Erroneous comments from Hughley and Shepherd start at about 1:00

On June 22, The View had some of their first male co-hosts with both comic D.L. Hughley and openly gay MSNBC newscaster Thomas Roberts. I remember this episode well because Elisabeth and Joy had a somewhat rare bitchfight. Joy made the comment that prayer was dangerous when it took the place of logical thinking which of course set off Elisabeth’s hair trigger “I’m being attacked for something” alert. Joy wasn’t putting religion down and was making another point that of course went over Elisabeth’s head. Elisabeth called Joy’s remark “bigoted,” and Joy defended herself before eventually backing down when faced with Hasselbeck’s yelling. That girl gets pissed off about just about everything she doesn’t agree with or finds personally offensive. (To watch this fight, scroll to about 4:20 in this video for the context. The fight starts at around 6:30.)

That particular day on The View is getting press now for some comments that Hughley and Sherri Shepherd made about black men on the “down low” hiding their homosexuality from their female partners. It all started with a discussion on whether it was fair for the Red Cross to refuse blood from gay donors. They mentioned an article Slate ran on the controversy pointing out that HIV was more common among black people than white people and musing whether that kind of racial profiling in blood donation would also be acceptable. Hughley then referred to Slate’s coverage and made the erroneous claim that “when you look at the prevalence of HIV in the African American community it’s primarily young women who are getting it from men who are on the down low.” (That’s at 1:00 into the video above.) A whole conversation on the topic ensued, with Sherri agreeing with Hughley that this was spreading HIV in the African American community and that it was particularly hard to come out as gay when you’re black. Roberts countered that it was hard to come out in the white community too.

The only problem is that they were commenting on a myth. Data doesn’t support the notion that secretly gay black men are spreading HIV faster than other ethnicities. It’s just not true, and it’s not fair to target one community due to anecdotal evidence. GLAAD has called The View out on this and took out a full page ad in Variety requesting a retraction and apology.

GLAAD isn’t too happy with Barbara Walters and her roundtable.

The gay media watchdog group has taken out a full page ad in Hollywood trade magazine Variety blasting The View.

Why? Keep reading to find out…

During the June 22 episode of the daytime talk show, cohost Sherri Shepherd and guest host, comedian D.L. Hughley, blamed increased HIV rates among straight African American women on black men who are secretly gay, AKA “on the down low.”

“When you look at the prevalence of HIV in the African American community, it’s primarily young women who are getting it from men who are on the down low,” Hughley said.

Shepherd added, “It’s so big in the black community with women because they’re having sex with men who have been having sex with men.”

The Variety ad, cosigned by the Black AIDS Institute and the National Black Justice Coalition, reads in party, “The Centers for Disease Control has publicly disproven this myth. And since June 22, thousands of people have written to ABC, asking that The View provide correct information to viewers. Unfortunately, those requests have been greeted with silence from both ABC and The View.”

Shortly after the episode aired, GLAAD encouraged its supporters to contact ABC and show execs and demand an on-air apology and correction.

Walters, Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg have all been honored by the gay rights group with GLAAD Media Awards.

[From E! Online]

I really don’t know much about D.L. Hughley but I remember seeing this episode of the View and wondering how they chose him as moderator. He’s supposed to be a comic but he’s not particularly funny and I didn’t agree with most of what he said. It shouldn’t matter what this guy thinks, though. If they’re going to discuss something on the View a team of producers should make sure the topic is at least accurate. Maybe with Barbara Walters gone and so many people on vacation they dropped the ball. I’m sure they’ll say something about it today now that this ad has been published.

Johnny Weir has an extensive interview in Out Magazine, and like always, he doesn’t hold back on his true feelings on everything from his fur obsession, his catfight with American gold-medalist Evan Lysacek, purses, Lady Gaga, and Johnny’s little fashion crush on Justin Timberlake. The full piece is very long, so I’m just going to do the highlights (F-ck, there’s still a lot I want to put up! I’m sorry).

Out: You’ve said you don’t carry a murse or a man-bag — it’s a straight up purse. In your purse you mentioned you have sunscreen, moisturizer and cameras. What else is in there?
Weir: I live out of my bag. I’m always running from one place to another and there is never time to run home in between. I just have this whole collection of shit that I accumulate throughout the day. It could be newspapers and faxes and water bottles. I guess it’s a work bag, but I like to do it in style instead of using a briefcase.

When you were younger Justin Timberlake and *NSYNC had a big effect on your fashion sense. What do you think of Justin’s look today?
I think he always looks very dapper when he shows up at different events. He’s turned out very well. His personal street style that you see in all the tabloids is not really my style. It looks like he’s always trying to be comfortable. I can understand that.

How would you describe your style?
It’s kind of Gaga and New York street urchin.

Speaking of Gaga, you really love her, don’t you? What do you love about her?
I beyond love her. She is a way of life. I just find her so unique, and that’s something that’s really hard to find in the world. It’s hard to find someone who is comfortable going out there with sunglasses lit up with cigarettes or cans of diet Coke wrapped up in a wig. Nobody has the balls to do that. My whole adolescence was just about copying each other. We had Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera copycats. Then we had *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys. Then L-Town or O-Town or P-Town, whatever the hell they are.

Would you say you are unique?
In my own way I think I am. Since I was 13 or 14, I’ve always wanted to do something unique with fashion and music. I didn’t try to set myself apart; I just didn’t want to conform to what people had done before.

The only place to go from there is on to fur! Animal rights groups have been after you in the past for wearing it. What do you say to them?
They have their choice to support their activism and to speak their minds, and I have the right to speak my mind too. I’m not passionate about learning about the fur farms and how the animals get killed. I’m passionate about fashion, and fur is a big part of that. I’m also a winter athlete. You can’t go walk the streets of Moscow when it’s minus 30 and wear some type of plastic. You need a natural warm thing. I am not going to change something I love because someone tells me it’s wrong.

Two Canadian broadcasters had much to say about your appearance at the Winter Olympics and even went so far as to say that you should undergo a gender test. You responded with: “It wasn’t these two men criticizing my skating, it was them criticizing me as a person. Nobody knows me. I think masculinity is what you believe it to be.” What is masculinity to you?
To me masculinity and femininity are nothing. I don’t believe in them being real adjectives. You can say someone is tall or someone is short. You can’t say someone is masculine or feminine. Of course when you think of a masculine person — at least in America — we think of a football player or Marlon Brando. For feminine we think of Nicole Kidman. For me, you can make anything masculine and you can make anything feminine. We have so many beautiful drag queens on RuPaul’s Drag Race that are so much more ladylike and beautiful than lots of women we know. Then there are lots of lesbians who look like beautiful boys. They are masculine in every way even though they are women.

Who is masculine to you?
Mikhail Baryshnikov.

You have been very quiet about your sexuality, saying you don’t want people to focus on it; you want the attention on the sport. Is that still how you feel? Will you address it in your book?
I’ve always been comfortable with who I am. When it comes to my sexuality, I just finished the chapter in my book [to be released in January] about my sexuality and my idea of it. I haven’t discussed it — not because I’m ashamed of anything you’ll read about when my book comes out — I just don’t want to put it out there in a way where someone can twist my words. While I don’t believe in masculinity and femininity, I don’t believe in a purely gay person or a purely straight person. I have a very clear opinion of my own sexuality. I’m not saying anything about my sexuality because I want it to be out there in my own words. I’m waiting for the book. I have no shame. I just don’t want some writer who is trying to sell a newspaper defining my sexuality to the public.

Then let’s discuss Evan Lysacek. Is there really this big feud or it is all media hype?
[Laughing] It’s no secret that Evan and I aren’t the closest of frenemies. The feuds are often press-made, but the most recent squabble we had was Evan saying I wasn’t good enough to be on a skating tour that he was on. That’s ridiculous.

Is that the Stars on Ice tour that said you weren’t “family-friendly” enough? What does family-friendly mean?
Yes, and they’ve never wanted me on their tour ever. I have no idea what that means. I don’t know what’s not family-friendly about me. I have a beautiful family. My friends are my family. I have a great relationship with my parents, my grandparents and my uncles and aunts. There’s no better picture of a great family than mine.

Recently you were on Chelsea Lately with Chelsea Handler. You talked about rooming with Evan’s ex-girlfriend, Tanith Belbin, and then winked. That caused a big stir. Many assumed you were calling Evan’s sexuality into question.
I would never push someone into a sexual situation of “are they or aren’t they?” I was just trying to be cute and it came off bad like I was trying to say that Evan was gay.

Why do you think you get the label of being gay, but not Evan?
He’s easy for people to wrap their heads around. He’s easy to put on a Wheaties box or on Dancing With the Stars. He’s the great American Olympic champion. While he’s considered this all-American boy, I’m considered like this Russian spy ring that just got caught.

To fulfill some fantasies, is there a chance of you and Evan ever getting together?
I can’t say that will happen. There are just very big differences between the two of us.

What are you the most proud of?
Through everything — human ugliness and being judged, bad fashion sense and good fashion sense — I’ve managed to stay very true to myself. I’ve never buckled to pressure. I’ve never given into anyone, and I’ve done everything my way. I think that’s something to be very proud of because that’s something difficult to do nowadays.

[From Out Magazine]

I know a lot of you can’t stand him, but I just adore him. The only thing that made me wince a little was the part about the Chelsea Handler incident, where Johnny trash-talked Evan and did out Evan with a wink. But I also see Johnny’s point – Evan is promoted as Mr. All-American while Johnny is treated as The Other, etc. Plus, there probably is some behind-the-scene drama between them.

By the way, what do you think of Johnny’s views on masculinity and feminity? I think he’s pretty right on, but he’s ahead of the curve.

Johnny on June 8, 2010. Credit: Bauer-Griffin. Also, Johnny on March 2, 2010. Credit: WENN.

It’s been a rumor for a while now, and it seems to be picking up some steam now that former “Bachelor” contestants Jake Pavelka and his fiancee Vienna Girardi have very publicly broken up. Sources are coming out of the woodwork to claim that Jake is gay – or, at the very least, has “gay tendencies.” Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Paul Rosseau, who appeared on The Bachelorette, season four, didn’t mince words when he questioned Jake’s sexuality in an exclusive interview with RadarOnline.com.

“I definitely think he has gay tendencies, not only because of the way he dresses but also because he didn’t want to have sex with a beautiful girl and never really tried with the other girls on the show.” Paul said, before adding a glib, “Nothing personal, Jake!”

A bachelorette from season 12 didn’t want her name used, but told RadarOnline.com about Jake: “I think he has gay potential and definitely gay tendencies.”

Jake has emphatically denied being gay, but Vienna’s bedroom revelations have kept the controversy flaming. She said in an interview that Jake said premarital sex was a sin, but that was after he abstained from sex to go on a religious fast and after they started their relationship with passion. Vienna detailed Jake’s series of excuses for avoiding intimacy for six months.

Richard Mathey from season four of the Bachelorette said about Jake: “I’m not sure if he is gay, but it seems he just has no experience with those types of women that are on the show.”

Jake is now on the ABC Bachelor Pad and says Vienna was jealous of his acting career. She says he hid his acting ambition from her and lied to her about their future.

One bachelor from Jake’s season didn’t want his name used but told RadarOnline.com that the real issue about Jake is not his sexuality but his personality. “I couldn’t tell you if the guy is gay but I do have one word for you — goober!” the contestant told RadarOnline.com.

“Jake always struck me as a phony, he never was really himself. He always trying and trying and trying to impress.”

[From Radar]

What exactly does “gay tendencies” mean? Either you are or you aren’t. Right? I’m so confused. But I’m not sure I buy it. Why in the world would a gay man agree to appear on a dating show like “The Bachelor?” I know he is a wanna-be actor, but it doesn’t make any sense to me. He could have been on a lot of other types of reality shows – Survivor, The Amazing Race, Big Brother, to name a few – that don’t require you to date a bunch of women and pick one for a bride. I think this quote sums it up pretty well: “I’m not sure if he is gay, but it seems he just has no experience with those types of women that are on the show.” Yeah…’those types of women’ being “skanky fame whores.’ But then again, Jake’s a pretty big fame whore too. But is he a big gay fame whore?

Singer Vanessa Carlton is the latest celebrity to announce that she’s bisexual. True Blood’s Anna Paquin made an announcement in a public service message for the “Give a Damn” campaign that she was bisexual, and Cameron Diaz hinted that she was bisexual in a recent interview, saying that “If I’m going to be with a woman sexually, it doesn’t mean I’m a lesbian.” Carlton, 29, made the announcement during a concert at the Nashville Pride Festival that she was “a proud bisexual woman.” Good for her!

Taking a page out of the Anna Paquin book, Vanessa Carlton has gone public with her bisexuality, RadarOnline.com has learned.

Headlining the Nashville Pride concert Saturday, Carlton announced from the stage, “I’ve never said this before, but I am a proud bisexual woman.”

Paquin, the True Blood star who is engaged to her costar Stephen Moyer, made a similar public declaration as part of a gay rights PSA April 1.

Carlton, who is best-known for her hits A Thousand Miles and Ordinary Day, was once linked romantically to John Mayer.

[From Radar Online]

I’m not too familiar with Carlton, but of course I’ve heard A Thousand Miles and Ordinary Day. I have a lot of respect for her for speaking out. A lot people believe the stereotypes about bisexual people being oversexed, but some people just are attracted to both sexes and can fall in love with either gender. It doesn’t make them less discriminatory. The stereotypes do make it harder for bisexual young people to feel comfortable with themselves. The more celebrities talk about their bisexuality, the more it loses whatever stigma it may have.

Update: I know a lot of you will say she’s doing it for publicity. She was at a gay pride festival when she made the announcement, so let’s give her a break.

Glee’s glorious villain Jane Lynch has a new interview in Hello! Magazine in which she gives some details about her recent wedding to her same sex partner, Dr. Lara Embry, and talks about their daughter. It’s a nice look into her personal life, which she hasn’t been entirely comfortable talking about past interviews. In an interview on NPR’s Fresh Air earlier this year, Lynch said that she’s out but that she’s not outspoken about it, explaining that “I don’t like calling attention to myself in that way. I don’t want to be different. I’m not a rebel. I just want to be like everybody else.” Lynch expanded on that thought to Hello!, and said that she’s grateful to other famous gay women who have paved the way for her. Here’s more:

On her wedding this Memorial Day:
It was a lovely day. We were in Northhampton in Massachusetts, because that’s where my wife went to school, so it actually had some meaning to us. We had four friends each who came out, and their spouses, so it was really small and lovely with good food. It was a great day.”

On her eight year-old stepdaughter
“She is a piece of work! She is eight and a real character. She is more my daughter than my wife’s in a way, she’s a lot like me. Her little wedding dress was made out of this fabric that I’m wearing now.”

On coming out
“I never thought about it. I never hid who I was and nobody seems to care, anyway. I’m really grateful to Melissa Etheridge, k.d. lang, and Ellen and all those lezzies out there who had the balls, if you will to say, ‘This is who I am,’ and America went, ‘Sigh, okay.’ Then Jane Lynch comes along. I have theories on why it may be easier for women – maybe it is less offensive to people’s sensibilities.”

On singing and being front and center
“I am probably the worst singer on this earth, but I sing all the time. I am a character actor and usually play supportive roles. I’m used to coming in and leaving, not having my own story arcs. Now, I get episodes where I’m in almost every scene, so this has been great for me. This is my first time of being in the limelight where people are writing about me, so we are all having this experience together.”

On Sue Sylvester
“I think Sue Sylvester is attractive to people because she is so mean. She is that inner voice we all have that we would never say out loud. She has no filter and people love that. They love that she puts together these rambling sentences of condemnation that everyone wishes they could do, too. She isn’t dangerous, she’s laughable.”

On what’s coming up for Glee
“We are talking about doing a Bruce Springsteen episode which would be amazing.”

[From Hello! Magazine, print edition, June 21, 2010]

I love how straightforward Lynch is, although like I said I didn’t get that impression from her when I fheard her on NPR. It was the first interview I’d heard with her and she was matter of fact about her life but sounded somewhat shy. She seems like she enjoys working and is grateful for her success, but is not used to talking about her personal life. Now she’s coming out of her shell and I would love to hear more from her. She sounds like a real character once you get to know her.

Spoilers for Glee’s last episode this season
I loved that Lynch’s character showed some humanity in the final episode and that she actually voted for New Directions in the regionals. There was a moving scene where Sue realized that she was just like the Glee outcasts and would never fit in. She then helped Mr. Schue keep the Glee club active but managed to retain some of her trademark meanness. So does that mean it’s all a sham and she really loves the Glee club? Does it matter? She’ll continue to snark at Mr. Schue and everyone who gets in her way, and they won’t tone down the rivalry at all. They’re overdoing it with some of Sue Sylvester’s lines, though. They’re usually funny, but they need to give it a rest occasionally so we don’t get sick of her creative put downs.

Yesterday was the big Gay Pride parade in LA, and Kelly and Sharon Osbourne were the honorary Grand Marshals. Last week, we even previewed Kelly’s position when she gave a really good interview to The Daily Gay, in which she gave us a good blind item about divas who use the gay community to sell albums, but don’t stand up for gay rights in general. My immediate thoughts were of people like Miley Cyrus, but several commentators pointed to Kelly’s alleged beef with people like Christina Aguilera and Katy Perry, which are much better guesses. Anyway, wherever the gays are, you know the anti-gay crowd is “bringing up the rear” so to speak, and that’s exactly what happened yesterday – anti-gay protesters tried to drown out the Gay Pride festivities, only to be verbally bitchslapped by Kelly:

Sharon and Kelly Osbourne fought back when they came under attack from an angry anti-gay group at the 40th annual Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade in Hollywood.

Never ones to back away from confrontation, the two reality stars – who were acting as the parade’s Grand Marshals – gave as good as they got when protesters started yelling insults. Halfway through the parade a group of anti-gay protesters approached Sharon and Kelly’s float and started yelling homophobic profanities.

Sharon berated the protesters, taking to the loud speaker and shouting: ‘You should be ashamed of yourselves!’

Then Kelly took to the mic, shouting: ‘My God loves gays!’ Leading the crowd of revelers into chanting: ‘God loves gays!’

A source told MailOnline that the chanting got so loud it totally drowned out the protesters, who left defeated.

‘Kelly and Sharon were amazing,’ the source says. ‘They didn’t look intimidated by the protesters for one minute – if anything, it was exactly the opposite, they relished the fight! Sharon got right in their faces admonishing them and Kelly just started shouting into the microphone: “My God loves gays!” The crowd went wild and started chanting, the atmosphere was electric! The protesters were obviously defeated and left pretty quickly. As they were leaving everyone was screaming and clapping, it was amazing!’

‘Sharon and Kelly are gay icons and they proved why on Sunday – they really are friends to the gay community, and in return we love them.’

The two Osbournes are outspoken advocates for gay rights, having campaigned heavily to prevent the passage of California’s prop 8 – the gay marriage ban which passed in November 2008.

Kelly posed for an advertisement for the ‘No H8′ campaign as well as attending several rallies protesting the passage of prop 8.

[From The Daily Mail]

That’s pretty cool, I think. I mean, you’re just asking to be shouted down if you show up to a Gay Pride parade and try to protest. What is there to protest, really? Ooh… the “gays” are… what? Getting married? Nope, that was blocked in California. So, what else? The “gays” are just living their lives, unashamed? Is that what bothers people? I’ll never know.

Kelly & Sharon at the Gay Pride parade on June 13, 2010. Credit: WENN.

Kelly’s purplish hair has started growing on me. I saw on E! News last night where she was laughing about people saying she looked like an old lady, and Kelly said that’s how she wants to look. Cute. I do think this is the healthiest and happiest she’s ever looked, seriously. Kelly continues to win me over with this new-ish interview Kelly did with The Daily Gay. The interview is really long, and you can read the whole thing here. I’m just going to do the highlights, which include Kelly’s praise of Lady Gaga for standing by her gays, as opposed to “women who use the gay community to sell albums, but then they don’t back it up.” CoughMadonnacough? Or is she talking about someone like Cher? Jennifer Lopez? Who uses her gays to sell albums and then discards them like yesterday‘s homosexuals? Also: Kelly is going to be Grand Marshal of LA’s Gay Pride parade! And she’s doing the “Give a Damn” Campaign too.

Congratulations on making People’s Most Beautiful list.
I was really shocked by that. When they called me I was like, When is someone going to tell me that was a joke? When you’re in an industry where you’re surrounded by the world’s most beautiful people—and you know I always grew up really insecure —it’s still like I’m waiting for someone to pinch me and wake me up

In addition to that, you and your mom have been named grand marshals of L.A. Pride.
That’s what I’m more excited about. You have no idea. I guarantee I won’t sleep the night before.

How does that happen? Do you get a call from someone saying, “Hey, we want you to come and be in the parade”?
Basically, my assistant Dave and I have been talking about Pride for a long time and what we were going to do, and he has some friends—as well as I do—who are on the committee, and he secretly went and suggested me.

It’s cool that you and your mom are from different generations and are equally vocal in your support for the gay community. But do you have a sense that your generation is more accepting overall?
I do. And I think as time goes on—and unfortunately, it is going to take time—eventually people won’t even think of it anymore.

Have your own struggles lead to an identification with gay people?
It’s not about identifying, it’s about what’s right and what’s wrong. And it’s wrong to look down upon somebody or not let somebody marry the person they want to marry because of their sexual orientation. It doesn’t make sense to me.

You were born in England, which allows civil unions and gays in the military. What are your observations about the cultural differences between the U.K. and the U.S.?
No matter where you go, you’re always going to have ignorant people. But it’s the way in which it’s handled in England that I think is a lot more respectful. They’re like, “If you don’t like it, fine, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be married.” Here it’s like, “It’s an abomination! We’re all going to die and go to hell because you want to kiss a man!” It’s ridiculous.

So they have more of a live-and-let-live attitude?
It’s hard to explain unless you are there. It would be wrong for me to say that you can be gay in England and everything’s just fine, because there are still ignorant people. But I think people are less inclined to do anything against it there than they are here.

When did you first realize that you had a big gay following?
I still don’t realize it, to be honest with you. I feel that a lot of celebrity females take advantage of the gay community because they know that if they have the gay community supporting them, then they’ll always have some kind of a career. I never want to be one of those [women]. In my eyes, that’s almost taking advantage. And a lot of the time, what I think about what they do is, Well, you say all this, but where are you at the rallies?

You prefer people who walk the walk.
Exactly. There are women, like Lady Gaga, who fully embrace it and who stand up. They go to the rallies, they protest. But then there are women who—I’m not going to name names—that use the gay community to sell albums, but then they don’t back it up. And I don’t like that.

If there were one thing that could change in the entire world by the end of this year, in any realm, what would you like to see happen?
That the government can no longer tell people who they can and cannot be with. For me, that’s the most pressing thing. Once that falls into place and people start to realize that there really is no difference, then everything else will also fall into place.

[From The Daily Gay]

Doesn’t Kelly seem like a sweetheart? I like the way she’s grown up, a lot. Notice the difference in arguments that Kelly is making as opposed to, say, Miley Cyrus. Granted, there’s an age difference. But Miley should definitely take some pointers from Miley. Ooh, do you think that’s who Kelly’s little blind item was about? Miley kind of fits – she’s trying to get the gays to buy her album, but is Miley really going to stand up for them in a big way? Whatever divas use their gay fans? Amy Winehouse?!?

Kelly at the Guys Choice Awards on June 5, 2010. Credit: WENN.

Last week, Quinton “Ramage” Jackson gave an interview to the Los Angeles Times where he declared several things: one, that “acting is kind of gay” and two, that Vancouver “strikes me as a San Francisco-kind of place”. So some people were calling Rampage a homophobe, although I tend to think he’s probably one of those dudes immersed in a culture (wrestling or fighting, whatever) in which it’s probably pretty common to declare something is “gay” as a put-down. I’m not saying that’s right or that it’s not offensive. But do we want to call it homophobia when it’s just cultural ignorance? Eh. It could go either way.

Anyway, Rampage took to his blog (he has a blog?) to defend himself, and in Pajiba’s words, “Some people (read: a faux-outraged media) got upset that a UFC fighter made a dumb gay crack, which forced Rampage Jackson to defend himself in a blog post, where he actually did make some real homophobic remarks.” Oohh, I’m reading it now… guess who else Rampage makes fun of all the time? “Fat girls.” He’s hitting all of the sweet spots, isn’t he?

I am a black man from Memphis Tennessee who grew up in the south where I faced discrimination my whole life. I know very well how it feels for someone to judge you for something you have no control over so having gone through that I know how it feels. I took a vow that I didn’t even have to say that I would never discriminate against anybody for anything other that how they treat me or others around them. So not only DO I NOT HATE gay people, I actually accept them for who and what they are. They always seem happy and most of them I met are very kind and nice individuals. Yes, and like most straight guys I joke around with the whole gay thing and I see it as comedy, not saying that’s right or wrong but I don’t do it out of hate. I don’t hate fat girls but I make fun of them too.

When I did that interview I didn’t even know I was being interviewed. I was on the set of shooting the movie the A Team and my friend that worked on the set brought the interviewer to my trailer. As he did so, he made fun of me for a poster that was made of me promoting a UFC event at my homegirls bar in Vancouver. The poster was a picture of me with a rainbow flag on the poster somewhere. This girl has been a friend of mine for 7 years and never used me as a meal ticket and if I would die for one friend it was nothing for me to help a friend promote business. So I offered to help promote her bar not knowing that the poster would make its way back to the set and I would be made fun of for going to a gay bar. But I have to say that I visited her bar several times before this event. Not only did I enjoy myself but I was relieved that the guys at this bar did not hound me once. No one offered to buy me a drink. Not once did anybody try to take pictures with me with their arms all around me or do the what I call the ‘prom date picture’.. taking a picture while holding your lower back.. which is my pet peeve by the way.

Honestly I mean this in the best way, me being a sports figure I attract a lot of male attention wherever I go and MOST straight fans act GAYER than any guys that was at this gay bar that I visited my homegirl at. When I’m in the club guys always offer to buy me drinks, do the prom date picture, stare at me, try to get my attention, tries to dance with me.. even if I’m dancing with a hot chick already. Even though I love ALL MY FANS, this can be overwhelming sometimes, especially when I’m trying to unwind and have fun which in my line of work you don’t get much time to do.

This being said, when I did this interview the interviewer witnessed my friend giving me shit and calling me gay. I was so embarrassed and didn’t want my ego tainted because I’m a big tough fighter. So yes, I got quite defensive and I’m known to be the best shit talker in my business and a fighter in all aspects in life. So I made fun of him back, calling him gay. Only reason why I got a bad report from it was because this guy who was making fun of me and has been my friend on set for about four months (time spent working on the movie) and was gay for real and the reporter being the type of guy he is chose to make THAT his story not knowing that the guy and I were only shit talking like we did everyday. OR DID HE KNOW WE WERE SH-T TALKING OR NOT AND JUST WANTED A HOT SCOOP?

[Rampage’s blog post, courtesy of Movieline]

Well, that cleared things up, didn’t it? Oh, right, it really just made things worse. If I’m getting his version right, he had a poster for a gay bar up in his trailer, and when his friend called him out on it, Rampage said – in front of the LAT reporter – that he wasn’t gay, he just goes to this one particular gay bar because the gay dudes don’t get up on him and he likes that, because his straight fans are usually a lot gayer than the gays. Oh, and something about a taint.

Header: Rampage at The A-Team premiere on June 3, 2010. Credit: WENN.

Back in April, Anna Paquin participated in the “Give A Damn” campaign to encourage tolerance and respect for the GLBT community. While Anna was shooting her PSA, she changed her script to say, on camera, “I’m bisexual, and I give a damn.” Some people were shocked, some people were like “meh.” Anyway, it turns out that Anna wasn’t just doing that for shock value, or to make some kind of point. She really does identify herself as bisexual, and she’s given another interview about it:

Anna Paquin shocked her True Blood fans when she came out as being bisexual. Her announcement was part of a PSA called Give a Damn put out April 1 by the gay rights organization, True Colors Fund.

But only now is the actress offering an explanation as to why she chose to make her sexual orientation public, RadarOnline.com can report.

“I’m not someone who endlessly talks about her personal life for no reason but obviously, as someone who identifies as bisexual, those are issues I really care about — and frankly, I don’t see why everyone doesn’t care about them,” she told Zap2it. “So when I was asked to participate in that PSA, it was just obvious. ‘Well, of course I will’.”

Paquin, who is engaged to marry her True Blood costar Stephen Moyer, added that the campaign for equal rights for people of all sexual orientations is something she “cared about and privately supported, but not one that I had ever had an opportunity to speak out about in a way that would be useful. I just wanted to do my bit.”

And that’s just fine with her TV boss Alan Ball, who is himself openly gay. The True Blood writer/producer calls Anna “really brave.”

[From Radar]

Great. I really don’t have a problem with Anna or with any of it, and I am slightly confused why people are treating it like it’s some kind of big deal. When HuffPo put these interview excerpts out over the weekend, the story got more than a thousand comments. Why? Because she’s being so open about it? Because bisexuality is something most people don’t admit? Because Anna is an Oscar-winner with a hit cable show? Because she’s engaged to a dude? I have no idea.

The promotional tour for The A-Team is starting to gear up, so expect to see some interviews with Bradley Cooper, Liam Neeson, Jessica Biel and this new star, Ultimate Fighter-turned-actor Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, who took on the role of Baracus made famous by Mr. T. The Los Angeles Times has an interview with Mr. Rampage (I don’t know what to call him), and as it turns out, the guy thinks his new profession is a little bit… “gay”. His words. Mr. Rampage is on such a hardcore Gay Watch that he even declares that Vancouver is a “San Francisco kind of place”. He’s like two seconds away from declaring a whole country gay, I swear. Here are the homoerotic outtakes (full LAT piece here):

A movie crew member had wandered in on this final day of principal photography and — whether jokingly or not — called the muscle-bound movie star a homophobic epithet. Jackson had responded with barely contained fury. He threw the guy out, shouting him down with every conceivable gay slur. “You’re a punk!” Jackson finally bellowed.

He claimed the crew member’s intent had been to provoke a physical assault. “That … wanted me to punch him so he could sue me,” the professional body-slammer explained.

“Acting is kind of gay,” Jackson said. “It makes you soft. You got all these people combing your hair and putting a coat over your shoulders when you’re cold. I don’t want a coat over my shoulders! I’m a tough-ass [individual]! Vancouver [where A-Team was filmed] strikes me as a San Francisco-kind of place. And I don’t want [individuals] getting ideas about me. I feel in my heart I’m the toughest [individual] on the planet. And I don’t want nothing changing my train of thought. If you don’t believe that when we step inside the octagon, it shows.”

“I’ve had the chance to do other movie roles before but I took the fights instead,” he said. “I was supposed to do ‘Transporter 2,’ ‘Wolverine.’ But I couldn’t do it because UFC was in the way.”

That all changed, though, when Jackson caught wind that writer-director John Singleton (“Boyz N the Hood”) was moving an “A-Team” adaptation toward production. “It was the whole reason I wanted to act,” Jackson said. The two took a meeting about 2 1/2 years ago but the project stalled. Enter writer-director Joe Carnahan (“Narc,” “Smokin’ Aces”) with a revamped “A-Team” screenplay. And on the heels of casting call No. 2, the Ultimate Fighter bested a Who’s Who of pop cultural heavyweights — rappers Common and Ice Cube and celebrated street brawler Kimbo Slice among them — to nab the role. “I was destined to play this part!” Jackson exclaimed.

Back in his trailer, with his UFC future still in doubt, Jackson left little mystery about the downside of movie stardom. He blamed the film’s assistant directors for keeping him on-set needlessly and railed against what he calls moviemaking’s hierarchy system.

“Here, there’s a thing called ‘pecking order,’ ” Jackson said. “I’m not used to that. People can be really inconsiderate of people’s feelings. I wasted three weekends in a row waiting in my trailer when they didn’t use me at all. To be honest, my experience in this movie industry hasn’t always been good.”

“I always thought from the beginning, if this movie is going to work, it’s going to rise and fall on the person playing B.A.,” Bradley Cooper said in Vancouver. “Mr. T was so iconic and so much a part of ‘The A-Team’ TV show — so much of what I think of when I think of ‘The A-Team’ — that whoever plays that, if you get it right, 80% of the movie’s already a success.”

So how’d Jackson do?

“In my opinion, he’s the best B.A. there could be,” Cooper said. “It feels like a real coming out moment for Rampage.”

[From The Los Angeles Times]

You know what I thought when I saw they quoted Bradley Cooper? “Oohh, I bet Bradley and Rampage did not get along AT ALL.” If Mr. Rampage is prepared to declare a whole city is gay (“Vancouver… the gayest city in all of Gay Canada” is a tagline I keep hearing), what’s stopping him from saying that about Bradley Cooper, a man who beeps on many people’s gaydars? For that matter, what’s stopping Mr. Rampage from declaring that Liam Neeson is a “little fruity” or something like that?

Here’s the latest trailer from The A-Team, by the way. Patrick Wilson is in it! I didn’t know that. Totally gay.

Header: Mr. Rampage on December 8, 2007. Credit: WENN.