Though we will dearly miss our Queerty brother and go-to fashionista Bradford Shellhammer, we are happy to welcome his editorial replacement, Dan Renzi. Besides being slotted to give the last word on the Gay Agenda, Renzi is totally upping the celeb quota over at Hauslaib HQ.
You may recognize his mug from The Real World: Miami or his knack for words from The Advocate, New York Press, TV Guide, or his own blog. We're guessing you picked Real World.
So, join us welcoming Dan to the blogosphere! (Oh, yeah, and don't forget to say goodbye to Brad.)
A Change Will Do You Good [Queerty]
And the gay Clay rumors continue — at this point, either Star has some tipsters who are very skilled at Photoshop, or they managed to obtain some real (though not very racy) webcam shots of the former American Idol star. Y'all Clay fans can email whatever you want, but the photos are pretty solid evidence on this one.
The backstory goes something like this: Clay Aiken, 22, was in Boston on tour on Dec. 5, where he logged onto gay pick-up webspot, manhunt.net. Who knows, Clay maybe could have gotten laid, if only he had been staying at the Ritz. His Wyndham Hotel digs, apparently, were pretty unimpressive to the guy he was chatting up online. What was that term again? Oh, yeah, B-List.
If your computers not covered in barf from the photo of his pasty stomach, click on the jump for some of their online manhunting banter.
CONTINUED »
All hail the Musto. We can think of no other New York gossip who has had as powerful an influence on this meta clusterfuck of an industry.
Well, our lovely neighbors to the north, the Canadians, heart Michael Musto, too. And they can really pick up on those hidden subtleties in his writing. Hence the Toronto Star's apt observation, "His column has a gay subtext."
Wow, did Musto realize that other people could pick up on that tone he works so hard at burying? (Emphasis ours.)
"When I realized I could write politics, fashion, celebrity and be openly gay about it I thought, `Wow, I can make a living out of it.'"
Oh, we guess he did. This must have prompted the reporter on this story to realize, "wow, I can prove my talent for picking up on the secret gayness of the Village Voice and enforce stereotypes of oblivious Canadians in one shot."
The Hunter S. Thompson of snark [Rita Zekas, Toronto Star]
Right on the heels of Michael Wolff's "Is Time Warner Necessary" essay, an anonymous mag editor asks Jeff Bercovici, "are gay magazines necessary?"
What is this guy suggesting? That mags like Out and Ballroom Rockstar don't serve a cultural purpose? Psha! Well, hopefully Out's next editor can work a little harder to fag up the mag, so as not to be so easily compared to closeted metro glossies like Details and Men's Health.
It may not be that simple, however. In the wake of Brendan Lemon's departure, Out has attempted to lure in a replacement, with seemingly little response.
Joe Zee, former editor in chief of the now-defunct Vitals; Michael Slezak, a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly and former managing editor of Genre; Simon Dumenco, a media columnist and former editor of Colors; Andrew Essex, editor in chief of the luxury magazine Absolute, and Drew Lee, former executive editor of Radar, another defunct title.
Ok, we know Essex would never trade in his family at Absolute for a romp around in Chelsea, but it sounds like Drew Lee might be stepping up to the manicure booth. He must have lots of experience working without resources — afterall, he was at Radar.
WHO'S IN AT OUT? [Jeff Bercovici]
• 'Holla at Joe Sexton, the fresh face of the New York Times metro section. Yeah, we know. Best job ever. [NYT]
• Yale J-students find an offer of $1 million dollar completely insulting. Really, that's like one week's allowance in third grade. [Yale Daily News via Romenesko]
• Ballroom Rockstar, which claims to be "the first-ever urban gay men’s lifestyle magazine." We think they left off the "geared towards NYU Tisch kids." [Folio]
• Chris Mitchelle returns to Details, the first-ever urban gay men's lifestyle magazine. [NYP]
• Just one of the thousands of riveting recaps of yesterday's Oprah, in which she finds the fury, smacking James Frey back to sobriety. [Slate]
All aboard. Rosie O'Donnell will try to launch another magazine.
According to Celebrity Weekly, the former talk show host is "in talks with 'a very well known publisher' to bring back an updated version of the title."
All of this was revealed on Friday when Rosie was promoting her upcoming HBO special All Aboard: Rosie’s Family Cruise. The special focused on the first ever gay family cruise, and Rosie and her lovah, Kelly, dragged the kids along. Rosie also said that she wants to adopt more children, but Kelly's not for it.
(So, here is where we would normally insert some kind of "kids don't want to go on Rosie's gay family cruise" joke. But, considering recent events regarding unwanted children and step-parents, it seems too inappropriate.)
Instead, we would like to ask Kelly O'Donnell to please let Rosie adopt more children so that kids can live with parents who actually want and love them.
Gay marriage doesn't look so bad now, does it?
New magazine, but no more kids for Rosie [Celebrity Weekly]
Cruisin' with Rosie [NYDN]
Related: Hundreds Mourn Slain Girl, Moved by a Life Too Sad and Too Short [NYT]
The real gays show up that fake-ass Brokeback Mountain stunt.
Dolce & Gabbana Goes Nip/Tuck for Spring 2006 [Bitchless Blog]
What better honor could Mayor Bloomberg have received than being named "an honorary lesbian" by Margarita Lopez?
Lopez bestowed the title on the mayor in recognition for the sale of the old bulidings in her district for $1, in support of the East Village arts group.
But, did Bloomberg jump up and down, or give emphatic high-fives? Not so much. His response: "Let the record show that the mayor moved right along after that."
Let the record show: Mayor Bloomberg is not a lesbian.
Metro Briefing, MANHATTAN: GRATITUDE FOR ARTS BUILDINGS [Danny Hakim, NYT]
• Common follows in the footsteps of such luminaries as Eminem, 50 Cent, and Snoop Dog by making the transition to the big screen. And Smoking Aces is not even about weed. Or poker. [PitchforkMedia]
• Not a day can go by without a "music is trendy" piece from the New York Times. [NY Times]
• Whitney Houston, unfortunately, tried to follow James Frey's method of getting off crack. [Boston Herald]
• The Brit awards nominations are out — surprise! They're dominated by a bunch of British bands. [The Guardian]
• The NAACP Image Awards nominations are out — surprise! They're dominated by Kanye West. [AOL Celebrity]
• Sony launches the first record label focusing on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered artists, which is scheduled to drop during Gay Pride Month. Where oh where will they fit Ricky Martin in? [CNN Money]
JDate is a New York staple by now — sort of like Tasti D-Lite or the F train. The one thing that was constantly missing from the site was the ability for gays and lesbians to find each other on the site. Finally, we realize why this option is so necessary.
"Mr. Steinberg is not observant, but he seeks a boyfriend from his own culture, and for him, JDate is digital manna. "In the gay scene, especially in New York, there's a lot of people who need to be filtered," he said. "It's just so much better than going to a gay club, getting wasted and having a bunch of random sex."
And you thought we were going to say something about social acceptance, human rights, or breaking down stereotypes. Psha.
A Dating Service Gives a Nod to Jewish Gays [Richard Morgan, NYT]
• Nick Lachey & Jessica Simpson sell the pad to the not famous guy from Malcom in the Middle. [ET]
• The biggest news over at Logo is not Rosie O'Donell's show. It's the shirtless bartender ass grabbing goin on in the cafeteria, of course. [Hollywood Reporter, Queerty]
• Rachel Weisz is havin' a baby. Was there like some huge celebrity orgy nine months ago that we weren't invited to? [People]
• A baby grows in Brooklyn — they are seriously the cutest family ever. [A Socialite's Life]
• We didn't know, and now that we do, we really don't care. Actually, we would rather not have known at all, if knowing meant looking at these disgusto pics of Steve Martin. [Sky News]
Who is Craig, and where did his beloved list come from? Will The Strokes ever be cool again? What the hell is Index magazine?
New York magazine answers all of our burning, passionate desires in this week's issue. Oh, also, they laugh at the New York Times really hard for being about four months late on that whole JT LeRoy thing.
The models are absolutely gone from the Look Book, and Jared Paul Stern can finally breathe a sigh of relief that his fedora is back in style. But the best part of this week's NYMag? It's more or less all about California.
• Fresh off the back page of Vanity Fair, Jay McInerney brings his hipster insight to New York's music scene. He also reveals the dangers of reporting, such as getting booze spilled all over you and creaming your pants. [Group Therapy]
• Is Craigslist's Craig Newmark the Exploder of Journalism, or The Exploder of Pee? Who cares, this man can get you laid, and take down the New York Times. Mwaahaahaaa. [A Guy Named Craig]
• Keeping the gay porn industry alive is so in fashion right now. Very Brokeback Mountain meets Andy Warhol. [New York Screen: Peter Berlin]
• Does New York talk more about Tina Brown or Hillary Clinton? [Can Anything Stop Tina Brown?]
All this, plus advice on how to get NYC ranked even higher on the list of fattest cities. Now all we need to figure out is how to get an invite to that premiere party at Duvet …
Jake Gyllenhaal: sexual predator, or really hot guy with a dog?
We like to think he could be both.
Puggle me bad Just Jared
Gene Shalit Offers Defamatory Brokeback Review on NBC's Today GLAAD ALERT
We think it's super fabulous that kids all around the world are learning about gays and lesbians. And what better way to teach Britain's youth that being gay is A-OK than to show that gay celebs are just like us?
They jog in the park, they like to sing and dance, and they stay in the closet for as long as possible, until it's so obvious, they have to come out. And who is the perfect example of a gay guy in Hollywood? Elton John? Nope. Ryan Seacrest? Uh-uh. It wasn't even Sean Hayes who was outed by the British government in the name of education.
Obviously, Kevin Spacey deserves the honor of being on LGBT's example of famous gay celebs.
Which brings up yet another question: why hasn't the American government outed Spacey? Oh, yeah. Our administration is too busy outing CIA agents.
OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT REPORT: KEVIN SPACEY IS GAY [Paul Gallagher, The Mirror]
Though the official choice for Council Speaker is not until tomorrow, Christine C. Quinn is the front runner for this race. It's not really news, but, but maybe the New York Times just likes to run things before they actually happen. That way, they seem like they got the news first, or something.
Or, maybe because she's the first women as well as the first "openly gay" council member to serve, the story is a little too newsy to wait until tomorrow.
But, since only two other people have ever even held this position, does that mean somebody thinks they were less than open about their preferences?
Council Ready to Fill the Job of Speaker [Winnie Hu, NYT]
Hachette Filipacchi wants it's day in the metrosexual sun. The Euro-fashion inspired magazine company is hatching plans to join Details and GQ in the men's department. Shock, based on the French bi-weekly (not mention bi-sexual) Choc, will launch under the direction of former Stuff editor Mike Hammer.
The pub will be an "Americanized version" of Choc, which apparently deals "openly and frankly about any topic" and "is very graphic." Wow, that's super specific.
What's that you say? Hachette has already found their gay mag in ELLEgirl? Here's the real shocker — Shock will have boobies in it! So, the gay vagues (ie "Frenchies") on West Broadway who want to a mag read over brunch, without feeling nauseated by the sight of women, will have to stick with Men's Vogue.
Shock is actually more for the guys on E 92nd St., who still think there's a chance of proving they're straight. By reading magazines.
Shock and Awe [Jeff Bercovici, WWD]
HACHETTE'S SHOCK TALK [Keith J. Kelly, NYP]
• Four words we just love to hear: good news for bloggers. [Forbes]
• When there's nothing left to bitch about, watch CNBC. [TV Newser]
• We couldn't pick between these media lists so we're givng you The Worst Spins and The Worst People. Rest assured, you're not alone in your contempt for Bill O'Reilly and Matt Drudge. [TV Newser, Media Orchard]
• It's not just for Bravo anymore. Turns out everyone can learn something when the gays are on TV. Just like the networks learned that Will&Grace was a friggin' cash cow. [Media Week]
• Hurry up and catch these new real estate shows before you have to sell your TV to pay rent. [WaPo]
And we spent all day stretching for a Jake Gyllenhaal reference, and this one falls right into our lap tops! Looks like that crazy little "gay cowboy" movie might start to become a little more mainstream — reaching from outside the NYU and Chelsea areas to television screens across the world.
"…Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain," a drama of love between cowboys, leading the pack in the all-important best picture race.
"It could be the gay Oscars this year because gay-themed movies could win almost all the major awards," said Tom O'Neill, show business awards columnist for The Envelope.Com., referring to the sudden dominance "Brokeback Mountain" has gained so early in the race.
We beleive that the truly beautiful aspect of this film is that both gay guys and straight girls can take equal amounts of pleasure in watching Jake wrestle around with Heath Ledger. Call it what you will, but if this is the gay Oscars, then we can't wait to hear the academy try to explain why millions of chicks are clamoring for as much Jake on Heath action as they can get.
'Brokeback Mountain' tops Oscar bets [Arthur Spiegelman, AP News]
If it makes New Yorkers feel better, their newspaper isn't the only one who can't get it together. In the midwest, a media brawl started when Cincinnati Magazine tried to dis the Kentucky Post, awarding the paper one of the most notable "lowlights" in its 2005 "Pork Roast" round-up of embarrassing moments.
Uh, except the headline cited by the mag never actually ran in The Post. Fucking up while making fun of someone else's non-fuck up? That's just hilarious.
The headline in question was above a July 8 story about former Kenton County Judge-Executive Dick Murgatroyd, at the time the governor's deputy chief of staff. Cincinnati magazine said that the five-column headline above the story in an early edition proclaimed: "Murgatroyd still the go-to gay."
And even though the line really did read "go-to guy", the bigger mistake would have been throwing around Michael Musto's hold on the "go-to gay" title.
Magazine apologizes for error in printing purported headline [Greg Paeth, Kentuck Post]
Editorial Director
