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Why Did Leo DiCaprio Surrender a $3 Million Picasso, a $10 Million Basquiat (+Brando’s Oscar!) to the Feds!?

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DiCaprio strolled around NYC’s East Village on Wednesday June, 14 with buddies,
Orlando Bloom, Tobey Maguire and friends

Brando with his Oscar, that Leo had for a while.
He gave it back but it’s OK, he’s got his own

The production company, Red Granite, has found themselves the target of a government investigation for their alleged involvement in a money-laundering scheme that the Department of Justice says are traceable to foreign corruption.

Leonardo DiCaprio was given the Marlon Brando‘s Oscar by Red Granite, who helped finance The Wolf of Wall Street. The U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section put out a new government filing in order to seize rights to films and recover a bevy of items allegedly obtained with the illegal finances, Deadline reported.

To assist the investigation, DiCaprio contacted the D.O.J. to return items that may have been tied to the investigation — including Brando’s Oscar, a Picasso painting, purchased for $3.28 million for DiCaprio, a $750,000 Diane Arbus photograph, and a Jean-Michel Basquait collage worth nearly $10 million.

DiCario’s rep said in a statement,

Last July, upon hearing of the government’s civil action against certain parties involved in the making of ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’, Mr. DiCaprio’s representatives – working under his instruction – initiated contact with the Department of Justice. This effort was to determine if there were any gifts or charitable donations originating from the parties named in the civil complaint, and to offer the return of any such gifts or donations with the aid and instruction of the government.

Prior to the government’s filing of the civil pleading today, Mr. DiCaprio initiated return of these items, which were received and accepted by him for the purpose of being included in an annual charity auction to benefit his eponymous foundation. He has also returned an Oscar originally won by Marlon Brando, which was given to Mr. DiCaprio as a set gift by Red Granite to thank him for his work on The ‘Wolf Of Wall Street’.

Mr. DiCaprio is grateful for the support of the government in this effort, and continues to hope that justice is done in this matter.”

Variety reports that Red Granite is accused of drawing upwards of $4.5 billion from a fund called 1Malaysia Development Bhd, which was started in 2009 by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak as a state-run entity.

The production company was said to put up $100 million for The Wolf of Wall Street, as well as donate to DiCaprio’s charity foundation and pay for an expensive gambling night with the actor in Las Vegas.

Red Granite remains in operation, and claims that it did not knowingly receive stolen funds.

DiCaprio currently has no plans to turn over the money he got for The Wolf of Wall Street.

Basquiat’s “Redman”

Picasso’s “Nature Morte au Crane de Taureau”

(Top photo, Pacific Coast News; via People)

The post Why Did Leo DiCaprio Surrender a $3 Million Picasso, a $10 Million Basquiat (+Brando’s Oscar!) to the Feds!? appeared first on The WOW Report.


#Breaking: Judge Declares Mistrial in Bill Cosby Criminal Case

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After 52 hours of deliberation Bill Cosby‘s trial, the judge declared a mistrial after the jury failed to reach a verdict in the case.

The jurors — five women and seven men — were unable to come to a unanimous decision in a courtroom battle closely watched by the public as well as dozens of women who have accused Cosby of similar misconduct in the past. Cosby faced three charges of aggravated indecent assault.

Prosecutors announced they will retry the case.

As the 79-year comedian exited the courthouse on Friday, he talked to the cameras and crowds outside.

I just want to wish all of the fathers a Happy Father’s Day and I want to thank all of the jury for their long days, their honest work individually. I also want to thank the supporters who’ve been here and please to the supporters… thank you all. Thank you.

He had his day in court but it doesn’t seem much like justice right now.

(Photo, PCN; via CNN)

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#LGBTQ: Teacher of the Year Poses with a Lace Fan, Rainbow Pin &“The Person Behind the Desk”

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Rhode Island’s 2017 teacher of the year went viral this week after he shared a real photo (not Photoshopped) from his meeting with Trump in the Oval Office. Nikos Giannopoulos holds a black lace fan and wearing a rainbow LGBTQ pin standing beside the president and the first lady.

“Rhode Island Teacher of the Year 2017 meets the 45th President of the United States.”

That’s all the photo’s caption read alongside multiple rainbow emojis.

It was a great honor to be received in the Oval Office, and it really meant a lot to me that I was able to express myself authentically and represent for my community

For my trip to the White House, I wore a rainbow pin to represent my gratitude for the LGBTQ community that has taught me to be proud, bold, and empowered by my identity – even when circumstances make that difficult. I wore a blue jacket with a bold print and carried a black lace fan to celebrate the joy and freedom of gender nonconformity.

When I think back to my time in the White House, I will not remember the person seated at the desk.“

Instead, the teacher said he will remember other teachers who have stood up to

structural barriers of race, gender, socioeconomic status, home language, immigration status, sexual orientation, and much more.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who met Giannopoulos during his visit, has not committed to banning discrimination against LGBTQ students in private school, despite saying schools that receive federal funding should follow the law during a Senate hearing in June.

Trump has yet to acknowledge June as LGBTQ Pride month. (Photo, Facebook; via The Hill)

The post #LGBTQ: Teacher of the Year Poses with a Lace Fan, Rainbow Pin & “The Person Behind the Desk” appeared first on The WOW Report.

Watch Now: Damiana’s Interviews with the “Drag Race” Season 9 Queens at the Grand Finale

June 18th: It’s YOUR Birthday, Bitch!

#BornThisDay: Paul McCartney

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paul 2

Photograph by Mary McCartney

 

June 18, 1942– James Paul McCartney:

“And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

My first album, not from my parental unit’s collection of Broadway Original Cast LPs, purchased for myself with my own money I had earned from mowing lawns, was Meet The Beatles (1964). My first live concert was The Beatles in Seattle, summer 1966, making my parents drive 300 miles so that I could hear them do 11 songs, but not being able to hear the lyrics over the screaming. Beginning at 10-years-old and lasting into my 60s, I have had a major case of Beatlemania. 53 years ago, The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and 73 million American television viewers tuned in, including me. The band and their brand had a significant impact on me, and on our American culture and our public life. The Beatles served as the ideal transition between the structured, staid 1950s and the free floating counterculture of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

None of us wanted to be the bass player. It wasn’t the number-one job, we wanted to be up front. In our minds, it was the fat guy in the group who nearly always played the bass, and he stood at the back. None of us wanted that; we wanted to be up front singing, looking good, to pull the birds.”

The Beatles brought a message of love with their tuneful songs, they were songs about the excitement and disillusionment of relationships. The band sported hairstyles that drove our parents nutty. The Beatles brought a much needed cultural jolt to our lives. Their songs, style and sensibility liberalized American culture. They celebrated free expression and artistic creativity. As President William Jefferson Clinton perfectly stated:

“If you think the 60s were a bad time, you’re probably a Republican; if you think the 60s were a good time, you’re probably a Democrat.”

The Beatles helped Americans deal with the struggles, sadness and sorrow surrounding the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, taken just three months before the band appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. Young people had one icon lost and then we found new icons that they we could easily identify with in The Beatles. Their presence and their music left people my age feeling free-spirited, rebellious, and emotionally charged.

1960, Photographer unknown

 

McCartney, who turns an astonishing 75-years-old today, was the  “Cute Beatle”. John Lennon was the smart one, George Harrison the shy one, and Ringo Starr was the clown. Only in their early 20s, The Beatles had decided on a contract that gave all songs the credit: “Music and Lyrics by Lennon/McCartney”, although most songs were written by individuals in the band. McCartney penned Yesterday, a song referenced by Hillary Clinton when she did a kick-off event of her campaign two years ago in Brooklyn. McCartney performed that tune alone at a recording studio on June 14, 1965  and it was released later that year on a record, a kind of technology from the last century where music was recorded in analog on flat vinyl disks, I know, it sounds zany. Yesterday is the most recorded song in history with more than 2222 cover versions.

The melody for Yesterday came to McCartney in a dream:

“I woke up with a lovely tune in my head. I thought, ‘That’s great, I wonder what that is?’ There was an upright piano next to me, to the right of the bed by the window. I got out of bed, sat at the piano, found G, found F sharp minor 7th – and that leads you through then to B to E minor, and finally back to E. It all leads forward logically.

I liked the melody a lot but because I’d dreamed it I couldn’t believe I’d written it. I thought, ‘No, I’ve never written like this before.’ But I had the tune, which was the most magical thing.”

Producer George Martin begged that Yesterday be credited to McCartney alone, an idea that was shot down by The Beatles gay manager Brian Epstein. Epstein said:

“No, whatever we do we are not splitting up The Beatles.”

Five years later, the band did split up.

In 2000, McCartney asked Yoko Ono if she could change the credit to read McCartney–Lennon in The Beatles Anthology. She said no.

Not wanting to lose the song, McCartney wrote dummy lyrics about scrambled eggs: “Scrambled eggs, oh, my baby, how I love your legs…

Scrambled Eggs became a running joke between The Beatles before it was recorded. Lennon:

“Every time we got together to write songs or for a recording session, this would come up. It became a joke between us. We almost had it finished when we made up our minds that only a one word title would suit and, believe me, we just couldn’t find the right one. Then, one morning, Paul woke up, and the song and the title were both there. Completed! I know it sound like a fairy tale, but it is the plain truth. I was sorry, in a way, because we had so many laughs about it.”

It took some convincing for McCartney to add strings to the simple master track of him singing Yesterday while playing acoustic guitar. It was Martin’s idea to use a string quartet on the record, and it made music history.

His composition, Hey Jude, was number one on the US charts for nine weeks, longer than any other Beatles single. It is also the longest single, at seven minutes and eleven seconds, to reach number one. Hey Jude is the bestselling Beatles single, with sales of over six million.

McCartney originally wrote a rough version of the song, called Hey Jules, to try and cheer up Lennon’s then five-year old son, Julian, during his parents’ divorce. McCartney:

“I was going out in my car, just vaguely singing this song, and it was like, ‘Hey, Jules…’ And then I just thought a better name was Jude. A bit more country and western for me. The song’s intro was a hopeful message for Julian: ‘Come on, man, your parents got divorced. I know you’re not happy, but you’ll be okay’.”

McCartney composed Hey Jude at a tumultuous time in his own life as well. The song was written while the band was doing studio sessions for the White Album, when the band members were not getting along at all. It was also the time that he was breaking up with his girlfriend, actor Jane Asher.

Lennon thought the song was written to him as a blessing on his relationship with his new girlfriend Ono. Lennon: 

“I always heard it as a song to me. Yoko’s just come into the picture. He’s saying, ‘Hey, Jude… hey, John’. Subconsciously he was saying, ‘Go ahead, leave me’.”

The final Hey Jude is credited to Lennon/McCartney. Lennon made a few contributions, including the line: “The movement you need is on your shoulder,” which was originally a placeholder waiting for a better lyric.

When The Beatles imploded, McCartney went solo and he eventually formed another band, Wings (in a sad, strange footnote, Henry McCullough, the Wings’ guitarist left this world a year ago today). He clashed again with Ono, but he fell in love with and married a pretty, talented photographer, Linda Eastman, who he lost to that damn cancer in 1998. He became a vegetarian. He fathered five talented, good-looking children, including musician James, artists Mary and Heather, and innovative fashion designer Stella McCartney, perhaps you have heard of her.

1970, Photograph by Linda McCartney

 

Despite a series of rumors that today would have been Tweeted, memed and posted on The Facebook in an instant, McCartney did not die in 1966. Despite all the clues, Paul Is Not Dead (but, he did endure that dreadful divorce from Heather Mills, which may have made him wish he were dead). But, instead, McCartney released a live album Paul Is Live (1993) and released more than 30 more solo albums, that is not even counting the ones released by Wings or his first band.

McCartney is a two time inductee to the Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Fame, a winner of 24 Grammy Awards, The Gershwin Prize, a Kennedy Center Honor and an Academy Award. He has written 32 number one hit songs and he has collaborated with Michael JacksonStevie WonderElvis Costello, Sir Elton John, and Kanye West.

McCartney is rightfully considered the most successful songwriter in history…and the wealthiest. McCartney’s vast fortune is said to be more than $1.5 billion. When he divorced Mills, her eventual settlement was for $36 million, which she spent within two years.

He is one the Rock era’s greatest vocalists, known for his belting power, versatility, with range spanning over four octaves.

As much as I loved him 50 years ago, I am not certain I would have predicted that the “Cute Beatle” would go on to be one of the world’s most famous and successful figures, or that he would tirelessly take on the issues: Animal Rights, Land Mines, Vegetarianism, Poverty, and Music Education, and that he would still be out on tour in summer 2017. Maybe I’m Amazed!

McCartney’s current One On One tour is traveling across North America with a new set, dozens of classics from the most beloved catalog in popular music, spanning his entire career as a solo artist, member of Wings and of course as a member of that other band.

Last year, McCartney released Pure McCartney with songs from throughout his solo career and his work with Wings. The 4-CD version has 67 tracks, all top 40 hits.

The day after the horrifying event in Orlando a year ago, at a concert in Germany, McCartney draped himself in a rainbow flag and wrote “We stand together with Orlando” on his Twitter page.

Photograph Paul McCartney Twitter page

 

 

The post #BornThisDay: Paul McCartney appeared first on The WOW Report.

#HappyFathersDay!: These “Bad Dads” Were Just Kidding –Right?

#LGBTQ: What If They Threw an Anti-Gay Rally in D.C. & Nobody Came…?

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After six months of planning and fund-raising, an anti-gay march in Washington D.C., had literally scores of people descend on the nation’s capital to show their opposition to same-sex marriage (now legally just called “marriage”). The total count of attendees was a whopping 47 people, including babies.

This marks fifth annual anti-LGBT march in DC. Last year’s event did a but better but still fewer than 200 people showed. (Is this just a lame fundraising scam?)

Organizer Brian Brown sent out an email blast seeking donations of up to $1,000,

The March for Marriage is an important event to keep the fight to restore marriage in the public eye. It was in 2015 when the U.S. Supreme Court issued their illegitimate, anti-constitutional ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges imposing gay ‘marriage’ on the nation and unleashing a flood of consequences for the overwhelming majority of Americans who continue to revere marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

With the election of Donald Trump, and several vacancies on the Supreme Court expected during his term, we have a real chance to reverse this ruling in the short-term,” Brown wrote. “The appointment of Justice Neil Gorsuch is a great first step. Now we likely need just one justice from the majority ruling in Obergefell to retire and we could be in a position to reverse that ruling. Rumors are flying that such a retirement could occur as early as this summer.”

But after same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide, not one heterosexual marriage was wrecked. The world didn’t stop spinning. Everyone lived happily ever after, except for these poor folks, it seems. To quote the President, that’s just

“Sad.”

(Photos, Twitter; via Opposition Report)

The post #LGBTQ: What If They Threw an Anti-Gay Rally in D.C. & Nobody Came…? appeared first on The WOW Report.


#LGBTQ: Eureka O’Hara Reveals, “I Actually Lived as Trans for a Small Period of My Life” Watch.

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At this past weekend’s Resist March in L.A. eliminated queen (due to an injury) Eureka made a personal revelation telling Logo‘s Jen Richards,that she identified as trans at one point.

I actually lived [as] trans for a small period of my life. That’s a grey area we haven’t really explained to the world yet so knowing that Peppermint was on there [Season 9] when I found out that was so amazing and inspiring. The fact that she’s lasted so long on the show no one can ever say that she’s been shortchanged because of her transition.

Eureka now she says that she identifies as

genderfluid and gender-neutral.

Watch.

(via NewNowNext)

The post #LGBTQ: Eureka O’Hara Reveals, “I Actually Lived as Trans for a Small Period of My Life” Watch. appeared first on The WOW Report.

#ArtDpt: Yiannis Tsarouchis’ “The Forgotten Guard”

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The Forgotten Guard, Diptych (1956)

Yiannis Tsarouchis (1910-1989)

It’s Greek to me. Tsarouchis was born in Pireaus in 1910. In the 1930s, he lived in Istanbul, Paris and Italy. In the 1960s, he lived and worked in Paris. He is one of Greece’s most important 20th century artists.

Even though he experimented in assorted styles, ranging from Byzantine inspired lives of the saints to pure Modernism, he was mainly influenced by ancient painting, like the murals of Pompeii. This style gave his work a monumental, timeless quality that is quintessentially Hellenic.

Even though he lived in an era when being openly gay was the ultimate taboo, his work is permeated with a hot homoeroticism that can literally take your breath away.

Tsarouchis had a lifelong love of theater and frequently worked as a set and costume designer. In exile in Paris in the 1960s, waiting out the years of military dictatorship in Greece, he designed sets for productions at Milan’s La Scala and London’s Covent Garden. After his return to Greece in the mid-1970s, he designed an acclaimed opera set for Franco Zeffirelli’s production of Cherubini’s Médée at the ancient amphitheater at Epidauros. Opera fans still talk about it to this day.

In 1982, the Yannis Tsarouchis Museum opened in a building that was his former house and studio.

He died in Athens in 1989.

A grand retrospective of his work ran at the new Benaki Museum in Athens in 2010 where his work was much celebrated. He is a sort of hero in Greece. His work is in private collections and major museums around our pretty planet.

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#LGBTQ: After Her Gay Father Became Her “Grandmanny”, This Woman Finally Understood Him

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The author’s father, Carl Collins, and baby Axel

Elizabeth Collins is a writer and comedian living in L.A. and she grew up with (out) her father who was gay. Her mother and father divorced when she was 11. Her dad knew he was gay at age 16, but as a lot of gay men used to do, he got married and had children. As she says,

I was his best friend and confidante, which could be both a privilege and a burden. Before he came out, he told me secrets like what he got my mom for Christmas; after, he told me how he felt about his boyfriend, his family’s lack of acceptance, and how some mornings he didn’t want to wake up. Once he could live openly as a gay man, his anger dissipated, but it also uncovered a well of emotions he had suppressed for years. He was like a baby, vulnerable and weak in a new world. I was honored to be the one there for him, but it changed the nature of our relationship —making me feel more like the parent and him the child.

My emotional life never had the same weight and urgency as his did. He was a gay man in a society that did not approve of his sexuality. He was navigating a new life at age 36. He was raising a teenage girl—hard enough on its own, but most gay men were not fathers.”

They had a difficult time as she was growing up. When she told her dad that she and her husband, Keith and I were trying to have a baby, he moved to L.A. the next month. She had planned to stay at home with the baby, but after she was exhausted and felt helpless she decided she couldn’t watch the baby alone. So she asked her for help.

On my father’s first day of work, he showed up early. He stood over me and said, ‘Give me that baby.’

I gladly forked him over. The air shifted. We were on new ground—level ground. There wasn’t room for me to be petty about little things. My dad let go of his defenses, the ones he created in response to me being mean to him for so many years. He stopped painting me as the self-righteous and impossible daughter, because I stopped being one.

A year later, my dad is still our grandmanny. Every morning when he walks in the door, our son, Axel, runs to greet him. They eat breakfast together, and Axel takes his morning nap nestled on my father’s chest. When he wakes, they go to the mall for a walk, and at noon, my father hands the baby back with a smile.

I know he loves the attention. Nothing gives my father more pride than being a grandfather, being good at it, and getting to do it every day.

In the first few weeks after my son was born, I could see the hardness of parenthood: how it tests you, how it could make you feel or do things you regret. I am at my best as a mother when I feel whole. My father had to fight for decades for wholeness. I never felt the need to forgive my father for being gay. But I did have to forgive him for not coming out with grace and all the growing pains that ensued. As a parent, I can now see how hard it is to do anything with grace, let alone something so monumental.”

You can read the whole story here.

Happy Grandmanny’s Day, Carl!

(Photo, Elizabeth Collins; via Slate)

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#RealEstatePorn: This Groovy 70s Pad Will Have You Disco Dancing in Your Caftan!

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Designed by architect Eduard Dreier, comprised of massive amounts of wood, stone, and glass and with views of Utah’s majestic Mount Olympus just out the window, this house puts you in that 70s vibe instantly. According to the real estate agent for the 6,200 square foot property,

It’s the late seventies now, and disco and glam are it. This is a time to entertain. It’s a time to bring people together. It’s a time for family and guests to gather in voluminous spaces. This is pre-Gehry and pre-Hadid. This is the dawn of a time when architecture became sculpture, and the starchitect was born. Ed Dreier saw, and became, the beginning of it all.

It consist of sweeping rooflines, massive glulam beams that stretch like bows from one end of the house to the other, and large fireplaces you can lean or sit on (with a cocktail in hand of course). All the details we love about Ed’s work are still here: the accordion dividers, mitered glass corners, beautiful tiles, stacked stone walls running from indoor to outdoor, and large spans of floor-to-ceiling windows.

Some –like this one– are even lucky enough to have a St. Charles kitchen. Staring up toward Mount Olympus from the dining room, in complete awe of the view, you’re reminded that you had the same feeling walking up the path to your front door. This is a stunning home, that’s been as cherished and revered as the memories made in it.“

It only has two bedrooms (but four bathrooms) but it was impeccably maintained and features a flexible layout that includes a great room distinguished by a handsome stone-wood-and-metal fireplace, on the other side of which, a couple of shallow steps us, is a formal dining area with built-in storage.

This flows into a family room, also anchored by a huge stone fireplace, and a kitchen, which features expanses of glass that frame stunning mountain views. The bathrooms are all untouched, with marble countertops, tiled floors, and dark wood cabinets. (Those we wouldn’t DARE touch.)

Downstairs, an enormous, finished basement features the same wood closets and stone fireplace as the main level. Just add a lighted dance floor and vintage soundtrack.

It can be yours for a cool $1.4 million, provided you want to live, at least part time, in Salt Lake City.

(Photos, via Utah Real Estate)

The post #RealEstatePorn: This Groovy 70s Pad Will Have You Disco Dancing in Your Caftan! appeared first on The WOW Report.

#BornThisDay: King James I (He Was a Queen!)

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June 19, 1566– King James I commissioned what we now call The King James Bible and that version of the holy book is dedicated to him. King James loved men and he had sex with them, lots of sex. I wonder if Mike Pence thinks about that while on a rant quoting Leviticus.

The title page of The King James Bible boasts that it was: “newly translated out of the original tongues”, but the work is actually a revision of The Bishop’s Bible of 1568, which was a revision of The Great Bible from 1539, which was itself based on three previous English translations from the early 1500s. So, the men who produced The King James Bible not only inherited all of the errors made by previous English translators, and invented some special ones of their own.

Without King James I of England  (he was also King James VI of Scotland, but that would make this post even more confusing), the most widely used Bible in Christiandom would never have been produced. When I was in Presbyterian Sunday School as a tot, I wish the teacher had thought to mention that the quoted scripture reading was from the Big Gay Bible.

So, here is how all this happened: When Mary Queen Of Scots was forced to abdicate, her one-year-old son James became the King of Scotland. At 14-years-old, James fell in love with 38-year-old hipster Esme Stewart, the 1st Duke Of Lennox and a dude. Accounts from the time claim:

“Stewart was in such love with him as in the open sight of the people often times he will clasp him about the neck with his arms and kiss him.”

Esmé Stuart

 

The disapproving Scottish nobles forced Lennox to choose between James and his Catholicism. He chose James. Afterwards, Lennox’s life was threatened and he fled to France. Who can blame him?

When Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, James became King James I of England. His sexploits with men were well known in English society and snooty Londoners snidely said:

 “Elizabeth was King, now James is Queen.”

Robert Carr

 

In 1607, James fell in love while he attended a jousting tournament. His heart skipped a beat when got a gander at 17-year-old cutie pie Robert Carr as he was being thrown from his horse, breaking his leg. James was so smitten that he made Carr a gentleman of the Order Of The King’s Bedchamber. He showered Carr with gifts, among them the divorce decree for the married woman that Carr was in love with. When Carr married her, James gave Carr as a wedding gift the title 1st Earl Of Somerset. Carr actually preferred the wife to James, even when it was revealed she had poisoned his BFF Sir Thomas Overbury, who had been very much against their marriage.  After she was arrested, in order to save her life, Carr threatened to reveal his own sexual relationship with King James at the trial. Carr didn’t, but his wife confessed her crime and they were both sentenced to death by beheading. Kathy Griffin had absolutely nothing to do with this. James held them in the Tower Of London for seven long years, and then… he pardoned them. Just like that. He even gave them a country estate with their chance to begin anew. Sweet?

George Villiers

 

James next fell for hunky George Villiers, whom he later made 1st Duke Of Buckingham. Buckingham became very chummy with James’ Danish wife Anne (James had married her by proxy when she was just 14-years-old). Anne called Buckingham her “dog”. But, she addressed him tenderly in affectionate letters begging him to be “always true” to her husband. Buckingham wrote in a letter to James:

“Sir, all the way hither I entertained myself, your unworthy servant, with this dispute, whether you loved me now… better than at the time which I shall never forget at Farnham, where the bed’s head could not be found between the master and his dog.”

James described the marriage to Anne as: “The greatest earthly felicitie or miserie, that can come to a man”.

In their correspondence, James addressed Bucky as his spouse stating:

“I desire only to live in this world for your sake. I had rather live banished in any part of the Earth with you than live a sorrowful widow’s life without you. God bless you, my sweet child and lover, and grant that ye may ever be a comfort to your dear dad and husband.”

King James I was unashamed of his love for Buckingham and he told his critics:

“I, James, am neither a god nor an angel, but a man like any other. Therefore I act like a man and confess to loving those dear to me more than other men. You may be sure that I love the Earl of Buckingham more than anyone else, and more than you who are here assembled. I wish to speak in my own behalf and not to have it thought to be a defect, for Jesus Christ did the same, and therefore I cannot be blamed. Christ had John, and I have George.”

Anne left this world in 1619 when she was just 44-years-old. James did not attend his wife’s funeral, claiming that he felt sick.

Buckingham was at his side when James took his last breath in 1625. He was just 50-years-old and he had probably drank himself to death. You can visit him now at Westminster Abbey.

If he had lived, King James I would be celebrating his 451st birthday today, June 19th. He probably would have had a small gathering, serving a special cake made by his French baker plus a little bubbly at Sir Elton John’s place in London’s posh Holland Park neighborhood,  along with assembled guests: Simon CallowStephen FryLady Gaga Of ManhattanThe BeckhamsDame Helen Mirren, and my boo, Harry Windsor.

Aside from his translation of The Bible, James’ legacy includes a theme park named Jamestown, located in the New World colony of Virginia. They feature a Mary Queen Of Scots Guillotine Ride and a Bubonic Plague Fun House featuring giant rats.

The King James Version of The Bible is my preferred version of the Christian book, with its powerful and poetic language in the manner and style of William Shakespeare.

The post #BornThisDay: King James I (He Was a Queen!) appeared first on The WOW Report.

#Breaking: Muslims Were the Target of New Deadly Terror Attack in London

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One person was killed and several injured when a van drove into pedestrians near Finsbury Park Mosque in north London, in the early hours of Monday morning.

The suspected driver of the van, a 48-year-old man, has been arrested. Witnesses told CNN they saw three people exit the vehicle, two of whom fled. Police are treating the incident as a terrorist attack.

Police say one man was pronounced dead at scene. Eight people have been taken to three hospitals.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has promised that extra police will continue to assess security around mosques in the aftermath of the attack. She said,

This was an attack on Muslims near their place of worship and, like all terrorism in whatever form, it shares the same fundamental goal. It seeks to drive us apart and to break the precious bonds of solidarity and citizenship which we share in this country. We will not let this happen.

This morning we have seen a sickening attempt to destroy those freedoms and to break those bonds of citizenship that define our United Kingdom.

It is a reminder that terrorism, extremism and hatred take many forms and our determination to tackle them must be the same whoever is responsible.“

TMZ tweeted about the incident with a headline that called the mosque in question “Notorious” and White House deputy Press Secretary Sarrah Huckabee tweeted a bizarre,

Hey liberals! How’s that open borders and extreme gun control working out for you? #LondonAttack #London

So, the spin on this side of the Atlantic has already begun.

(Photo, TMZ; Map via CNN)

The post #Breaking: Muslims Were the Target of New Deadly Terror Attack in London appeared first on The WOW Report.

Caitlyn Jenner Makes a Bad Joke About Congressman’s Injuries, “Liberals Can’t Even Shoot Straight”

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Speaking at the College Republican National Committee’s convention last week, Caitlyn Jenner made a comment when asked for her take on the mass shooting which took place at a GOP baseball practice last week.

Gunman James Hodgkinson opened fire on several Republican members of Congress on June 14, injuring four people before being shot dead by police. Caitlyn said during a Q & A session,

Nobody deserves what happened out there. There’s no justification. There are crazy people. We have to minimize that type of stuff.

As far as the people that were injured, it’s an absolute shame. You just want them to recover.

Fortunately the guy was a really bad shot… liberals can’t even shoot straight.”

Guess what? Twitter didn’t exactly love it. Debra Messing jumped in and many followed.

Hodgkinson’s attack appears to be politically motivated as he participated in the campaign for Senator Bernie Sanders in last year’s presidential election, and more recently signed up to a Facebook group called Terminate the Republican Party.

Meanwhile, Caitlyn has been slammed by the LGBTQ community for her continued to support of the GOP, considering some of their views on marriage equality, transgender rights and protecting LGBTQ student’s rights.

(Photo, YouTube/CNN; via Gay Times)

The post Caitlyn Jenner Makes a Bad Joke About Congressman’s Injuries, “Liberals Can’t Even Shoot Straight” appeared first on The WOW Report.


Randy Rainbow Sings Along with the Comey/Sessions’ Hearings in “Russia Ties” Watch

Michelle Visage on the Mainstreaming of Drag and LGBTQ Infighting

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Drag Race judge and long-time LGBTQ ally Michelle Visage sat down with MIC to discuss the state of drag in 2017 and in-fighting among the gay community:

Mic: There’s been a lot of back and forth about the mainstreaming of drag and whether or not this is good or bad. Where do you come down on this?
Michelle Visage: People are using the term “mainstreaming of drag” as a negative thing but I want them to realize that Drag Race will always be a queer show. That’s what it is. That’s what it started as. That’s what it always will be.

Mainstreaming is never going to fully happen, but it has happened a lot more then when the show first started. It used to be contained to gay bars and now when I go to Drag Con and other events there’s 13-year-old kids with their parents. I do see an evolution, and it’s a beautiful thing.

I was that kid at 13 years old who nobody understood, who got beat up and made fun of because I was obsessed with punk rock music and would wear a padlock around my neck but then would go home and sing musical theater music. If I had a show like RuPaul’s Drag Race maybe I wouldn’t have had those self-harm thoughts. Maybe I wouldn’t have had an eating disorder. Maybe I wouldn’t have spent so many nights alone, crying.

So now these kids that show up that are queer are weird are completely socially anxious and they come up to me and say “Drag Race is saving my life.” That makes me know that mainstreaming this show is an incredible thing. It’s saving lives now because those kids know there’s a place where they fit in whereas I did not. I clicked my heels three times and I ended up on Christopher Street. These kids can click their heels three times and end up on RuPaul’s Drag Race, that’s the difference.

It’s increasingly clear that there is splintering within the LGBTQ community — just look at this Pride flag controversy. What do you think is at the root of this recent spout of divisiveness?
MV: It’s something we face in the female gender as well; women can be misogynistic toward other women and not support other women. It’s so disheartening. Here we are as a community, how many years later, and we’re still fighting for equality. And now the world is going to look at us and think “They can’t even love themselves, why the fuck should we give them the respect that they think they deserve?”

It’s sad because this is the most loving, genuine, kind, amazing community, the community that I identify with and live my life walking hand in hand with. And there’s a reason I choose to be in this space. Because I feel better in this space. I feel loved and welcomed and accepted; never questioned. There’s children out there who are angry and get mad at me because I vote their favorite queen off and will tell me to die, but at the end of the day I still feel more loved here than I do out in that crazy world.

I want to touch on the angry fans you mention telling you to “go die.” Drag Race has an unusually invested and incredibly vocal fanbase on sites like Tumblr, rife with theories, conspiracies, spoilers (see: Maskgate) and plenty of drama. Are you ever shocked by the depth of the discourse?
MV: I think it’s because our show is a movement versus just a TV show. I understand their passion. It’s not going to change the way I judge. I take my job very seriously. I honor my job. At the end of the day, somebody has to go home and there’s only going to be one winner standing.
And by the way, I don’t say who goes home. It’s not my job. My job is to tell them what went wrong and what can be improved. They send the death threats my way because I’m the easiest — I’m always on social media.

I’m sure you’re aware of some recent and quickly escalated drama amongst a handful of season two queens including Tyra Sanchez, Raven and Morgan McMichaels. Entertaining? Sure. Petty? Extremely. But in situations like this, does anyone really win?
MV: Nobody benefits. There is no winner. I don’t get involved in any of it because it’s such a waist of time and energy. Being shady is fun, you’re amongst friends, throwing shade, but publicly doing stuff is unnecessary.

Read the whole interview here.

The post Michelle Visage on the Mainstreaming of Drag and LGBTQ Infighting appeared first on The WOW Report.

Watch: CupcakKe Celebrates Back Rolls & Body Positivity in “Biggie Smalls”

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Chicago rapper CupcakKe (aka Elizabeth Eden Harris) is livin’ for her natural curves in new video for Biggie Smalls, the latest release off her Queen Elizabitch album. “I love every inch of my body…Size 7 or 11, I’ma still be a hottie”, raps CupcakKe, while dancing around in a satin bikini, exposing all her beautiful A F flaws. There’s even a section where she has posted other girls celebrating and showing off their unconventional body oddy oddy-ies. CupcakKe blew up last year when she put out xxx tracks Deepthroat, and Vagina on the Cum Cake mixtape talkin’ about ‘Slurp that d*ck ’til it cum’…and preaching other NSFW words of wisdom. Check it all out below, and get Queen Elizabitch, out now on iTunes.

The post Watch: CupcakKe Celebrates Back Rolls & Body Positivity in “Biggie Smalls” appeared first on The WOW Report.

The WOW Classifieds: UK Couple Looking for Nanny Willing to Work in a Haunted House

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Looking for a well-paying job with plenty of vacation days, your own comfortable room with en-suite bathroom and private kitchen in a lovely country manor home? Have you considered the exciting world of nannying?

According to an ad posted on a popular childcare job site, a “friendly family of four with 2 children ages 5 and 7 living in a small village in the Scottish Borders” are looking for a stable nanny to look after their young ones. They apparently live in a “lovely, spacious, historic property” that offers “spectacular views” of the surrounding countryside.

Just one small detail that might affect your decision:

The house is haunted.

Says the couple:

“We have lived in our home for nearly 10 years. We were told it was ‘haunted’ when we bought it, but kept our minds open and decided to buy the house regardless,” the ad reads. “5 nannies have left the role in the last year, each citing supernatural incidents as the reason, including strange noises, broken glass and furniture moving. This has obviously been a period of great upheaval for our children. We haven’t personally experienced any supernatural happenings, as they have been reported only while we’ve been out of the house, but we’re happy to pay above the asking rate, and feel it’s important to be as up-front as possible to find the right person.”

Read the ad, below.

What do you think? Should you book your ticket now?

(via Oddity Central; image via Pixaby – not the actual house)

 

The post The WOW Classifieds: UK Couple Looking for Nanny Willing to Work in a Haunted House appeared first on The WOW Report.

HEY QWEEN | Isis King Joins Jonny McGovern and Lady Red Couture on the Hey Qween Sofa!

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