This is HAH-larious! French comedians Grégory Guillotin and Jonathan Demayo pull a little joke on straight boys, and end up with a social experiment that shows how uncomfortable heterosexual men are with even the slightest affection shown by another man. In the video, Grégory and Jonathan take turns riding up an escalator. On the opposite descending escalator, straight-appearing men have their hands stroked by the two pranksters. Needless to say, there were a lot of vitriolic reactions. See for yourself below!

The post Watch Straight Boys React To Being Stroked By Other Men On Escalator appeared first on The WOW Report.

Eva Mendes, 40
Jake Lloyd, 25
Kimberly McCullough, 36
Niki Taylor, 39
Jolene Blalock, 39
Kevin Connolly, 40
Matt Lucas, 40
Charlie and Craig Reid, 52
Adriana Barraza, 58
Penn Jillette, 59
Marsha Warfield, 60
Eddy Grant, 66
Elaine Paige, 66
Murray Head, 68
Dean Stockwell, 78

The post March 5: It’s YOUR Birthday, Bitch! appeared first on The WOW Report.

March 5, 1922: Pier Paolo Pasolini:

“If you know that I am an unbeliever, then you know me better than I do myself. I may be an unbeliever, but I am an unbeliever who has a nostalgia for a belief.”

Pier Paolo Pasolini has the dubious distinction of being one of only three great filmmakers that I can recall who was murdered. Americans William Desmond Taylor (1872-1922) and Thomas Ince (1882-1924) both were killed under situations murky and still unsolved. Taylor was found dead in his apartment, shot in the back. It has long been suspected that starlet Mary Miles Minter, still in her teens, and her mother were behind his demise. Ince was a guest on a weekend yachting excursion hosted by newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst. It seems that one of the guests, Charlie Chaplin, was having an affair with Hearst’s mistress, the beautiful, talented Marion Davies. Hearst, seething with jealousy, loaded a pistol and attempted to kill Chaplin, only to accidentally shot Ince by accident instead. Both cases have never been solved to satisfaction. Pasolini’s killing continues to confound.

Pasolini’s murder was most probably an assassination by the Mafia at the request of someone in the Italian Right-Wing who loathed the openly gay, Marxist, atheist, and extrememly popular artist, poet, actor, writer, cinematographer, composer, political theorist filmmaker. At the time of his demise, Pasolini had 25 films to his credit. In the the late 1940s and 1950s, Pasolini was a dedicated Communist.

In November 1975, shortly after the release of his controversial last feature film Salò, Pasolini was run over several times by his own car. His killer has never been found, though he had made so many enemies because of his political views and his connections to the Rome underworld that nearly everybody in the city was a suspect. Pasolini had picked up a teenager hustler that evening. The young grafter was arrested, but later recanted his confession, claiming that three men with Southern Italian accents killed Pasolini. Details of the crime make it quite impossible to have been the work of just one person.

I saw Pasolini’s most famous film at the Film Forum in NYC in 1976. If you wish to see it, don’t do so on a full stomach. It is the most nauseating work of art I have ever seen. Salò, known here as The 120 Days Of Sodom is an updating of the Marquis de Sade‘s 1780s novel, setting the story to the final days of Mussolini‘s depraved inner circle.

In his poetry, journalism, novels and films, Pasolini championed the poor and disenfranchised of post-war Italy, mingling an intellectual Leftist views with his fierce Franciscan style Catholicism. His best film, The Gospel According To Matthew (1964), was dedicated to John Paul XXIII, the first Pope to connect Catholicism with Marxism. Pasolini pointedly omitted the word “Saint” from the title. It was shot in the lunar landscape of Italy’s Basilicata region, where crazy Mel Gibson filmed his own lurid Christ extravaganza, The Passion Of The Christ (2004).

Pasolini graduated from Bologna University in 1943, after which he moved with his parents to a small town in Fruili near the Yugoslavian border. The great wine region of Fruili was the birthplace of Pasolini’s mother, who played the Mary in The Gospel According To Matthew.

In 1949, Pasolini was charged with “corruption of minors and obscene acts in a public place”, leading to his being kicked out of the Italian Communist party. I know how he must have felt. I’ve been asked to leave a party on occasion. He relocated to Rome with his mother in tow. Post-war Rome was a rough place with gangs of tough young men ruling the city at night. The street violence found its way into Pasolini’s film versions of the Greek Myths Oedipus Rex (1967) and Medea (1970), which starred the great soprano Maria Callas in her only film role, albeit with no singing.

The 1960s brought American style with Coke, jeans and rock music to Rome. This was the backdrop for Mamma Roma (1962), with Mamma played by Anna Magnani as a streetwalker determined to provide for her pretty teenage son. With enough money, she promises him, they can move into a respectable neighborhood. But, the son sinks deeper into the city’s thieving underworld.

I was mesmerized by his film Teorema (1968) where an angelic, and way too handsome Terence Stamp seduces everyone in a bourgeois Milanese household: the religious maid, the icy mother, the homely daughter, the closeted son, even the powerful father. Amid erotic tension and emotional fireworks, each family member comes to a new understanding of their life. Ero pazza per questo film , quando ho Frist visto in classe cinema nei primi anni 1970 .

If you are brave (remember that Pasolini’s films were made to outrage), also check out: The Hawks And The Sparrows (1966), The Decameron (1971), and his happiest, hippiest film, Canterbury Tales (1972), with plenty of nudity, sex, and slapstick.

Near the end of his life, Pasolini lived in an opulent apartment in the best neighborhood in Rome. He bought a Maserati and an Alfa Romeo. To the press, he dismissed the poor as having lost their innocence to the consumerism.

I am not certain that I have ever really grasped the meanings of films of Pasolini. Have I ever mentioned that I once had 6 semesters of Film Theory and History Of Film? I often feel like such a dummy, I can’t hammer a nail, I can’t cook, I can’t use a pencil sharpener, but at a cocktail party I am able to spout shit like this.

The post #BornThisDay: Filmmaker, Pier Paolo Pasolini appeared first on The WOW Report.

In an interview with Howard Stern this week, Tina Fey let everyone know really felt about all things Hollywood,

“I’m so glad I live here [in New York City], because halfway through [the Oscars], I was like, ‘This is some real Hollywood bullshit.’ Everyone’s telling me what to do. People are yelling at me about rape and corporate greed, but really, it’s climate change.

I was like, ‘Guys, pick a lane. Like we’re going to fix everything tonight.’ And also, like, ‘You’re all rich. Why are you yelling at me about corporate greed?‘”

Leonardo DiCaprio, who used his Oscar win to tell the world about climate change, was another of Fey’s topics during her interview,

“I always am psyched when someone is articulate with those things because, let’s face it, actors are very stupid. But he’s so smart and his speech was so cogent.“

Stern tried to point out that DiCaprio, a notorious womanizer, should focus more on climate change instead of dating models,

“How do you fuck that many women without a conscience? Does that give him a free pass to fuck all these women in a misogynistic way?. Does it make it OK to be misogynistic as long as you’re for the environment?“

But Fey shut him down,

“That doesn’t affect the green footprint, no matter how many women you fuck. As long as you WALK over to them.“

And she stood up for the recent Oscar-winner when Stern tried yet again to accuse him of being misogynistic, saying,

“Is it misogynistic to sleep with a bunch of women who want to sleep with you? No. I don’t think it’s misogynistic. I think everybody there is up for it, but also cause he’s still cute.“

Meanwhile, it has been pointed out the hypocrisy of Leo’s stance being that he flys private and rents luxury yachts, that burn fuel like driving 100 cars at once. He HAS been a target of Fey’s ribbing in the past. At the Golden Globes in 2014, she introduced him saying,

“And now, like a supermodel’s vagina, let’s all give a warm welcome to Leonardo DiCaprio.”

Tina’s been doing the media rounds promoting her new film Whisky Tango Foxtrot which has been getting mixed reviews. (61% on Rotten Tomatoes) You can listen to the Stern interview below.

The post Tina Fey Says the Oscars Are “Some Real Hollywood Bullsh*t” –But Defends Leo’s Womanizing appeared first on The WOW Report.

Former supermodel Jerry Hall, 59, said ‘I do’ to 84-year-old media mogul Rupert Murdoch in London. Murdoch tweeted:

“Feel like the luckiest AND happiest man alive. No more tweets for 10 days — or ever!“

Murdoch gave Hall a $3 million, 20-carat diamond ring which despite being the mother to four of Mick Jagger’s children, Jerry has never had an engagement ring. Her bridal dress was designed by her old pal Vivienne Westwood.

The reception will include many high-profile political and celebrity figures like Sir Michael Caine, Prime Minister David Cameron, playwright Tom Stoppard, with glam wife Sabrina Guinness, comedian Eddie Izzard, artist Tracey Emin, actor Richard E. Grant, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, Live Aid founder Bob Geldof and former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman & his wife, who is Hall’s best friend.

The couple met in Australia just last August, when Jerry was touring in a production of The Graduate. Their first public outing was at the Rugby World Cup final and he proposed at Christmas. Jerry’s old friend, actress Joan Collins said that Jerry gushed:

“I’m in lurve! Rupert just proposed!“

A friend of Jerry’s said:

“He is simply dazzled by her and she doesn’t have to worry about him going off with someone else, which makes a change after Mick. Also unlike Mick, Rupert is a man who likes being married. In fact, he told her that very soon after they met and it went down well as Jerry craves security.“

They have ten children between them — he has six, Prudence, 53, James, 43, Lachlan, 44, Elisabeth, 47, Grace, 14 and Chloe, 12; she has four, Lizzy, 32, James, 30, Georgia May, 24 and Gabriel, 18.

Mick Jagger, 72, is said to be appalled when he heard that Jerry was to marry Rupert— she did not warn him of the announcement in advance. He is “absolutely staggered and horrified.” A friend of the star — who is currently in the middle of an extensive South American tour with the Stones, said:

“He has been seething because this means that Rupert Murdoch is going to become a part of his extended family, … Mick has a real problem with that.“

How come? Well, it was Murdoch’s tabloid newspaper, the Sun, which broke the news that Mick had fathered a baby by a Brazilian model, Luciana Morad and THAT affair ended his marriage to Jerry, costing him millions in a legal settlement after he was kicked out of the family home.

And of course, Murdoch is worth $12 BILLION to Mick’s $300 million. The media, after the initial half-hearted congrats have been taking jabs at the couple too – Murdoch for being old and Hall for being a gold-digger.

Peggy Drexler in an opinion piece for CNN.com, called Why Marry?, wrote,

“Murdoch’s split from his third wife, Wendi Deng, was high-profile and undoubtedly humiliating. Though Deng denied having an affair with former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, a good friend and godfather to one of Murdoch and Deng’s two children.

A marriage to Murdoch comes with enormous wealth, power and an international platform that’s far greater than Jagger’s…. if a marriage between independent individuals in pursuit of love and companionship and irrespective of need –sprinkled with a bit of entirely natural “look at me now” revenge– isn’t wholly modern, I don’t know what is.”

As I’ve said before, I hate Murdoch’s politics, but it’s hard to begrudge people’s happiness, however late in life. We should all be so lucky to be giddy in love in the third act.

To the press, they were just Mick & Jerry in their heyday

(via The Daily Mail)

The post #Hitched: Jerry Hall Marries Billionaire Mogul Rupert Murdoch (& Ex Mick Jagger Is NOT Happy About It!) appeared first on The WOW Report.

My grandmother (in the middle) and my Aunt Sheri (on the right) both called me the day after the Oscars because I never told them I was a survivor. I was too ashamed. Too afraid. And it took me a long time to even admit it to myself because I’m Catholic and I knew it was evil but I thought it was my fault. I thought it was my fault for ten years. The morning after the Oscars when I talked to my grandmother Ronnie, with tears in her eyes I could hear them welling through the phone she said to me “My darling granddaughter, I’ve never been more proud of you than I am today.” Something I have kept a secret for so long that I was more ashamed of than anything– became the thing the women in my life were the most proud of. And not just any women, the ones I look up to the most. #BeBrave #speakup #tilithappenstoyou

A photo posted by Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) on Mar 1, 2016 at 5:04pm PST

Lady Gaga went public with her story of being raped in 2014 but apparently not everyone in her family heard about it. She just revealed that her grandmother and aunt didn’t know she was a survivor until Oscar performance. Gaga wrote in the caption of a family photo she posted on Instagram,

“My grandmother (in the middle) and my Aunt Sheri (on the right) both called me the day after the Oscars because I never told them I was a survivor.”

At the Academy Awards on Sunday night, Gaga performed Til It Happens to You, the Oscar-nominated song, co-written with Diane Warren for The Hunting Ground, a documentary about rape and assault on college campuses. Vice President Joe Biden introduced her performance, and she was joined onstage by other survivors.

Gaga explained in her post that she was “too ashamed. In 2014, she told Howard Stern that an older man took advantage of her and she never confronted him. She wrote in her Instagram post,

“I thought it was my fault for ten yearsThe morning after the Oscars when I talked to my grandmother Ronnie, with tears in her eyes I could hear them welling through the phone she said to me ‘My darling granddaughter, I’ve never been more proud of you than I am today.‘”

Terrible to go through such a thing but coming out about it so publicly must have helped SO many people. Brava Gaga!

Talk about good company when you want the world to listen. THANK YOU JOE BIDEN and family you are a true leader. The kind we need.

A photo posted by Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) on Feb 29, 2016 at 2:56pm PST

Tears and hugs, matching tattoos and pictures, storytelling and encouragement. These survivors represented for others all over the world and I was so honored to be up there with them. 50+me= 51 #tilithappenstoyou

A photo posted by Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) on Feb 29, 2016 at 4:19pm PST

51 🤘surviving and thriving

A photo posted by Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) on Feb 29, 2016 at 4:22pm PST

(via CNN)

The post Lady Gaga’s Family Found Out About Her Rape Watching the Oscars appeared first on The WOW Report.

In an except from a wide-ranging interview in Out, comedian Kathy Griffin lays into Caitlyn Jenner,

“Let me just cut to the chase: Of course I support Caitlyn and her journey, but as someone who’s worked in the LGBTQ community for many decades, most of the people that I know who are transitioning, or dealing with transition, are not like multi-millionaires who have full-time hair and make up squads and Versace bags. So what’s humorous about the series, and the reason that, thank God, I can make fun of her –because I make fun of everybody– is because, as we’re watching a show that’s supposed to be an important statement about people who transition, she’s really kind of an airhead.

She is a little clueless, yeah. And that is the part that is funny, because they bring in all these experts, like Professor Jenny Boylan, who’s a professor at Columbia University, so smart, and who’s really walked the walk — she decided to stay married to a woman. She’s just very knowledgeable. There’s one scene in I Am Cait where Jenny Boylan says to Cailtyn

‘I feel like I’m losing brain cells just talking to you.‘”

See the next post about Caitlyn backing Ted Cruz, and you’ll agree with Kathy even more. And check out the rest of the interview with Kathy here. (via Out)

The post #LGBTQ: Kathy Griffin on Caitlyn Jenner, “She’s Kind of an Airhead” appeared first on The WOW Report.

On the GOP side, this election cycle has been nothing if not undignified, childish and gross. A perfect illustration of that happened during the eleventh Republican debate. There was LOTS of name-calling, mindless anger, uninformed talking points, and accusations flying around like pooping pigeons in the park but the perfect metaphor was as plain as that “thing” ON one candidates face. It sure looks like…

Senator Ted Cruz ate a booger LIVE on national television.

Watch.

The post #GOPDebate: Ted Cruz Ate a Booger on Live TV! appeared first on The WOW Report.

Alaska
Norman Korpi
Tyler, The Creator, 23
Beanie Sigel, 40
Shaquille O’Neal, 42
Amy Pietz, 45
Moira Kelly, 46
Connie Britton, 47
Madonna Wayne Gacy, 50
D.L. Hughley, 51
Tom Arnold, 55
Alberta Watson, 59
Jacklyn Zeman, 61
Anna Maria Horsford, 66
Stephen Schwartz, 66
Rob Reiner, 67
Kiki Dee, 67
Mary Wilson, 70
Gabriel García Márquez, 87

The post March 6: It’s YOUR Birthday, Bitch! appeared first on The WOW Report.

Photo by Scott Gries

March 6, 1947– Rob Reiner:

“Everybody talks about wanting to change things and help and fix, but ultimately all you can do is fix yourself. And that’s a lot. Because if you can fix yourself, it has a ripple effect.”

On a Seattle summer day in 1992, I survived my fifth callback for the role of Jay in a new film titled Sleepless In Seattle. I began to have that feeling that I always fought hard against in my acting days: I wanted this role. I wanted it something terrible. I could taste it. I visualized my name as the credits rolled. By this final callback, I was dizzy with the possibility. Jay was a small, yet showy role, well-written and very funny. I had been able to keep Writer/Director Nora Ephron, the casting director, and assorted producers laughing with each read.

Leaving callback number five, I found myself passing multi-hyphenate Rob Reiner in a hallway at the production office. After I tossed an “I love your work” to Reiner, I thought to myself:

“I really admire Rob Reiner. I wonder what his connection is with Sleepless? Hmmm… he would be so cool to chat with. Maybe he will notice me as Jay & use me in one of his projects!”

When I returned home, my agent had already called to let me know that Ephron and Co. thought I was “splendidly funny and waggish” and they wished to thank me for sticking through all the auditions, but they had decided to go with Reiner as Jay in Sleepless In Seattle.

Ephron is my one of my top writing inspirations, but I didn’t much care for Sleepless In Seattle when I finally got around to seeing it years later on VHS, watched on a boat floating on Lake Union not far from the film’s actual location. My reaction to the the film had little to do with my not being cast (how was I supposed to compete against Rob Reiner?), but I found it rather treacley and twee, plus I felt that the filmmakers got Seattle all wrong.  Everyone else in the world seems to loves it. Maybe I should watch it again.

Reiner is easily admirable. He created an iconic TV character, Michael “Meathead” Stivic, son-in-law of Archie and Edith Bunker, on All In The Family (1971-79). He won 2 Emmy Awards for the role.

His list of films as a director and/or writer: This Is Spinal Tap (1984), The Sure Thing (1985), Stand By Me (1986), When Harry Met Sally (1989), A Few Good Men (1992). A really nice run of hits that also includes a favorite at this house, The Princess Bride (1987), and just  a few nights ago, I caught Misery (1990) on TCM & I  was surprised at how well this Stephen King adaptation held together as a thriller, funny and suspenseful, with an Oscar winning performance for its leading lady.

Reiner’s newest film, Being Charlie (2015), a thinly disguised story of Reiner and his wife’s struggle with their son Nick’s addiction to heroin and his years of rotating in and out of rehab facilities. Directed by Reiner and written by his son and fellow addict Matt Elisofon, Being Charlie features Cary Elwes, reuniting with his Princess Bride director, as a successful screen actor with political ambitions. Charlie, his son, is a privileged child who has lost himself to a life of drugs. The film is making the rounds at the world’s film festivals now.

My acting nemesis Reiner was one of the founders of the American Foundation For Equal Rights, which formed to challenge California’s Proposition 8 in the courts. Four years ago, Reiner presented the star-studded West Coast premiere of “8”, a play by Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black about the 2010 federal court fight against Proposition 8, the gay-marriage ban that California voters approved in 2008. The piece starred Martin Sheen, my boo George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Jane Lynch, Kevin Bacon, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christine Lahti,  gay hero George Takei, John C. Reilly, Chris Colfer, Matthew Morrison and Jesse Tyler Ferguson. It raised more than $2 million for Marriage Equality.

Reiner had a cameo in The Wolf Of Wall Street (2013) along with two other prominent directors in acting roles: Spike Jonze and Jon Favreau.

Quite a guy, Reiner, and did I mention that he has famous parents? He is one cuddly Daddy Bear of a Left Coast Liberal Elitist.

“I was raised in a political family. Civil rights issues were talked about around my kitchen table. People say, ‘Do you remember where you were when President Kennedy died?’ Well, I remember where I was when Medgar Evers died. This was something I was raised in. Gay rights is an extension of the civil rights movement. There are basic civil rights denied to people.”

The post #BornThisDay: Actor/Director, Rob Reiner appeared first on The WOW Report.

These days everyone is a designer and critic too, for that matter. We are all entitled to our opinion, but the reaction to The Metropolitan Museum‘s new logo has been CRAZY-negative. New York magazine’s headline for a story on the controversy was,

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s New Logo Is a Typographic Bus Crash

Among the MANY other critics in and out of the design world, illustrator and designer Steve Cup summed it up on Twitter,

“The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new logo is basically the Human Centipede of branding.“

It’s hard to come up with worse than that. By way of explanation, The Met said in a statement;

“The new logo no longer relies on symbols and, instead, is based on the commonly used name ‘The Met, which has an immediacy that speaks to all audiences. It is an original drawing, a hybrid that combines and connects serif and sans serif, classical and modern letterforms. In this respect, it reflects the scope of the Museum’s collection and the connections that exist within it. There may be debate about the logo because it involves change, but the museum chose it because it represents something simple, bold, and indisputable: The Met is here for everyone.“

London’s Wolff Olins designed the new logo. In the 90s it helped a disparate constellation of British museums — Tate Britain, Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool, and Tate St. Ives — develop a unifying identity, with the name in blurred letters as if spray-painted with a nearly empty can. This process was observed closely, by the head of its modern and contemporary art, Sheena Wagstaff, who spent more than a decade as chief curator at Tate Modern. But Wolff Olins’s strategy director Amy Lee told The Wall Street Journal that the company was not afraid of creating,

“work that people feel strongly about” and that “the project is about far more than just a logo—it is about expanding the reach and relevance of the Met.”

So much else has been said but I’ll add my 2 cents. I’ve designed many logos myself and I once taught logo design at The New School, even though I was self-taught. I like this design personally. These days you need an insignia that goes across all media, online, in print and in person and this accomplishes all those goals and even if you disagree, EVERYONE is talking about it. Instant success in today’s world. If it had been your run-of-the-mill rebranding it would have gone virtually unnoticed.

The Met is in a physically expansive period, as well. Art critic Roberta Smith said in The New York Times,

“After a year and a half of anticipation, the revered Metropolitan Museum of Art has finally taken over the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Marcel Breuer building on Madison Avenue, promising to broaden and deepen its involvement with modern and contemporary art. Rebranded as the Met Breuer — with the subtlest sprucing up by architects Beyer Blinder Belle — this move is the first step of a plan that will include a $600 million new wing in the Met’s Fifth Avenue building as well.

For those who wondered if the Met would challenge the Museum of Modern Art or the downtown Whitney, the two opening shows at the Met Breuer feel more like a toe in the water of contemporary art than the expected plunge.“

Not a pan but not a resounding, “Yes!” either. She went on to say,

“The question of exactly what the Met is doing in the Breuer building is not yet clearly answered. The museum is on solid ground with its Mohamedi survey and also when bringing older art to life, sometimes with less old art, as in the early parts of “Unfinished.” But around contemporary art, its learning curve seems steeper than expected.”

The Met only has an eight year lease on the space as The Whitney accepted a large donation for their new downtown location with the stipulation that they NEVER sell the Breuer building. So, they may take it back at some point or continue to lease it to the best museum in the world. Either way, it’s a win-win for New Yorkers, especially artists like me.

The post The Metropolitan Museum’s New Logo & the New “Met Breuer” Disappoint appeared first on The WOW Report.

The crowd at the Art on Paper fair

As an artist, perhaps I look at art fairs differently than non-artists, art dealers and critics, I think. The last several days have seen multiple fairs in New York City during what is know as Armory week. The Armory Show is the main fair with its sister fair Volta, but there’s also Art on Paper, Scope, Pulse, Spring Break and others. To amuse myself I often take a spin through the first fair and see a recurring theme, medium artist or idea to focus on. Here is my VERY loose theme of are my rainbow inspired work. The human eye uses the full spectrum of colors (left) to see the world so you could argue that ALL art is a rainbow, but look through these and you’ll get my drift. In any event, we’re not in Kansas…

THE ARMORY SHOW

VOLTA

SCOPE

SPRING BREAK

The post #ArmoryWeek: Over the Rainbow at Scope, Volta & Spring Break appeared first on The WOW Report.

Maybe it’s not appropriate to say this now. Maybe it’s bad timing, since Nancy Reagan has just passed. But hey, sometimes timing is everything –especially when you’re dying. Yes, as the headline says, First Lady Nancy Reagan turned down Rock Hudson’s plea for help nine weeks before he died. Hudson was desperately trying to get treatment for AIDS in France in 1985. After a simple plea came in for White House help to get Hudson transferred to another hospital.

You can read the full story here on BuzzFeed. Hudson was critically ill at the time. From the story;

Three days after Hudson’s collapse, he still lacked permission to go to the French hospital or to have Dormant see him in the American Hospital. His team’s initial attempts on the ground in Paris were not working.

In a desperate telegram sent at 12:22 p.m. ET on July 24, 1985, Olson made his case directly to the White House in a message addressed to Mark Weinberg — a special assistant to the president and deputy press secretary in the White House.

“Doctor Dominique Dormant specialist treating Rock Hudson in Paris, reports only one hospital in the world can offer necessary medical treatment to save life of Rock Hudson or at least alleviate his illness. This hospital is Ministere du la Defence Centre d’Researches du Service de Sante des Armees Percy Hospital in the city of Clamart,” the telegram read, with Olson going on to give the phone number to the hospital.

“Commanding general of Percy Hospital has turned down Rock Hudson as a patient because he is not French. Doctor Dormant in Paris believes a request from the White House or a high American official would change his mind. Can you help by having someone call the commanding general’s office at the Percy Hospital at the above number,” the telegram stated.

“Please advise what can be done.”

The White House logged its receipt of the telegram at 2:07 p.m. on July 24, 1985, a copy of the telegram in the archives of the Reagan administration stored at the Reagan Library shows.

After Weinberg received the telegram, he spoke with the first lady.

“I knew the Reagans knew Rock Hudson, obviously from their years in Hollywood, and for that reason I decided to call her,” Weinberg told BuzzFeed News in a recent interview about the 1985 request.

Would the White House intervene on Hudson’s behalf? That was what the publicist was asking for — help getting the actor, lying in the hospital in a dire condition, transferred from hospital to hospital.

Weinberg recommended to Nancy Reagan that the White House refer the matter to the U.S. Embassy in France, because, as he told BuzzFeed News, “This is probably not the [last] time we’re going to get a request like this and we want to be fair and not do anything that would appear to favor personal friends.”

“The Reagans were very conscious of not making exceptions for people just because they were friends of theirs or celebrities or things of that kind. That wasn’t — they weren’t about that. They were about treating everybody the same.”

“The view was, ‘Well, we’re so sorry’ — and she was, they were both very sorry for Rock’s condition and felt for him and all the people — but it just wasn’t something that the White House felt that they could do something different for him than they would do for anybody else,” Weinberg said.

For me, this is her legacy –one than she can never live down. Say hi to Rock, Nancy.

(via BuzzFeed)

The post Dying of AIDS, Rock Hudson Turned To Nancy Reagan For Help… appeared first on The WOW Report.

A pop-up exhibit featuring works of the late Robert Mapplethorpe is presented on a scale worthy of his impact on art. In the 90s, Senator Jesse Helms gave Mapplethorpe a platform and power by denouncing his photographs saying,

“Look at the pictures.”

More than 25 years later, directors Fenton Bailey & Randy Barbato along with HBO Documentary Films present Mapplehorpe: Look at the Pictures, an unflinching, unprecedented look at the artist, the man and his most provocative work.

The J. Paul Getty Museum and The Los Angeles County Museum of Art are preparing to open landmark Mapplethorpe retrospectives (both this month) and, the film goes inside the preparation for the exhibitions, as a jumping-off point to tell the complete story of his life and work. It explores the interplay between his personal and professional lives.

With complete and unprecedented access to The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, the documentary draws upon archival materials and features never-before-seen photographs and footage. Mapplethorpe himself is a strong presence, telling his story in his own words with complete honesty and often shocking candor through rediscovered audio interviews.

Many people have had plenty of things to say about Mapplethorpe over the years, and the film has great interviews, but more importantly, we as viewers get the opportunity to hear Robert speak for himself.

Mapplethorpe: Look At The Pictures Pop-Up Exhibit is in Miami now at 300 NE 2nd Ave. In New York‘s Flatiron District by Madison Square Park, March 18 & 19 and in San Francisco at PROXY in the Hayes neighborhood and March 25 & 29. Mapplehorpe: Look at the Pictures premieres April 4, on HBO at 9PM.

The post #LookAtThePictures: A Traveling Mapplethorpe Pop-Up Exhibit Hits Miami, New York & San Francisco appeared first on The WOW Report.

Oscar-winner Sam Smith and Adam Lambert just got caught getting cozy at No. 8 in New York City. (Here’s a weird connection. The last time I was at No. 8 two weeks ago, I was at a party for Alex Newell‘s new record POWER and he is touring with Adam very soon. Not all that weird, I know…)

Anyway, the photo was originally posted by DJ Dawson but Lambert reposted cropping DJ out. Sam didn’t repost because, well, he’s taking a break from social media after getting busted for saying he “might be” the first openly gay man to win an Oscar last week.

So, what’s the story here? This looks more than a friend selfie hug to me? What do you think? Just gay buds? Dating? One night stand? (I say they fooled around that night.) Tell us what you think on Facebook.

Booth moments with @AdamLambert & @SamSmithworld last night at @no8ny. Thanks for coming thru boys. #djlife #DJDawson #samsmith #adamlambert @_8nyc

A photo posted by DJ Dawson (@djdawsonnyc) on Mar 4, 2016 at 6:33pm PST

@samsmithworld camera shy

A photo posted by ADAMLAMBERT (@adamlambert) on Mar 4, 2016 at 7:38pm PST

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A faux campaign video for Donald Trump aired on SNL NAILED the subtext of his meteoric rise in the GOP. The candidate has tossed out Black Lives Matter protesters, been slow to deny KKK support and suggested barring Muslims from entering the U.S.. The New York Times found in an exit poll, only 69 percent of Trump’s supporters disagreed with the sentiment of white supremacy, and just 20 percent of them disagreed with the Emancipation Proclamation which ended slavery in 1863. Even if Donald Trump isn’t racist himself, a good percentage of flock sure is. Watch.

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Laura Prepon, 34
Jenna Fischer, 40
Peter Sarsgaard, 43
Matthew Vaughn, 43
Rachel Weisz, 44
Cameron Daddo, 49
Bret Easton Ellis, 50
Wanda Sykes, 50
Taylor Dayne, 52
Donna Murphy, 55
Bryan Cranston, 58
Iris Chacón, 64
John Heard, 69
Michael Eisner, 72

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March 7, 1942– Tamara Faye LaValley Bakker Messner:

“Don’t Give Up When You’re On The Brink Of A Miracle.”

Sometime in the early 1980s, my boyfriend (now The Husband) called me to the television set to catch The Jim & Tammy Show with the demented hosts, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. We laughed and cried until our mascara was running down our cheeks and on to our white summer clothing. In that moment, I would not have believed 25 years later, I would actually shed a real tear when it was announced that Tammy Faye had taken her final bow and had gone to be with Jesus.

When she was 6 years old, Tammy Faye found Jesus. When she was 16 years old she found makeup, and she stayed with both of them through her 65 years in this incarnation. She and first husband Jim Bakker began as traveling evangelists, parlayed a puppet show into television stardom, created three TV networks, were the first Christian broadcasters with their own satellite, and they built the theme park Heritage USA near Charlotte, North Carolina while Reverend Jim was busy defrauding his viewers of millions of dollars.

I must confess to watching them, not because I was saved, but because I was mesmerized. They were like Howdy Doody and Betty Boop come alive. Tammy Faye cried on nearly every show and sang with the power of Brenda Lee. When she would sing her famous version of We’re Blest, I would sing along with her.

When Tammy Faye sadly took her final bow in summer 2007, the outspoken, diminutive, fake eyelash wearing, emotive evangelist had gone from ridiculous Christian TV host to vilified woman to the highest honor a human can hold: Gay Icon.

Tammy Faye really is a Gay Icon, indeed, because of her fabulousness and her honesty. She is celebrated today for her perseverance. She fell from grace and lost her fortune when her first husband was found cheating on her and swindling their Christian followers out of $160 million. Tammy Faye talked plainly about her pain in interviews and she stood by her man after his conviction. Three years later, she divorced Bakker, who was serving a 45 year prison sentence.

In 1993, she married Roe Messner (after he had divorced his own wife), a wealthy contractor and former business associate of Bakker. Bakker’s sentence was eventually reduced, and he was paroled in 1994. In 1996, Messner was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for bankruptcy fraud. How Nicky Arnstein is that?

Tammy Faye is a Gay Icon because she refused to change her unique style of runny mascara and garish jewelry to suit her Christian TV watching critics. Tammy Faye:

 “Without my eyelashes, I wouldn’t be Tammy Faye. I don’t know who I would be.”

She had long refused to denounce homosexuals on the PTL Network broadcasts. Instead, she had urged understanding and sympathy for those suffering from HIV/AIDS.

When the Bakkers were living the good Christian life, they enjoyed two lavish homes and matching Rolls Royces, plus an air-conditioned dog house.

Tammy Faye’s travails with drugs and depression made her a target of tabloid talk. In the era when I discovered her, when she became a major Camp figure making her the subject of many a drag queens’ creations, she had embraced her gays. She began attending Gay Pride events, and in 1996, she became the co-host of a nutty syndicated television talk show with openly gay actor, Jm J. Bullock.

Tammy Faye:

“I refuse to label people. We’re all just people made out of the same old dirt, and God didn’t make any junk.”

That same year, Tammy Faye was diagnosed with that damn cancer. She was told in 2004 that it had spread from her colon to her lungs. She was open and funny about her illness on television. In her memoir, I Will Survive And You Will Too! (2003), she wrote:

“I want my funeral to be a real happy time. I want everybody laughing & remembering how crazy I was.”

The Eyes Of Tammy Faye (2000) is a terrific documentary film directed by my friends Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato of World Of Wonder Productions. A decade and a half later, it remains a cult classic. The film is smartly narrated by the most famous and fabulous Drag Queen of all time, our very own RuPaul.

The documentary reveals that she was a bundle of nerves in those days, as her husband became more and more obsessed with Heritage USA fund-raising and mooning over Jessica Hahn and their single night of love. Barbato and Bailey expertly use video snippets like the one when Rev. Jim Bakker says: “Now Tammy’s going to sing for us”, and Tammy Faye, high on pills, is seen wandering aimlessly around backstage, holding a prop and stating: “I’m looking at this boat”. Yet, I have to say, Tammy Faye had real show biz chemistry and a natural presence on camera. RuPaul tells about how she’d do three shows in a row, entirely ad-libbed, completely comfortable without a script.

In one amazing scene, Tammy Faye gives a tour of all the assorted contents of her makeup kit. About one item she quips: “I don’t know what this is!”

In another scene, she walks through what is left of Heritage USA, which had been boarded up for a decade and laughs: “I’d love to give this place a good coat of paint…”

She lived more of her life on live television than perhaps anyone else in history. The Eyes Of Tammy Faye is an example of fine documentary film-making, and it really shows her heart and her generosity of spirit. It makes it really difficult not to totally fall in love with Tammy Faye. You can currently find it on HULU.

I like to think how powerful and loving her voice would be now and how entertaining she would have been if she had made it to this age of Social Media. Can you just imagine Tammy Faye Tweets?

Days before Tammy Faye’s passing in summer 2007, appearing on Larry King Live , weighing 68 pounds and ravaged by that fucking cancer, yet still made up in true Tammy Faye fabulousness, speaking barely above a whisper, she reached out with:

“You know, when we lost everything, it was the gay people that came to my rescue, and I will always love them for that.”

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As you may or may not know, my boyfriend (in my head) Zac Efron is currently filming scenes for the upcoming Baywatch movie (co-starring The Rock) and the whole thing is basically a gift to all of us from the heavens. Someone captured these photos of Zac on set and I’m warning you… you’ll probably lose focus after taking a look but it’s completely worth it. (Pro-tip: those arm veins, tho…)

(Images courtesy Pacific Coast News)

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AND it’s my big cable television debut! Get your first look at the very first challenge of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 8 with all of the past crowned queens!

For the first challenge on tonight’s episode, the queens must stand out in a photo with all of the past winners of RuPaul’s Drag Race shot by the incomparable Mathu Andersen.

Since Bianca Del Rio couldn’t be there due to a scheduling conflict, Ru chose the next best thing… a rent-a-clown. But where to find a clown on such short notice?! Luckily, they couldn’t find one so they asked this clown! It was triple-top-secret and short notice. I had to shave my beard and once I was all done up in clown drag some of the past winners didn’t even realize it was me! Just as we were about to begin filming, the power in Hollywood went out! There we all were, painted for filth and no way to film, so we sat outside in circle and kiki’d until the power was restored. I haven’t shaved since! James St. James thinks it’s one of my best looks ever!

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