedes the release of Lynne’s new album, Consequences of the Crown, out Aug. 16 via Monument Records. (Earlier this summer, she unveiled “Butterfly.”) Regarding her own personal life, Lynne has said, “I’ve been around the world and back so many times, I think everybody’s gay. Everybody’s a little gay. As far as my personal life, I don’t go into details because that’s all I’ve got.”
Out actor Harvey Guillen (What We Do in the Shadows) is set to exec-produce and star opposite Kate Siegel in the dark comedy Damned If You Do, Deadline noted. Damned If You Do follows a group of teenage friends who have sold their souls to the devil. Life takes them down different paths—as a rock star, a tech mogul and a high-profile activist. Years later, they must rely on a former classmate to try and escape hell’s grasp before the contract’s deadline of their 25th high-school reunion. Next, Guillen will be seen in Mike Flanagan’s Stephen King adaptation The Life of Chuck as well as New Line’s sci-fi thriller Companion.
Iconic rapper and Portsmouth, Virginia native Missy Elliott was honored (again) as a hometown hero during her stop at Hampton Coliseum in nearby Hampton on Aug. 2, a press release announced. U.S. Congressman Bobby Scott presented her with a Congressional Certificate of Community Service from the United States Congress while Hampton Mayor Donnie Tuck declared Aug. 2 as “Out of This World Tour Day” in the city. In addition, Delegate Don Scott, speaker of the House of Delegates, presented Elliott with a resolution for her first arena tour. Elliott was previously recognized on Oct. 17 being proclaimed “Missy Elliott Day” in Portsmouth in addition to a street being named after her and receiving a key to the city (in 2022). Her current tour will conclude Aug. 22-23 at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.
Queer musician Billie Eilish teamed with longtime friend Charli XCX on the song “Guess,” per a press release. (At one point, Eilish says, “Charli likes boys but she knows I’d hit it.”) The duo appear in the official music video, directed by Aidan Zamiri. Incidentally, all bras and underwear used in the music video (and there were hundreds) have been donated to I Support The Girls (ISTG). ISTG collects and distributes essential items, including bras, underwear and menstrual hygiene products, helping people experiencing homelessness, impoverishment or distress.
RuPaul’s Drag Race season-nine winner Sasha Velour is returning with a new show at San Diego’s La Jolla Playhouse (the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre), per Queerty. Directed by Moises Kaufman (The Laramie Project), Velour: A Drag Spectacular aims to provide an evening of “queer fantasia” that takes a deep dive into Velour’s small-town upbringing in a coming-of-age extravaganza that incorporates the performer’s legendary lip-syncing, projection-mapping, and video animation. The show will run Aug. 13-Sept. 8.
Pittsburgh’s Stage AE will host the annual Women Who Rock™ Benefit Concert Presented by Gibson Gives on Aug. 28—with queer icon Melissa Etheridge headlining, per a press release. All proceeds from the Women Who Rock™ Benefit Concert support understudied and underfunded women’s health research at Magee-Womens Research Institute—the nation’s first and largest research institute dedicated solely to life-saving women’s health research and reproductive biology. Also, bids are open (starting at $1,500) for the auction of a Gibson 1968 Les Paul Custom guitar in Ebony, autographed by Etheridge, at CharityBuzz.com.
Out gay Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s The Room Next Door (his first English-language feature film) has been selected as the Centerpiece selection for the 62nd New York Film Festival, Variety noted. The comedic drama, starring Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, will make its U.S. premiere at Alice Tully Hall on Oct. 4. The director has described the New York-set movie as a story “about a very imperfect mother and her resentful daughter, who live separate lives because of a profound misunderstanding.”
Superstar Janet Jackson is finalizing a Las Vegas residency, according to News3LV, citing TMZ. The celebrity entertainment site says that Jackson—who is currently touring overseas—is in the “final stages” of signing a deal with Resorts World and the show will launch in December. Legendary vocalist Celine Dion, who recently entertained at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, is also reportedly in negotiations with Resorts World for a residency of her own.
In honor of the 10th anniversary of the iconic indie horror film The Babadook, the movie will return to theaters starting Sept. 19, featuring an exclusive Q&A with writer/director Jennifer Kent, per a press release. The movie became a queer favorite after Tumblr user Taco-bell-rey uploaded a screenshot showing The Babadook listed as one of the films available in the LGBTQ section of Netflix, Polygon noted. The post quickly gained attention in the Tumblr community, but when the post found its way to Twitter (now X), it began picking up even more steam. However, it’s been also stated that The Babadook’s underlying themes could be seen as resonating with the gay community, such as “manifesting identities in closets.”
EGOT winner and The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg will play Miss Hannigan in the New York City segment of the upcoming tour of the Tony-winning musical Annie, Playbill reported. The tour of the family-friendly musical will play The Chicago Theatre Nov. 12–Dec. 1 before arriving at Manhattan’s The Theater at Madison Square Garden Dec. 4, 2024–Jan. 5, 2025. (However, Deadline stated that Goldberg will be in Chicago and New York.) The tour will subsequently continue to more than 25 cities across North America in 2025, including Baltimore, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Austin, Birmingham, Colorado Springs and more.
And another EGOT winner, Liza Minnelli, is working on her memoirs that are slated to be published in spring 2026, Playbill noted. Also contributing to the project are Heidi Evans, a Pulitzer Prize and two-time George Polk Award winner; Josh Getlin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles Times correspondent and New York bureau chief; and Minnelli’s longtime friend, Grammy-nominated recording artist Michael Feinstein. The memoir will focus on Minnelli’s life, both professionally and personally, from her childhood in the spotlight as the daughter of Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli to her breakout successes in Cabaret and Liza With a Z, and through her marriages and struggles with substance abuse.
Queer performer Justin David Sullivan—who plays May in the hit jukebox musical & Juliet—is temporarily out of the musical after sustaining an injury during the Aug. 3 evening performance at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, Playbill noted. A production spokesperson fsaid in a statement, “Justin was injured on stage during the show on Saturday night due to an accidental operator error. They’ve been evaluated by doctors and are at home recovering. We expect them to return soon.” The international hit musical, which opened at the Sondheim on Nov. 17, 2022, was the first new musical of the 2022–23 Broadway season to announce its recoupment.
Road House director Doug Liman is still frustrated over the streaming release of his Jake Gyllenhaal-led action movie, telling IndieWire that his anger stems from not being properly compensated for a streaming release, per Variety. “First of all, I have no issue with streaming,” Liman said. “My issue on Road House is that we made the movie for MGM to be in theaters, everyone was paid as if it was going to be in theaters. Then Amazon switched it on us and nobody got compensated. … Forget about the effect on the industry: 50 million people saw Road House — I didn’t get a cent, Jake Gyllenhaal didn’t get a cent, [producer] Joel Silver didn’t get a cent. That’s wrong.” Road House (a reboot of the Patrick Swayze-led cult classic) was initially conceived as a theatrical release for MGM; however, plans changed when Amazon bought MGM.
The docuseries In Vogue: The 90s will air on Hulu with three episodes on Sept. 13, followed by the other three on Sept. 20, per a press release. The series tells the story of the fashion industry in the ‘90s through the eyes of Vogue editors Hamish Bowles, Edward Enninful, Tonne Goodman and Anna Wintour. It also features notables such as Amber Valletta, Baz Luhrmann, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kim Kardashian, Camilla Nickerson, Mary J. Blige, Claire Danes, Claudia Schiffer, Donna Karan, Elizabeth Hurley, Grace Coddington, Naomi Campbell, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael Kors, Missy Elliott, Miuccia Prada, Tommy Hilfiger and others.
Black queer, nonbinary femme director Jazmin Jones and Caribbean American video artist, poet-programmer and associate director Olivia McKayla Ross are behind Seeking Mavis Beacon, a movie from NEON that will debut in NYC on Aug. 30, and in LA, San Francisco and Chicago on Sept. 6, per a press release. The 102-minute film follows Jones and Ross as they attempt to find Renée L’Esperance, the Haitian model for Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, a software program developed in the 1980s. The trailer is at this link.
Out singer John Duff’s second single from his soon-to-be-released Greatest Hits: Deluxe Edition album “Forgotten How to F*ck”—an ode to the one in four people who happens to be sexually abstinent, per a press release “Forgotten How to F*ck” is a New Orleans-inspired, late-1950’s rock-and-roll number that Duff wrote when he was undergoing some intimate health problems and sex was the last thing on his mind. “Writing and recording ‘Forgotten How to F*ck’” made fun of my abstinence, and fun is always empowering,” he added. The video is at this link.
Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment will be releasing Succession: The Complete Series on Blu-ray on Aug. 27, a press release announced. The high-stakes drama following the Roy Family and their quest for power earned 75 Emmy nominations and 19 wins over its four-season run. The series stars Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook, Kieran Culkin, Alan Ruck, Matthew Macfadyen, Nicholas Braun, J. Smith-Cameron, Peter Friedman, David Rasche and Fisher Stevens.
Aerosmith announced on its official X account that it won’t return to touring, citing vocalist Steven Tyler‘s injured vocals and inability to recover, Deadline noted. “We’ve always wanted to blow your mind when performing,” the band wrote. “As you know, Steven’s voice is an instrument like no other. He has spent months tirelessly working on getting his voice to where it was before his injury. We’ve seen him struggling despite having the best medical team by his side. Sadly, it is clear that a full recovery from his vocal injury is not possible.” The group already announced it was on its farewell tour, which was postponed last September because of Tyler’s ongoing vocal cord and larynx problems.
It turned out that it was openly gay dancer/choreographer Nick Pauley (and not Ryan Reynolds) busting the moves in the Deadpool suit to the NSYNC hit “Bye Bye Bye” in Deadpool & Wolverine, according to Instinct Magazine. Pauley has worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Anitta, Doja Cat, Katy Perry, Kim Petras, Meryl Streep, Nicki Minaj and Sam Smith. “If it looks like the person who’s dancing doesn’t have arthritis, that’s him,” Reynolds said at a press conference, per Just Jared. “There’s the moments where, you know, there’s a bit of a pop and lock, except the pop, the pop really pops, like it cracks. And the lock will not unlock. So yeah, I would do anything I could to free myself up. But yeah, I will hang on Nick Pauley‘s talent. I will hang my hat on his talent there and thank him for his contribution and services.”
Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen will take the Clubhouse to Miami with five shows across two days on Nov. 21 and Friday, Nov. 22, per a press release. The excitement continues with the exclusive Bravo Fan Fest on Nov. 23. Those expected to attend will be from several hit Bravo series, such as the Real Housewives shows, Southern Charm, Married to Medicine and the Below Deck franchise. Tickets are available at www.BravoFanFest.com.
Comedian/podcaster Joe Rogan took aim at COVID vaccines, gay men and trans people (following Dave Chappelle with the latter) during his newest comedy special, Burn the Boats, per Variety. In part, he said, “Before COVID, I would have told you that vaccines are the most important invention in human history. After COVID, I’m like, ‘I don’t think we went to the moon. I think Michelle Obama’s got a dick. I think Pizzagate is real. I think there’s direct energy weapons in Antarctica.’ I’m just kidding — I don’t think Michelle Obama’s got a dick, but I believe all of that other shit.” Regarding trans people, Rogan said, “I just think we need standards. You can’t just put lipstick on and now you can shit in the women’s room!” Burn the Boats was taped live at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, and is Rogan’s first comedy special in six years.
Former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham talked with Vogue Australia about the fashion industry, admitting she was naïve when she first launched her brand, according to The News. Beckham stated, “It was always my passion to be in fashion and beauty. I’d obviously been in the Spice Girls. I took the plunge, and there was an innocence and naivete.” She added that she wouldn’t enter the same industry “knowing what she knows now.” Her once-floundering brand has become a huge success, with significant conversions, 17 years after its launch.
A U.S. tour by Ms. Lauryn Hill and the Fugees set for late summer and fall has been quietly canceled, per Variety. No reason was offered to fans for the cancellation in the refund notices that went out. This marks the third consecutive year that Hill and her reunited group have canceled some or all of their tour dates, leaving some fans disgruntled. In cancelling the North American leg of her Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 25th Anniversary Tour, Hill blamed the cancellation on media “sensationalism” over her past troubles for low ticket sales, EW noted.
A judge suspended singer Justin Timberlake’s drivers license during an Aug. 2 court appearance, per Yahoo! Entertainment. Timberlake pled not guilty when he appeared in court remotely to face charges related to his DWI arrest in Sag Harbor, Long Island in June. As Timberlake refused to take a breathalyzer test when he was arrested, Sag Harbor Justice Carl Irace revoked the “Take It from Here” singer’s license. Irace also reprimanded Timberlake’s attorney, Edward Burke Jr., for “irresponsible” comments he recently made about the case.
Zac Efron had a health scare while vacationing in Spain, People noted. The Family Affair actor was staying at a villa in Ibiza when he had a “minor swimming incident” while using the pool. Efron has had a busy year thus far, having appeared in The Iron Claw and Ricky Stanicky in addition to Family Affair, the latter alongside Nicole Kidman and Joey King.
The Eyes of Tammy Faye actor Gabriel Olds is looking at a life sentence if found guilty of raping three women, LA District Attorney George Gascón said, according to Deadline. Olds is charged with a trio of forcible rape counts in relation to women he had relationships with during 2013-23, including one count of rape of an unconscious or asleep person; one count of sodomy by use of force; one count of assault with intent to commit a felony; and one count of injuring a spouse, cohabitant, fiancé, boyfriend, girlfriend, or child’s parent.