Gay comedian/filmmaker Jerrod Carmichael criticized Dave Chappelle, opening up about the pair's ongoing feud and calling out Chappelle's opinions on the LGBTQ+ community, PinkNews noted, citing an Esquire article. Carmichael referred to a comment Chappelle made about the former's 2022 stand-up special Rothaniel: "[Chappelle] referred to it as the bravest special for 1996. And it's like, that's a funny enough line, whatever, but I wonder if he gets the irony that the fact that you are mocking it even then why it was hard." Carmichael previously told The Hollywood Reporter that Chappelle's legacy is "a bunch of opinions on trans s**t," which he called "an odd hill to die on."
Oliver Stark responded to online trolls objecting to his 9-1-1 storyline regarding his character's bisexuality, Deadline noted. "If you are one of the smaller group of people commenting on my posts about how this has ruined the show, I would like you to know that I truly don't care," he wrote on his Instagram stories. "This is a show about love and inclusion. It's featured queer relationships from the very beginning, including a beautiful Black lesbian marriage played out by two of the best actresses I've ever watched." The ABC series recently aired an episode where Stark's character, Buck Buckley, realized his feelings for his pal Tommy were stronger than "friendship," with the scene ending with a kiss.
Queer performer Kayne the Lovechild Kayne has returned with remixes of "We Outside" and a Spanish lyric video, per a press release. In addition, he will make his debut performance at Miami Beach Pride on the Love Spirit Entertainment Stage on April 14. In addition, the singer/rapper/songwriter will perform at "Schmoke & Vibe" in Atlanta on April 20 with a special intimate performance accompanied by a live band. The video is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gl9XU1Y0po.
Mary & George—a British historical psychodrama about the Countess of Buckingham, who molded her son to seduce King James I and become his lover—has premiered on STARZ, per a press release. The show stars Julianne Moore (who's also an executive producer), Nicholas Galitzine (from Red, White & Royal Blue) and Tony Curran. According to TIME, Mary & George doesn't present itself as factual truth; however, Moore claims the show's creators did what they could to "dance around" the history.
Also, STARZ released a first look at the second season of the Samantha Morton-led historical drama The Serpent Queen, a press release noted. The photos tease the debut of Oscar nominee Minnie Driver (Good Will Hunting; TV's Will & Grace) as the "'Virgin Queen" Elizabeth I, who rivals Catherine de Medici in court in the upcoming season. The Serpent Queen tells the story of de Medici (Morton) who, against all odds, became one of the most powerful and longest-serving rulers in French history; the second season of the lavish drama is set to return this summer.
The Los Angeles LGBT Center announced that queer Grammy-, Emmy- and Tony-winning/Oscar-nominated actress, singer, songwriter and producer Cynthia Erivo will be honored with the Schrader Award at its gala on May 18, per a press release. Also, multidisciplinary artist Mickalene Thomas will be honored with this year's Vanguard Award while power pop trio MUNA will receive the Leslie Jordan Award for Excellence in the Arts. Tickets are available at gala.lalgbtcenter.org/tickets/ .
More than 150 Jewish industry professionals—including Joaquin Phoenix, Joel Coen, V (formerly Eve Ensler), Debra Winger and out director Todd Haynes—signed a new open letter penned in support of filmmaker Jonathan Glazer's much-debated Oscars acceptance speech, Deadline noted. The open letter states that the signees "support Jonathan Glazer's statement from the 2024 Oscars," adding they have been "alarmed" to see their industry colleagues "mischaracterize and denounce his remarks." Back in March, when he accepted the Best International Feature Oscar for Zone of Interest, Glazer said, in part, "Whether the victims of October — whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanization, how do we resist? Alexandria, the girl who glows in the film as she did in life, chose to. I dedicate this to her memory and her resistance. Thank you."
The ten-episode second season of the Max Original adult animated series will debut Thursday, April 25, per a press release. The logline is as follows: "When an even spookier mystery grips Crystal Cove, Velma (Mindy Kaling) must find a way to balance her detective work with the demands of her newfound popularity before it's too late. Meanwhile, her faithful friends Daphne (Constance Wu), Norville (Sam Richardson) and Fred (Glenn Howerton) are powerless to help thanks to their own personal battles and worse … detention.
Best known for her starring role in the Max Original comedy series Hacks, LGBTQ+ comic/actress Hannah Einbinder will tape her first stand-up comedy special in front of a live audience at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles on April 20, per a press release. The special will air exclusively on Max this June—which is also Pride Month. Hacks will return for its third season on May 2.
Reese Witherspoon and her Hello Sunshine company are behind Legally Blonde spinoff TV shows inspired by the popular film franchise, Deadline revealed. The shows are in development at Amazon MGM Studios. One offshoot—further along in the development process—is being written by Gossip Girl developers/executive producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage. Reportedly, Hello Sunshine and Amazon are looking to further expand the Legally Blonde TV universe with a potential second spinoff series, which is still in preliminary, idea stages. The film Legally Blonde 3, co-written by Mindy Kaling and Dan Goor, has been in the works for several years.
"Dancing star"—the newest single from the iconic British duo Pet Shop Boys—is an ode to the late Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, who defected from his home country and became a global star, per Clash. (A CD single will be out May 3.) According to the duo's website, "Dancing star" includes two previously unreleased bonus tracks, a remix and extended remix of the title track by Solomun and a Superchumbo (Tom Stephan) remix of "Party in the Blitz" featuring Princess Julia. Pet Shop Boys will release their album Nonetheless on April 26.
Hip-hop icon Missy Elliott will embark on a tour of arenas in 24 cities this year—and, shockingly, it will be the first time she's toured as a headliner in her entire career, which began in the 1990s, Variety noted. Supporting her along the way will be Busta Rhymes, Ciara and Timbaland. Elliott's longtime manager and the tour's co-producer, Mona Scott-Young, said that it "probably after the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction" when Elliott was spurred into action. The"Out of This World: The Missy Elliott Experience Tour" is slated to begin July 4 in Vancouver and wrap up Aug. 22 in Rosemont, Illinois.
GLAAD released a new interview with LGBTQ+ country artist Orville Peck about his new single "Cowboys are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other," featuring Willie Nelson, a press release noted. Among other things, Peck talks about re-creating the song about gay cowboy love and what it means to have an icon like Nelson want to stand up and support the LGBTQ+ community. Peck shares the backstory of filming the music video with Nelson at his ranch in Texas and shares that he even brought up the idea of the duo "getting gay married" in the music video at one point. The interview is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=pT68jiFstuM.
Out singer Brian Falduto's newest single release is a cover of the Dolly Parton classic "Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That?," a press release noted. However, Falduto's version adds a modern twist. "As far as I'm concerned, we all belong in country music," he said. "White, black, straight, gay… country music is about storytelling and it's time we hear some new stories." The biggest alteration from Parton's version is Falduto's queer storyline. "People forget this song is about a player," he said. "The cowboy is charming but doesn't treat his lover so right." Falduto first gained fame playing the role of Fancy Pants in the Jack Black cult classic film School of Rock.
During the recent women's Final Four college basketball tournament, right-wing reporter Dan Zaksheske (who's with Outkick) asked South Carolina coach Dawn Staley about trans participation in women's sports, Queerty noted. She said, "If you consider yourself a woman, and you want to play sports, or vice versa, you should be able to play. Do you want me to go deeper?" Staley later added, "So, now the barnstorm of people are going to flood my timeline and be a distraction to me in one of the biggest days of our game—and I'm OK with that." South Carolina defeated Iowa (and Caitlin Clark) 87-75 for the national championship.
Billie Eilish officially announced her third full-length album, titled Hit Me Hard and Soft, Variety noted. "'HIT ME HARD AND SOFT,' MY THIRD ALBUMMMMMMMMMMMMM COMES OUT MAY 17THHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHH," she wrote in a social-media post accompanied by a photo of the album's cover. The album's title is at least partially explained in a press announcement that followed her post: "The album does exactly as the title suggests: hits you hard and soft both lyrically and sonically while bending genres and defying trends along the way." Eilish added, ""So crazy to be writing this right now i'm nervyyyyy & exciteddd. Not doing singles i wanna give it to you all at once."
Bisexual Brazilian musician Anitta announced the Baile Funk Experience Tour, per a press release. Kicking off on May 18 in Mexico City, Mexico, the 20+ date tour produced by Live Nation will hit cities such as Los Angeles, New York City, Miami, Chicago, Toronto, Paris and Madrid, wrapping up in Ibiza, Spain on July 8. The tour will follow the release of Anitta's new album, Funk Generation, out April 26 via Republic Records/Universal Music Latin Entertainment. At the end of 2023, the Grammy-nominated singer was a headliner at TikTok in the Mix; in 2022, Anitta made headlines and broke records as the first female Brazilian solo act to perform at Coachella.
Josh O'Connor is in talks to star in Luca Guadagnino's new drama Separate Rooms—an adaptation of the novel by the late Italian writer Pier Vittorio Tondelli, per Variety. The story follows an Italian writer named Leo who is mourning the loss of his boyfriend. O'Connor will star in Guadagnino's upcoming tennis love-triangle film Challengers, alongside Zendaya and Mike Faist. Tondelli died of AIDS in 1991 at the age of 36.
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon—who now has his own streaming program, The Don Lemon Show—wed longtime partner Tim Malone, Page Six noted, citing People. Lemon and the real-estate broker exchanged vows during a ceremony at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in midtown Manhattan in front of approximately 140 guests, including former Today show host Matt Lauer; The View co-hosts Sunny Hostin, Joy Behar and Ana Navarro; Alec Baldwin and wife Hilaria Baldwin; Tamron Hall; music mogul Clive Davis; and Real Housewives of New York City alum Luann de Lesseps. The ceremony was reportedly followed by a reception at Ralph Lauren's Polo bar, per the Daily Mail.
J Cole (who is currently feuding with fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar) surprised fans by dropping his new project, Might Delete Later, recently—but almost immediately drew condemnation due to what people said are transphobic lyrics on his track "Pi," PinkNews noted. The lyrics in "Pi" appear to be attacking a "random trans man": "Is you a demon or is that demeanor for the 'Gram? Tell us/They plead the fifth, I'm seeing hints of a trans fella," Cole raps. "In cancel culture's vicinity, he's no killer, trust me/Beneath his chosen identity, there is still a p***y, period," according to XXL. One person posted on X/Twitter, "J Cole using trans bars against Kendrick is not smart considering Kendrick had a whole song dedicated to his trans family members on his last album."
For the first time ever, all episodes from HBO's award-winning original series are brought together in one set with the release of Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Complete Series, a press release noted. On Oct. 8, all 120 episodes from the series' 12 seasons will be out on DVD, along with all the previously released special features, including "The Seinfeld Reunion: It Could Only Happen on Curb Your Enthusiasm." Also, Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Twelfth and Final Season and Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Complete Series are available now to purchase Digitally from Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV, Google Play, Vudu and more.
DC Studios co-head Peter Safran told CinemaCon attendees that Warner Bros' Sundance acquisition Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story will be released in theaters this September, per Deadline. Safran showed a trailer involving Reeve's son's distress after the horse accident that left the actor paralyzed, the actor's connection to friend Robin Williams, and his prep for his role as the Man of Steel in the 1978 Richard Donner classic Superman. Super/Man features never-before-seen home movies and personal archives to reveal how Reeve went from unknown actor to iconic movie star as the ultimate screen superhero. Reeve became an activist after the horse-riding accident left him a quadriplegic who relied on a ventilator to breathe.
Three popular Melrose Place original cast members—Heather Locklear, Laura Leighton and Daphne Zuniga—are reuniting for a follow-up to the 1990s show, Deadline revealed. A Melrose Place reboot, with the trio attached to star, is in development at CBS Studios and is currently being shopped to networks and streamers. The new Melrose Place picks up years after the original series, created by Darren Star, and would provide an update on the beloved characters—one of whom may no longer be alive.
Beverly Hills, 90210 alum Tori Spelling gushed over former Dance Moms star and out personality JoJo Siwa via her Instagram Story following the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards, which took place in Los Angeles, Page Six noted. On top of a snapshot they took at the event, Spelling wrote, "And, this one … we bonded over my kiddos and I've loved watching your journey and you kick ass!" The message came as Siwa has received sharp criticism for her ongoing rebrand from a glittery child icon to a mature young adult. Siwa released a clip of her new single, "Karma," which features cursing and cheeky lyrics like, "I was a bad girl, I did some bad things."
On April 11, the Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Archewell Productions revealed two new nonfiction series are in the "early stages" of production at Netflix, per People, citing Deadline. A series curated by Mearkle, who is also an executive producer, will "celebrate the joys of cooking and gardening, entertaining and friendship." The other series will "provide viewers unprecedented access to the world of professional polo," a sport that the duke of Sussex has played for decades.
Actor Jonathan Majors was sentenced to one year of domestic violence counseling after being convicted last year of assaulting and harassing his ex-girlfriend, Grace Jabbari, Variety reported. "He is not sorry and has not accepted responsibility. He will do this again. He will hurt another women. This is a man who believes he's above the law," Jabbari said. "I had a career and life and body, all of which he's damaged." Last month, Jabbari sued Majors for assault and defamation, with the latter allegation stemming from an interview he did on Good Morning America.
Videos shot in Chicago's West Loop went viral on social media, showing a car crash related to the filming of the show Chicago Fire that left a blue sedan wedged into the second story of an industrial building in the bustling area, per The Chicago Sun-Times. Madison Ranta's video garnered more than 9 million views while another TikTok from a different angle has nearly 26 million views. (Users argued if the accident was real or staged.) X user @BethHoller posted images of filming notices around the area letting residents know Chicago Fire would be coming to the neighborhood; she told the Sun-Times it was pretty obvious the crash was a TV stunt, with the notices and dozens of security people standing by.
Wynonna Judd's 27-year-old daughter, Grace Pauline Kelley, was charged with the misdemeanors of indecent exposure and obstructing government operations, per Yahoo! Entertainment. Kelley—who has previously been arrested for violating probation connected to a 2016 meth-possession arrest and violating a restraining order—allegedly "exposed her chest and lower body at the busy intersection of Interstate 65 and Highway 14 in Millbrook [Alabama]," per AL.com .
