At the Creative Arts Emmys on Sept. 9, Queer Eye won for Outstanding Structured Reality Program ( and other awards as well ), Deadline.com noted. Also, Strong Island—a true-crime documentary film directed by trans individual Yance Ford that's about the April 1992 murder of Ford's brother William—won for Outstanding Exceptional Merit In Documentary Filmmaking. In addition, producer Craig Zadan was honored, as Jesus Christ Superstar garnered multiple awards—including honors for Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice and John Legend, who all became EGOTs ( people with Emmys, Grammys, Oscars and Tonys ) after this award event. Lastly, RuPaul picked up his third consecutive Emmy Award for Outstanding Host, for RuPaul's Drag Race.
Chita Rivera, Nathan Lane and Christine Baranski are among the Tony-winning artists who will honor playwright Terrence McNally Oct. 21 at the 92Y, Playbill.com noted. McNally, who celebrates his 80th birthday Nov. 1, is the subject of the new documentary film Every Act of Life, which will be available on streaming platforms Nov. 6. Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Dramatists Guild are co-presenters of the Oct. 21 event.
Teraj—an openly gay, Miami-born artist/former model/TV personality who now lives in New York City—has released his pop/R&B/EDM debut EP, DEFY Pt. 1, a press release noted. With multiple tracks engineered by the team behind Calvin Harris' song "Blame," and jointly produced by Danny Bobby, Vezzo and Teraj himself, the EP is available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play and all digital platforms. See TerajMusic.com .
The SAG-AFTRA Foundation will honor Lady Gaga and Harrison Ford with this year's Artists Inspiration Awards, TheWrap.com noted. The duo will be receive the tribute at the Foundation's 3rd Annual Patron of the Artists Awards to be held on Nov. 8, at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills. Previous SAG-AFTRA Foundation Artists Inspiration Award honorees include Leonardo DiCaprio, Lionel Ritchie and Kate Winslet.
In a new interview with Vulture, Lady Bird actor Lucas Hedges, 21, discussed his sexuality, saying, "I recognize myself as existing on that spectrum. Not totally straight, but also not gay, and not necessarily bisexual," a Queerty item noted. He also said, "In the early stages of my life, some of the people I was most infatuated with were my closest male friends. That was the case through high school, and I think I was always aware that while for the most part I was attracted to women." Hedges, who was nominated for his first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in Manchester By the Sea in 2017, added he felt "ashamed" in middle school about existing on a spectrum. Hedges will appear in the gay conversion drama Boy Erased, which opens in theaters in November.
Pretty Little Liars alum Ashley Benson has been linked to model Cara Delevingne, but she's not revealing anything about her relationship status, People.com noted. "I think it's the best way in any relationship," Benson told People Now. "I've always been very private about them, and I think it's just better." Benson was photographed kissing Delevingne in August after they landed in London's Heathrow Airport. Waiting for a taxi, they reportedly kissed multiple times, and Delevingne had her arm wrapped around Benson.
Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn will not be returning for Project Runway's big return to Bravo, and are instead heading up a new reality fashion series at Amazon Prime Video, TheWrap.com noted. "After 16 incredible seasons, I am saying 'Auf Wiedersehen' to 'Project Runway,' a show that I was honored to host and help create," Klum said in a statement. "I am incredibly proud of the show, and it will always have a special place in my heart." Gunn added: "I am grateful to 'Project Runway' for putting me on a path I never, in my wildest dreams, thought my career would take me!" Judge Zac Posen has also left Project Runway, Deadline noted.
Justice League star Henry Cavill will lead the cast of Netflix's The Witcher saga, playing the role of Geralt of Rivia, TheWrap.com reported. The Witcher is an epic tale of fate and family involving Geralt of Rivia, a solitary monster hunter who must team with a powerful sorceress and a young princess to navigate The Continent. Cavill is best known for his roles as Superman in Justice League and August Walker in the recently released Mission: Impossible: Fallout.
Elton John recently kicked off his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania—the first show of more than 300 scheduled performances across five continents, a press release noted. Taking the audience on a magical journey through his career, the show featured songs such as "Bennie and the Jets," "Rocket Man," "Tiny Dancer" and "Philadelphia Freedom." Visit EltonJohn.com often for new concert announcements.
Famed fashion house Marco Marco did something pretty unique to finish Style Fashion Week New York during New York Fashion Week, Instinct Magazine noted. Their latest line, Collection Seven, was only walked down the runway by transgender models. The models included Pose star Dominique Jackson, Angelica Ross, MJ Rodriguez, Gigi Gorgeous, Trace Lysette, Our Lady J, Geena Rocero, Carmen Carrera and Laith Ashley.
The Toronto International Film Festival kicked off Sept. 6 with the opening-night selection Outlaw King, a historical Netflix drama starring Chris Pine as King of the Scots Robert the Bruce—and there's been buzz over Pine's full-frontal nudity in the film, E! News related. Pine addressed the hoopla in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, saying, "What I find very funny is there's so much beheading in this, and yet people want to talk about my penis. I think it says something about our society where people get disemboweled—but it's the man's junk that is of interest."
In a new interview with Variety at the Toronto International Film Festival, Game of Thrones actor Kit Harington brought up a prevalent myth about homosexuality, and he suggested a solution, Bustle.com noted. Harington wants a gay actor to play a superhero, to dispel stereotypes about "masculinity and homosexuality." Variety reported that during the discussion, Xavier Dolan—who directed Harington in The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, which premiered at the festival—also commented on Hollywood representation. Dolan told Variety that LGBTQ actors might not be offered the same Hollywood roles that they would have been before coming out.
Imagine Dragons singer Dan Reynolds took to social media to criticize Eminem over an anti-gay slur included in a song on the rapper's latest release, LGBTQ Nation noted. "It's never ok to say a word that is filled with hate. I don't care what year you were born in or what meaning it has to you," Reynolds tweeted at the beginning of a multi-day takedown of both Eminem and the culture that excuses his repeated slurs. "If it contributes to hate and bigotry then it is hateful. Period."
A year after Billy Eichner left TruTV and took his show Billy on the Street with him, he is coming back with new episodes of his popular man-on-the-street series, Deadline.com noted. The eight short-form web-only episodes hail from Billy on the Street producer Funny Or Die, in partnership with Lyft Entertainment. The new episodes will be available on all of Eichner's social media platforms ( Twitter, Instagram and Facebook ) as well as the Billy on the Street Youtube channel, Funny or Die's social-media platforms and FunnyOrDie.com .
Broadway star Hernando Umana came out as HIV-positive in an emotional Instagram post, Queerty noted. "This is by far the most important, scary, liberating post of my life," Umana writes. "10 years ago, at a young young age of 20, I was diagnosed with HIV." Umana, who is best known for appearing in the first national touring productions of Kinky Boots and School of Rock, goes on to recount the moment he first learned of his HIV-positive status.
Cate Blanchett will receive the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles ( BAFTA Los Angeles ) this year, TheWrap.com noted. She joins previously announced honoree Steve McQueen, who will receive the John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing. This year's ceremony will take place on Oct. 26 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.
Tony Award-winning actress, singer and performer Idina Menzel is set to release her upcoming album, idina: live, on Oct. 5, a press release noted. The two-disc album was recorded live on the final nights of her 2017 world tour. The record is available for pre-order, and includes an immediate download of Menzel's studio version of "Bridge Over Troubled Water."
Less than a month after announcing that a plethora of changes to the annual Oscars ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ( AMPAS ) said that the controversial new Most Popular Film category will now not be a part of the 2019 show as had been planned, Deadline noted. "The Academy recognized that implementing any new award nine months into the year creates challenges for films that have already been released," said AMPAS, promising to seek "additional imput" on the new category.
There will be another spinoff of Dick Wolf's Law & Order franchise, with a 13-episode order to the series Law and Order: Hate Crimes, TheWrap.com noted. The show will be introduced with a backdoor pilot during the latter half of the upcoming 20th season of Law & Order; SVU. The new show will focus on New York's real-life Hate Crimes Task Force, the second oldest bias-based task force in the United States.
After a successful return season, Trading Spaces has started production on new episodes that will air in 2019, a press release noted. Host Paige Davis will return, along with Brett Tutor, Carter Oosterhouse, Doug Wilson, Frank Bielec, Genevieve Gorder, Hildi Santo Tomas, Joanie Sprague, John Gidding, Kahi Lee, Laurie Smith, Sabrina Soto, Ty Pennington and Vern Yip. See TLC.com/TrainingSpaces.
Rapper Mac Miller—who had an MTV show and a long-term relationship with pop star Ariana Grande—died at his home of an overdose at age 26, Deadline noted. Miller, born Malcolm James McCormick, had a troubled history with drugs, and his relationship with Grande reportedly ended because of it. He also talked about his troubles in his music and interviews.
In a new episode of his podcast Live Life Better, actor Scott Eastwood, 32, admitted he is "having sex, lots of it" while he's "single and dating," People.com noted. The actor also said that he's "had a lot of sex" and called himself as "a giver" in bed. Eastwood, who labeled sex "the most natural thing we as human beings do," had a message for his listeners: "Sex is healthy, people. Don't shame it. Embrace it. Embrace it."
Production on a new one-hour primetime special that will give audiences a behind-the-scenes look at how a new category in People magazine's popular "Sexiest Man Alive" issue—"Sexiest Chef"—is being created and curated, a Food Network press release noted. Hosted by People Editor-in-Chief Jess Cagle, the TV special will feature an up-close look at 10 talented chefs from across the nation as they are introduced to viewers, with one up-and-coming competitor being named "Sexiest Chef." The special is slated to premiere on Food Network on Thursday, Nov. 1.
The Brooklyn home from the 1977 movie Saturday Night Fever recently hit the market, Today.com noted. While much of the townhouse has been renovated and restored, the main floor still looks familiar. Ideal Properties Group has listed the three-story home at 221 79th St. for $2.29 million, amNY.com added.
CBS CEO Les Moonves stepped down Sept. 9, and is exiting the company without a severance package—for now, TheWrap.com noted. In a joint release with National Amusements, which controls 80 percent of the voting power in CBS, the company said that Moonves will not receive a severance package at this time, and that he and CBS would donate $20 million to one or more organizations that support the #MeToo movement and equality for women in the workplace. A dozen women, in two New Yorker articles, have accused Moonves of sexual harassment.
In a related development, the CBS daytime show The Talk kicked off its ninth season talking about CBS CEO Les Moonves exit the previous night after more women alleged he'd sexually harassed them, Deadline noted. Moonves' wife—Julie Chen, who co-hosts The Talk and also hosts CBS' Big Brother—noticeably was missing. Show creator/panelist Sara Gilbert said, in part, "Julie is our friend. … I love her and support her always. However, this is an important time in our culture, and just because this hits close to home doesn't change the story."
The Harvey Weinstein sex-crime cases that the LAPD and the Beverly Hills Police handed over to Los Angeles County District Attorney's office are still under review—but cases against Kevin Spacey, Anthony Anderson and Steven Seagal have been dropped, Deadline noted. Jackie Lacey's office announced that it has decided not to pursue assault charges against the trio. Spacey's and Seagal's cases involved statutes of limitations; in the case of the black-ish star, the L.A. D.A.'s office said that "the reporting party has declined to be interviewed by the investigating officer."
Also, a sexual-assault case against American Horror Story actor Dylan McDermott has been rejected by prosecutors, TheWrap.com noted. According to paperwork, a woman accused McDermott of sexually assaulting her in 1991. However, given the length of time that had passed, prosecutors declined the case.
Actor Boyd Holbrook has expressed support for castmate Olivia Munn in the controversy over a sex offender cast in their upcoming film, The Predator, Variety noted. Fox announced it had deleted a scene from Shane Black's movie after discovering it featured registered sex offender Steven Wilder Striegel in a scene opposite Munn. Among other things, Munn expressed dismay that she was feeling isolated by the fact that her castmates did not come forward to support her at the Toronto International Film Festival—prompting actor Sterling K. Brown to issue a statement of support saying, "I hope you don't feel quite so alone. You did the right thing."
