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Get To Know Tracy Tutor Maltas: Your New Fave Cast Member On The 10th Season of Million Dollar Listing LA

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Season 10 of Million Dollar Listing: LA is HERE!

Can you believe we’re already three episodes in? The fourth episode of the 10th season of Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles is this Thursday on Bravo at 9/8c and we can’t wait for you to watch it!

Sure, it has only taken 10 seasons for those rowdy real estate agents on MDLLA to be joined by a woman, but Tracy Tutor Maltas has FINALLY arrived and she’s already to changing the game.

I mean, have you SEEN the first three episodes? Come on, she’s AMAZING!

 

We got the chance to catch up with Tracy before the show premiered and asked some questions about her life, her work, what it’s like joining the cast of MDL LA and working alongside Josh Altman.

Get to know Tracy with our interview below!

Chelsea Perrotty: You are the first female broker in the MDLLA franchise history – what’s its like making your mark in a (thankfully no longer) male dominated industry?

Tracy Tutor Maltas: Well, in my opinion it’s not a man’s business. Over 50% of realtors are actually women. We technically dominate that market. I will say being the first woman on such a successful franchise in it’s 10th season is an incredible honor and opportunity that I don’t take lightly.  It’s exciting and you know, these boys are tough! They are really good at what they do but I think I do bring something a little bit different to the table.

C: Can you go into a bit more detail on what you bring to the table over the other boys?

T: Well, listen. I mean, they’re boys. I’m a woman. You know, I’m a mother of two. I have an 11 year old daughter and a 9 year old daughter. I’ve been married to my husband for over 17 years. I just think I have a little bit… I’m not really interested in fighting like children. I’m interested in doing deals – and performing for my clients. It is a total shark tank out there and these boys bite. So I have to be able to bite back.

C:  You work with Josh Altman a lot and have a very brother/sister dynamic. Can you expand a little bit on that?

T: Josh, I’ve known for a very long time – we have a great relationship. I’ve known Heather [his wife] as well. My husband is friendly with Josh too. So, we have an interesting dynamic that is sort of outside of the office. It allows me to give him a little bit of a cheek – you know when his head gets a little bit too big or his ego gets out of control. It gives me great pleasure to sort of pop the balloon a little bit.

There’s not many people that will take on Josh Altman because he is really good at what he does and he is really tough. BUT- I know where his weak spots are and I know he is a really good dad and a really good husband. I just keep that in the back of my mind when I poke at him.

C: Do you have any real estate tips you tell all of your clients that you are kind of surprised that they didn’t already know?

T: First and foremost – declutter. Every homeowner thinks there house is the most special house on the block. You have to as a owner and a seller take your ego out of it for a minute and trust your real estate agent.

Number 2, you have to take all personalized belongings from pictures to knick-knacks and you have to declutter. Everything has to go. Most people don’t have vision, so the less personalized the space is the better.

I always say that light is key. If there’s trees in the way or a “tropical landscape” – people don’t like dark houses.  Cut back the plants for light and if you’re into purple, all dark colors need to come off the walls except for accent spaces- like a powder room could be black if that is your thing.

C: How do you keep such a tight knit family while working in such a competitive market?

T: Well, I don’t. I don’t have that mastered and I definitely struggle with it. Every career woman who is a mother and a wife struggles with it.  It’s in the forefront and it’s what people are talking about in the workforce right now.

I certainly haven’t mastered it and if someone has- please write the book and show me! If I’m giving 100% to my client on that given day I’m giving you know- 70% to my family. It’s a constant struggle between the two.

C: You know at least you are honest about it and you know not everyone is honest about it. Since this is your first season on MDLLA, what is it like adjusting to cameras following you around. Did you learn anything surprising about the whole process?

T: I think I learned to trust the team- you know I came in as the first female on the show and I think my guard was up a little bit. I had to develop that sense of trust with producers and the crew that, you know, they wanted the best for me and they want this to be great and me to be great.

I think that that grow and that transition you may or may not see it in the show. For me I know exactly when it happened. Once I kind of let go and said no apologies – you know, whatever I say and whatever I do is me. However it is cut together it is cut together. I don’t have any regrets about it all.

C: What is one of the moments you are most excited to see play out on this season of MDLLA?

T: There’s two but what comes to mind first is several scenes with my friend and client Bradley. He started a new career where he guts the big houses and flips them. Those moments are from one of his first houses and he let me be a part of it.

I think our dynamic from great great friends into a business relationship is pretty funny to watch. You know his nerves and me kind of tiptoeing around all of that I think is going to be a really fun thing to see play out.

C: Why should fans tune in to watch you on the 10th season of MDLLA?

T: I think fans should tune in this season because i think the show is going to bring something different. Whenever you add a female into any environment, we just bring something a little bit different. I think fans have tuned in for 9 years because they love the show. But eventually they want to see something new and different and I’m exactly that. 

If this interview wasn’t enough, get to know the shark that is Tracy Tutor Maltas in this show preview clip!

Tune in to tonight’s premiere of Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles on Bravo tonight at 9/8c!

Once the episode is over, you should keep watching to see our other show Real Estate Wars at 10/9c!

The post Get To Know Tracy Tutor Maltas: Your New Fave Cast Member On The 10th Season of Million Dollar Listing LA appeared first on The WOW Report.


Melania Trump’s Creepy Xmas Decorations for the White House Inspire the Best Memes of 2017

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Oh, goodie, Christmas is coming early for the internet, thanks to Melania’s disturbing AF White House decorations. FLOTUS said in a statement,

The President, Barron, and I are very excited for our first Christmas in the White House. As with many families across the country, holiday traditions are very important to us. I hope when visiting the People’s House this year, visitors will get a sense of being home for the holidays.

Yeah, that statement sounds like it was written by Melania… but let’s face it kids, this pic was never going to get out of 2017 without getting the shit memed out of it. This ominous looking, tree-lined hallway is going to be the gift that keeps on giving.

Happy Holidays, trolls!

(via Time)

The post Melania Trump’s Creepy Xmas Decorations for the White House Inspire the Best Memes of 2017 appeared first on The WOW Report.

Supreme Court Hearing 101: The Masterpiece Cakeshop (and Why You Should Care)

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The Supreme Court will hear arguments for Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights on December 5th. What does this mean for you?

Well, the short of it is that it deeply affects LGBT rights.

Back in 2012, David Mullins and Charlie Craig visited Masterpiece Bakeshop to order a wedding cake.  The owner of the shop, Jack Phillips denied them service because it violated his religious beliefs.

I know what you are thinking, THIS?! AGAIN!? Come on folks just let them eat cake!!!

Mullins and Craig filed a suit with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission saying that Phillips violated the state’s anti-discrimination law.

Phillips, though, argued his right to free speech (via his cakes) was being infringed and appealed all the way to the high court. He’s being bankrolled by The Alliance Defending Freedom, a right-wing Christian legal group that previously defended Prop 8 in federal court. The ADF argues that Phillips’ faith “compels him to use his artistic talents to promote only messages that align with his religious beliefs.

Personally, you would think that his faith would COMPEL him to make a buck and stop using his religious views as a form of discrimination. This isn’t the first case of it’s kind, it’s just the first to make it to the Supreme Court.

In this case however, the Supreme Court’s ruling will decide if religious beliefs trump civil liberties. Hopefully, the resounding support of larger companies will persuade SCOTUS to rule in the couples’ favor.

More than 40 briefs have also been filed supporting Mullens and Craig, including ones by Ben & Jerry’s, Tammy Baldwin, and one signed by culinary stars like Anthony Bourdain And Ace Of Cakes’ Duff Goldman. “When a chef offers something to the public,” it read, “he must offer it to all.”

The ACLU will represent the couple on December 5th in Washington D.C.

 

Content via Pixabay and NewNowNext.

The post Supreme Court Hearing 101: The Masterpiece Cakeshop (and Why You Should Care) appeared first on The WOW Report.

Joseph for Joseph is the Gaytivity Scene Christmas Needed!

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Comedian and WOWie Nom Cameron Esposito posted the BEST holiday tweet I’ve seen to date. Are you ready for this??

 

 

Her neighbors posted the GAYTIVITY scene in their front lawn and I am filled with more joy than Father Christmas himself!

The Twitterverse was quick to respond with their own renditions.

 

 

Cheers to you, Cameron! You win the internet today.

Tune in on December 7th for the WOWie Awards on WOW Report socials.

 

Content via Pixabay, Towleroad and Twitter.

The post Joseph for Joseph is the Gaytivity Scene Christmas Needed! appeared first on The WOW Report.

Kathy Griffin Banned From Final Episode of “Fashion Police” Airing Tonight

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Naughty Gossip is exclusively reporting that Kathy Griffin was NOT invited back for the last episode Fashion Police, which airs tonight. Sources told Naughty Gossip,

Kathy was not invited to the taping of the last episode. They invited everyone back except Kathy. Kathy was a monster on the show, she was a monster when she left the show and no one wanted her back to ruin the very last episode ever.

Producers did finally edit a 3 second clip of Kathy into the show but she was not allowed on set and no one discussed Kathy after the clip was shown.

The final episode will focus on the beloved late legend, Joan Rivers. E!’s official statement on the series finale of the show reads,

“After more than two decades of countless laughs and unforgettable moments, E!’s iconic comedy franchise, produced by Wilshire Studios, will sign off to ‘Joan Rangers’ one last time when Fashion Police: The Farewell series finale special airs.

Helmed by the legendary comedian and series co-creator Joan Rivers since its inception in 1995, Fashion Police forever changed the pop culture conversation – covering every major award show and fashion event through the lens of its signature opinionated, relatable and self-deprecating comedic commentary.

Following Joan’s passing in 2014, the franchise continued with the blessing of her daughter and executive producer on the show since launch, Melissa Rivers, who became a co-host in 2015. The current panel also includes Giuliana Rancic, Brad Goreski, NeNe Leakes, and Margaret Cho. Over the past 20 years, the show has welcomed some of the most notable celebrities from the worlds of fashion, entertainment and sports.”

The episode airs on the E! tonight at 8PM EST. (via Naughty Gossip)

The post Kathy Griffin Banned From Final Episode of “Fashion Police” Airing Tonight appeared first on The WOW Report.

Justin Trudeau Tears Up During Apology to LGBTQ Canadians

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Photo from CBC via YouTube

From the 1950s into the 1990s, the Canadian Government monitored and interrogated government employees who were suspected of being LGBTQ. Over the decades, thousands of citizens in public service, the military, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, were fired or intimidated into leaving their jobs.

Speaking to the Canadian House of Commons, handsome Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tearfully apologized for a government that considered gay and trans people to be at increased risk of being blackmail by Canada’s adversaries. He said that the policy was nothing short of a witch-hunt.

Trudeau:

“This is the devastating story of people who were branded criminals by the government, people who lost their livelihoods, and in some cases, their lives. These aren’t distant practices of governments long forgotten. This happened systematically in Canada with a timeline more recent than any of us would like to admit.”

Trudeau said the Canadian government and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police spied on their own people, inside and outside of the workplaces. He noted that Canadians were subjected to state-sponsored, systematic oppression and rejection for anything that could be construed as gay behavior, with community groups, bars, parks and even people’s homes under surveillance. Trudeau said when the government felt that enough evidence had accumulated, some suspects were taken to secret locations to be interrogated.

Speaking to a packed and emotional chamber, Trudeau expressed remorse to Canadians who endured discrimination and injustice based on their sexual orientation:

“It is with shame and sorrow and deep regret for the things we have done that I stand here today and say: We were wrong. We apologize. I am sorry. We are sorry. For state-sponsored, systemic oppression and rejection, we are sorry.”

Two years into their power, the Liberal Party’s apology is the latest in a series of statements seeking to make amends for historical wrongs. Trudeau used a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in September to acknowledge Canada has failed its indigenous people.

Trudeau’s government also introduced legislation that would allow people to apply to have their criminal convictions for consensual sexual activity between same-sex partners erased from public record forever. The bill would also allow spouses, parents, siblings, children or legal representatives to apply for record expungement on behalf of those deceased. Many family members might not even be aware they had someone in their family who was subjected to the “queer purge”.

The government has also earmarked more than $100 million Canadian dollars (US $78 million) to compensate employees of federal agencies whose careers were ruined just because they were LGBTQ. It is part of a class-action settlement with Canadians who were investigated, sanctioned or fired as part of the “gay purge”.

Trudeau:

“Those arrested and charged were purposefully and vindictively shamed. Their names appeared in newspapers in order to humiliate them, and their families. Lives were destroyed. And tragically, lives were lost.”

“It is our collective shame that you were so mistreated. And it is our collective shame that this apology took so long, many who suffered are no longer alive to hear these words. And for that, we are truly sorry.”

Members of Parliament, many in tears, gave a standing ovation to Trudeau’s apology.

Trudeau said LGBTQ Canadians were discriminated against by laws that “bolstered and emboldened” those who hated anyone who wasn’t heterosexual:

“Our laws made private and consensual sex between same-sex partners a criminal offence, leading to the unjust arrest, conviction, and imprisonment of Canadians. This criminalization would have lasting impacts for things like employment, volunteering, and travel.”

Trudeau called on Canadians to commit to ending discrimination against LGBTQ people, who still face of more aggression, violence, mental health issues and homelessness than other Canadians.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post Justin Trudeau Tears Up During Apology to LGBTQ Canadians appeared first on The WOW Report.

Welcome To Melania’s VERY White Christmas (Parody) at the White House. Watch

#BornThisDay: Director, Busby Berkeley

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Berkeley, Warner Bros., via YouTube

November 29, 1895Busby Berkeley William Enos

Busby Berkeley was devoted to his mother. He lived with her until her passing in 1946. After she was gone, he attempted suicide twice. There are plenty of rumors that he was gay, it seems only natural to assume, but he did marry six times to a series of female actors and showgirls. He was also briefly engaged to the actor Carole Landis in 1939, but broke off the engagement at the insistence of the mother.

He had a rather stormy personal life. He was quite the drinker. In 1935, he was involved in an automobile accident in which three people were killed. Berkeley was driving while drunk and a witness saw him change lanes and crash head-on into another car. He was tried for second degree murder and after two hung juries he was finally cleared of all charges following a third trial. The case caused a sensation in Hollywood and the publicity ruined Berkeley’s career. The whole dubious incident cost him a couple of Academy Awards, but after a year of trials he was eventually acquitted, and the studios worked to sweep the affair under the red carpet.

Born in Los Angeles, Berkeley’s parents were both actors. He also became an actor, but he also found work as a stage manager. During his stint in the Army, he created large-scale parade drills for troops while stationed in Europe during WW I. Working in the aerial unit for a while, he was assigned to producing entertainment for the soldiers in postwar France and, even on his trip back to the USA, he put on a different musical revue each night for the ship’s passengers.

After the war, he spent years touring the country, directing and performing, sometimes doing a new show a week. With almost no dance experience, in 1925 he was hired to choreograph a Broadway musical titled Holka Polka.

He turned out to be a natural at staging dance numbers and he became one of the top choreographers on Broadway. His first major success was as the dance director for Rodgers and Hart’s A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court (1927) and after that he was the dance director for 17 Broadway musicals.  Like James Cagney’s frantic, ingenious character in Footlight Parade (1933), Berkeley became known as ”Doctor Buzz, The Show Fixer”, working steadily on Broadway while still taking the occasional acting role. With 1929’s The Street Singer, he was the first to direct and produce an entire show while designing the dance numbers, which were splashy, intricate and risqué.

His reputation as a top Broadway dance guy brought him to the attention of Hollywood where sound films were just being developed. The studios realized that they needed someone to stage the dances for their new art form: Movie Musicals.

Berkeley was brought back to Hollywood in 1930 by Sam Goldwyn, and urged by Eddie Cantor to direct the dances in the film version of his stage show Whoopee!. Once presented with the basic tools of the trade, Berkeley used just one camera with multiple angles rather than several shooting simultaneously and, in this early work, he also introduced the big close-ups of beautiful girls. Whoopee! also features a satisfying flourish that would reappear several times: the tracking shot between a row of dancers’ parted legs.

He landed at Warner Bros. where he was able to take advantage of that studio’s daring and immense resources. Despite Depression losses sinking in at the studios, Darryl Zanuck and the Warner Brothers were big on the idea of a new kind of musical that would draw crowds needing to escape bleak reality. Berkeley was trusted with a virtually unlimited budget, and during this ambitious, audacious phase he even applied for patents for two inventions: his system of tiered, rotating platforms and his ”monorail”, a rigging that smoothed and simplified camera movement. Amazingly, 42nd Street, Gold Diggers Of 1933 and Footlight Parade, were all made in the same year, with Berkeley as choreographer.

“42nd Street”, Warner Bros., via YouTube

“42nd Street”, Warner Bros, via YouTube

He enjoyed the freedoms of Pre-Code Hollywood, plus Berkeley benefited from the popular device of the ”backstage structure”, which let the musical numbers exist entirely outside of the film’s narrative, allowing Berkeley to create his own worlds, liberated from the constraints of plot or even physical reality. The plots often revolved around Broadway actors trying to make ends meet, yet the staged musical sequences featured unbelievably ornate, erotic, dreamy, luxurious scenes that veered into pure design.

His Warner Bros. films used a lovable cast of contract players including Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler and Ginger Rogers. Usually topped with a feel-good patriotic message, his pictures provided a satisfying release and the ultimate escape.

“Footlight Parade”, via Youtube

“Footlight Parade”, Warner Bros, via YouTube

 

He was lured over to MGM with the chance to be a director. At MGM, the musical had a more naturalistic format, with songs being incorporated into the narrative. He was originally hired to handle all the dance numbers in Wizard Of Oz (1939), yet he only directed If I Only Had A Brain, and even that was edited down. Finally, MGM producer Arthur Freed teamed up Berkeley with the studios biggest stars, Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, returning him to his beloved backstage format, updated a bit. After directing a handful of delightful dance numbers in films like Ziegfeld Girl (1941) and Lady, Be Good (1941), he was fired from Girl Crazy (1943) due to his clashes with Garland.

Berkeley wasn’t the first to shoot musical numbers from above, but his agile camera work changed the way dance in musicals were filmed. In his movies the individual dance is not really served as much as the majestic force of the group musical number. For all their symmetry and rigorous construction, Berkeley’s dances are not cinematic artifacts frozen in the past. When you watch today they remain alive, delightful and surprising.

He made his masterpiece, the demented, surrealistic The Gang’s All Here (1943), while on loan to 20th Century Fox. The kaleidoscopic patterns he weaved for the film have the intensity of an LSD trip: chorus girls dissolving into artichokes and snowflakes, exploding into stars, expanding into water lilies. This would be his last fully Berkleyesque spectacular.

Miranda in “The Gangs All Here”, 20th Century Fox, via YouTube

20th Century Fox, via YouTube

20th Century Fox, via YouTube

In The Lady In The Tutti-Frutti Hat from The Gang’s All Here, the great Brazilian star Carmen Miranda is joined by a long line of barefoot chorus girls who wave giant bananas aloft before lowering them to the ground in what now we call the a stadium-wave. As the overhead camera passes them, a dozen dancers, linked at the feet and holding jumbo strawberries, form a star while others surround them, raising and lowering their bananas like petals on a flower. Berkeley was always up for a bit of phallic fun.

When Miranda sings her final verse, the camera pulls back to reveal two rows of strawberries and her stupendous hat: a tower of ripe bananas.

My favorite Berkeley sequence, The Polka Dot Polka, uses an arrangement of pink neon hoops. The result is one of his most opulent psychedelic kaleidoscopes. Vibrant colors singe the screen until only rows of legs remain, spinning like a disc on a record player. Similarly, he used white neon violins for his spellbinding The Shadow Waltz in Gold Diggers Of 1933.

As problems with alcoholism, illness, temperament and the unpredictable whims of Hollywood mounted, Berkeley faced diminishing offers and mounting debt. He directed Take Me Out To The Ball Game (1949) and directed wet star Esther Williams in a series of aquatic films. He  continued to worked in films, usually un-credited, until Billy Rose’s Jumbo in 1962.

He retired to his place in Palm Springs where he left this world in 1976 at 80-years-old. Near the end of his life, he enjoyed a return to the limelight at many ceremonies and tributes during the rediscovery and appreciation of 1930s musicals.

A disturbing aspect of Berkeley’s movies and other musicals during the 20th century is the recurrent reliance on blackface numbers and other racial stereotyping. Expressions of appreciation, but also prejudice and guilt, these demeaning songs and dances jolt today’s audiences out of dreamland. They are hard for me to watch, but they can serve as historical reminders of an America out of balance with troubling racist or sexist depictions in films.

From everything I have read, Berkeley wasn’t just a drunk, but also a real son of a bitch. Yet, I have come to think of him as the Patron Saint of Camp. But, he was more talented than that. He was a true artist of the absurd. The film musical is a particularly capricious genre. But, Berkeley was at his height during a time when American audiences wanted to be delighted, astonished and thrilled. Transcending period and place, Berkeley’s classic musical sequences are epic, giddy, erotic, intimate, soaring; sort of like being in love. Nobody does what he did anymore, unless it is in homage to him.

 

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November 29th: It’s YOUR Birthday, Bitch!

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#Breaking: NBC Fires Matt Lauer Over Sexual Harassment Allegations

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According to the New York Times, NBC has just fired morning news anchor Matt Lauer over a sexual harassment allegation. The network’s president for news Andrew Lack, said in a memo to staff today,

On Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer.

While it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over 20 years he’s been at NBC News, we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident.”

He said the allegation against Mr. Lauer

represented, after serious review, a clear violation of our company’s standards. As a result, we’ve decided to terminate his employment.

Lauer’s co-host, Savannah Guthrie, announced the news live this morning. Appearing on the verge of tears, Guthrie said,

All we can say is we are heartbroken; I’m heartbroken…

Describing Lauer as “a dear, dear friend,” and said she was “heartbroken for the brave colleague who came forward to tell her story.

How do you reconcile your love for someone with the revelation that they have behaved badly?

The “Today” staff learned the news shortly before going live. Giving the weather report, a visibly shaken Al Roker said,

I’m still trying to process the news.

Soon after announcing the dismissal, Ms. Guthrie gripped the hand of Hoda Kotb, who was rushed in as an emergency substitute host.

The move by NBC represents one of the few examples of a company taking pre-emptive action over sexual harassment complaints before any allegations had become public.

Lauer’s dismissal was seized upon by Trump, who tweeted,

Wow, Matt Lauer was just fired from NBC for “inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.” But when will the top executives at NBC & Comcast be fired for putting out so much Fake News. Check out Andy Lack’s past!

(Photo YouTube; via NY Times)

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Can You Guess the Most Popular Instagram Shot Ever Posted? (It Has 11 Million+ Likes!)

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Artist Awol Erizku can claim the most popular Instagram photo of the year, posted by Beyoncé in February. The shot is insanely popular with 11.1 million likes and counting. Of course, this is due to the fact that the image doubled as a pregnancy announcement for twins Rumi and Sir Carter born in July. Besides taking the top post for 2017, the photo ranks as the most liked Instagram post EVER.

#Love reigned supreme as the year’s top hashtag, but #art saw the fifth largest growth in use on the app for the year, after #photography, #2017, #travel, and #instagood.

Sir Carter and Rumi 1 month today. 🙏🏽❤️👨🏽👩🏽👧🏽👶🏾👶🏾

A post shared by Beyoncé (@beyonce) on

(Photo, Instagram; via ArtNet)

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Madison Hildebrand Talks Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles Changes From Season 1 to Season 10, & SO MUCH MORE

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Madison Hildebrand is BACK for season 10 of MDLLA!

Have you been enjoying the 10th season of Million Dollar Listing: LA? After skipping a week for Thanksgiving (sorry y’all!) the next episode airs tomorrow night on Bravo at 9/8c.

Celebrating the 10th season (can you even believe it?) we’re talking to the cast members about everything season 10, how much it’s changed since they started, & seriously so much more! Next up on the list is none other than Madison Hildebrand!

The Malibu maven has been around since the beginning of the series, despite taking some time off for a couple seasons, but he’s back and better than EVER for season 10!

Seriously! He’s got a new boo, he’s remodeling his house, he’s relaxed, he’s happy, and so much more!

So get excited for the rest of season 10 by reading our interview with Madison below!

Chelsea Perrotty: How do you feel MDL LA has changed since season one to the upcoming season 10?

Madison Hildebrand: Oh my gosh in every way possible. From equipment to style. From real estate to the crew. I mean just the production quality alone. The drama, I mean I’m an original cast member so I’ve seen it all.  

The original producers had never even bought a house so they didn’t even understand the process and now we have an amazing production team. From my point of view it’s highly efficient and the clients are now more willing to go on TV. They understand what it is. There’s a natural flow to it that’s uninterrupted which I think makes it even more relatable.

C: How have you personally changed from season 1 to season 10?

Madison: I’ve changed because I’m now 100% gay! I think being on tv and then living for 10 months and having to go back and relive your history by watching it when it actually airs… It’s a really interesting place to be in and it’s almost – I relate it to watching your golf swing on a camera and then you perfect your golf swing.

I have matured and grown and been criticized and attacked and put under pressure in all these situations and then I watch myself on tv – I see the mannerisms. I smile and laugh in moments that I am uncomfortable and that’s not appropriate. It’s like a fast forward self critique. If you are willing and open minded to it- it brings you to that next level.

I get to be more grounded – more self aware. I get to grow as a realtor and as a human being. I also get really thick skin because America isn’t always nice even though my character and my personality on TV is the nice guy. I still get name called!

C: What has been your favorite listing on the show?

Madison: Oh my god, I have no idea! For me it wasn’t even about the real estate, honestly it was about the no hate campaign where I came out and did the body paint for them. That was a really monumental moment in my personal life and for my fans who had watched me struggle going through my journey. That moment when everyone got to see that episode which of course I was terrified to do was when I was finally embraced by a community.

People were very uncomfortable especially when I was straight and they knew that I wasn’t. They were uncomfortable with me being a hybrid and when I finally committed to being gay it was like “ok the gay community is going to accept me.” And so will the rest of America because I made a claim to who I am. That episode was the one that finally changed the way people saw me and the way I got to live my own life in my own shoes.  It gave me a purpose. You know I had a platform to help America.

I purposely threw out my sexuality journey for over 3 seasons because it was a real personal struggle that I went through. It didn’t happen overnight and I knew people that were going through the same thing and it showed them that you can be young and successful and still be confused.

C: What are the top 5 real estate tips that you always tell all of your clients?

Madison: Do your due diligence a few months prior to listing your house. Take the advice of the agent in preparing your house for the market. Because a fresh coat of paint and mow & blow as we say – the landscaping sets your first impression. It makes a huge difference.

Depersonalizing and decluttering are real estate 101. It’s not rocket science but it’s something you have to do. Period. You are going to move any way so think of it as getting paid to move. That’s what I tell my clients. You’re going to have to start packing anyways so start packing now. People are going to respond better and get paid more money for it. You’re getting paid to move early.

I also like to have my sellers do some of the major inspections. Price your home to sell in the first 60 days. Because if you go into escrow and sell your home you did not undersell it but if you go beyond 60 days what you are looking at is a price reduction. We’re looking at a 5 to 10% deduction in price. So, that demand is critical.

C: You’ve got a new beau! How is this relationship different than others you’ve had?

Madison: Basically, I was at liberty to exclude my personal life from filming which then actually allowed me to date and be vulnerable without the pressure of a TV show on my back. Once our relationship became what it was and it moved at its own natural pace I felt comfortable introducing the cameras to the relationship as opposed to introducing the cameras to that first date.

Trying to make a relationship work with cameras following you from day one is extremely awkward. That’s from the camera point of view. The relationship – we support each other in every way. He makes me laugh. We’re best friends, we’re lovers, we live together. It’s all the qualities I was looking for and I’ve also matured to where I’m not afraid to be vulnerable. It’s really paid off.

C: What’s one the moments you’re most excited to watch play out on this season of MDLLA?

Madison: As much as I hate the drama, I’m interested in seeing how Tantalus unfolds this season. It made me look like I was doing something shady last year. This season vindicates me because I was hired back because of my integrity and expertise. And, of course, the season finale because I have no idea how that is going to be aired.

C: Why should fans tune in to watch you on this season of MDLLA?

Madison: They are going to see a whole new Madison. Not only do I bring real strategy to each of my listings, but I reveal my secrets that I actually do. I’m not afraid to air my process. I’m not reinventing the wheel, I’m executing it.

I also really open up my personal life – I’m going through a complete remodel of my home. You get to see that. You meet some of my family members for the first time at the same time that my boyfriend does. It’s at a family reunion. You get to see us go through so much real life… and that’s what the show is about that and you see what my REAL real estate life is. I do not hold back this season one single bit.

Million Dollar Listing LA airs every Thursday night at 9/8c on Bravo!

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#WTF: “A Prairie Home Companion” Host Garrison Keillor is Fired After Allegations of Improper Conduct

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Keillor, Minnesota Public Radio, via YouTube

According to the Associated Press, Garrison Keillor, former host of the popular radio show, A Prairie Home Companion, has been fired by Minnesota Public Radio over allegations of improper behavior.

Keillor:

“I was fired over a story that I think is more interesting and more complicated than the version MPR heard.”

He gave no details of the allegations. Minnesota Public Radio has made no comment.

Keillor, who is 75-years-old, retired as host of his long-running Public Radio variety show last year. His hand-picked successor, musician Chris Thile, has been as A Prairie Home Companion host since then. Keillor still produces The Writer’s Almanac for syndication.

Keillor, an avowed Democrat, published an op-ed piece yesterday that ridiculed the notion that Senator Al Franken should resign over allegations of sexual harassment. In the piece for the Washington Post, Keillor said the picture was taken in 2006 during a USO tour that he did “from deep in his heart, out of patriotism”. He then dismissed the picture of Franken groping conservative radio host, Leeann Tweeden, as a harmless gag and “low comedy”.

In 1974, Keillor started his Saturday evening show featuring tales of his fictional Minnesota hometown of Lake Wobegon: “Where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average”. A Prairie Home Companion featured musical acts, folksy humor, and in his beautiful baritone voice, Keillor delivering a seemingly improvised feature, The News From Lake Wobegon.

The show was adapted into a rather goood film directed by Robert Altman in 2006. It is his final film. The film is a fictional representation of behind-the-scenes activities at the Public Radio show. It features an ensemble cast including Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Tommy Lee Jones, Woody Harrelson, Lily Tomlin, Virginia Madsen, John C. Reilly, Lindsay Lohan, and Keillor as himself.

Keillor broadcast his final show at Hollywood Bowl in July 2016, and then went on a 28-city bus tour last summer, vowing it would be his last. Keillor is working on a Lake Wobegon screenplay and a memoir.

 

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Watch the First Trailer for Coming Out Story “Love, Simon”

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20th Century Fox released it’s first trailer for coming out and coming of age teen flick Love, Simon.  promo Earlier this year, Trey Speegle covered the but now we have more to gush over! Based on the book Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Simon falls in love with a classmate online and struggles with coming out in today’s society.

Don’t worry though, the producers of A Fault in Our Stars did not disappoint with the John Hughes-esk delivery of the coming of age movie.

Starring Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford, Jennifer Gardner, and Josh Duhamel.

Love, Simon is set for theatrical release March 2018.  Watch the trailer below –

Content via Youtube.

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#LGBTQ: Queer Fans Warned About Holding Hands in Public in Russia During World Cup 2018

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FIFA photograph via YouTube

LGBTQ football (or, as we call it- “soccer”) fans will be warned about holding hands in public and other displays of affection when they are in Russia for the The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup, June 14 – July 15, 2018. A guide will be produced by Football Against Racism in Europe (F.A.R.E.), an organization that promotes equality in football, that will be handed out to fans travelling to the event.

Being LGBTQ is not illegal in Russia, but the country has a law banning teaching about homosexuality in schools and there are numerous cases where LGBTQ visitors from other countries have been attacked.

The executive director of F.A.R.E., Piara Powar:

“The guide will advise gay people to be cautious in any place which is not seen to be welcoming to the LGBTQ community. The same message is there for black and ethnic minority fans of the World Cup to but be cautious. If you have gay fans walking down the street holding hands, will they face danger in doing so? That depends on which city they are in and the time of day.”

“The guide will also include some detailed explanations of the actual situation of the LGBTQ community in Russia. Issues relating to the LGBTQ community are not part of the public discourse. Gay people have a place in Russia which is quite hidden and underground.”

F.A.R.E. has also written to FIFA on behalf of fan groups from the UK and Germany to ask for permission to raise the Rainbow Flag inside stadiums during the World Cup. Although political displays are banned inside stadiums it is understood that the governing body might consider Rainbow Flags to be okay and fans should be able to wave them during games. F.A.R.E. is also asking FIFA to introduce an official rule that fans can be reprimanded for demonstrations of homophobia or racism.

Their petition comes after the Court of Arbitration for Sports decision to drop two fines imposed by FIFA on Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación, Mexico’s football association, after fans loudly chanted the “puto”, the widely known Spanish language anti-gay slur, during international matches. The fines were for bad behavior, and not specifically for homophobia.

Powar:

“Since the Brazil World Cup we have seen variations of that chant becoming a big thing in football. There is no offence of homophobia in FIFA’s rules and we have made clear that there should be. It is critical there is a clear message about FIFA’s ability to act in these cases against the fans that are responsible.”

Far-right Russian extremists have already had 300 Russians banned from attending the World Cup.

Powar:

“In Russia it tends to be that politicians feel they are being attacked and say it is all a western conspiracy driven by the western media and then after a while they accept there are some issues and quietly get on with dealing with those issues. The local population are pretty proud of the fact they are hosting and want to be seen as acting as a good host.”

Football is the most popular sports genre on the planet. Here are a few of the reasons why:

 

Claudio Marchisio Italy), via YouTube

 

James Rodriguez (Colombia), via YouTube

 

Sergio Ramos (Spain), via YouTube

 

Olivier Giroud (France), via YouTube

 

Neymar Dos Santos (Brazil), via YouTube

 

Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), via YouTube

 

Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast), via YouTube

 

Theo Walcott (England), via YouTube

 

 

And, although he is retired, why not?:

via YouTube

 

 

 

 

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#LGBTQ: Gay Couple Arrested in Thailand for Exposing Their Butts – At a Buddhist Temple!

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Joseph and Travis Dasilva, a gay married couple behind the (now-closed) Instagram account called @traveling_butts, were arrested at Don Mueang Airport in Thailand Tuesday night while trying to leave the country.

What did they do? They posted multiple photos of their bare butts taken at Wat Arun a Buddhist temple and popular tourist destination in Bangkok.

The men, both 38-years-old, dropped their pants at the religious site, snapped some pics and uploaded them to their account.

After receiving intense backlash online — some of it nasty and homophobic — they deleted their Instagram account with 14,000+ followers.

The two will likely be banned from ever returning to Thailand, according to the BBC and could be facing jail time. Deputy spokesman of the Thai immigration police, Col Choengron Rimpadee,said,

Once they are through with the charges, the Thai immigration police will revoke their visas and push for deportation. They will also be blacklisted from coming back to Thailand.

He explained the two were brought to a Bangkok police station to be charged with public nakedness, an offence liable for a fine of up to 5,000 baht ($153).

But other Thai government and police officials have told media that the charges could be more serious. San Diego city commissioner Murray Ramirez told San Diego Gay and Lesbian News,

“Though I am very disappointed in their actions, I am talking to U.S. government officials to see what assistance we can give them.”

A dumb and disrespectful thing to do, yes, but anything more serious than a fine and internet humialtion doesn’t seem appropriate.

(via Queerty)

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Trixie & Katya Unplugged Was A Hilarious Night Of Performances & Poetry! Watch HERE

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OH HONEY, last night was a smashing good time!

Barbara, were you there last on Tuesday night? We threw an awesome party to help celebrate The Trixie & Katya Show now airing on VICELAND every Wednesday night at 10pm.

Trixie Mattel and Katya were out in full force for Trixie & Katya Unplugged at the WOW Presents Space! The exclusive event packed the house with guests and fans alike.

Sure, the event was invite only and it was freaking AH-MAZ-ING, but we love you, the fans who couldn’t be there.

No, seriously we do. We love you so much that we spent our time and energy filming the show, editing Trixie & Katya Unplugged, and then posting it to WOW Presents for the whole world to watch.

So, now, without further ado… We present to you, the recording and performances of two skinny legends known as Trixie Mattel & Katya.

Here’s part 1 where Trixie does standup & a song!

Here’s part 2 where Katya does spoken word poetry!

Finally, here’s part 3 where Trixie performs & the skinny legends thank everyone for coming!

Tune in to The Trixie & Katya Show on VICELAND every Wednesday night at 10pm!

[Image via Davide Laffe/WeLoveQueens.]

The post Trixie & Katya Unplugged Was A Hilarious Night Of Performances & Poetry! Watch HERE appeared first on The WOW Report.

#QueerQuote: “Actors Are Basically Drag Queens. We Just Want To Put On A Frock And Dance.” – Colin Firth

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As Mr. Darcy (1995), BBC, via YouTube

 

Colin Firth was nominated for an Academy Award in 2010, for his powerful performance as George Falconer, a depressed gay British university professor in the Tom Ford-directed A Single Man, adapted from the novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood.

The pinnacle of his career, so far, is his role as stuttering King George VI in The King’s Speech which won him a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, and finally, in February 2011, that over-due Oscar.

He played gay his West End debut in Another Country (1981) during his last year at the Drama Centre and was cast in the film adaptation in 1984.

In 1995, his turn as Mr. Darcy in the BBC’s Pride And Prejudice made him an icon for many gay guys. In the following decades, in films including Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001) and Love Actually (2003), he played straight characters that seemed gay.  I guess because they were British. In Mamma Mia (2008) he played a gay man again. Next summer, he repeats his role as Harry Brigh in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

And apparently, Firth likes to wear a dress on occasion.

“If you’re known as a straight guy playing a gay role, you get rewarded for that. If you’re a gay man and you want to play a straight role, you don’t get cast, and if a gay man wants to play a gay role now, you don’t get cast.”

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Was Winston Churchill Queer?

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Young Churchill, via Wikimedia Commons

 

Winston Churchill:

”History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.”

As a young army officer, Winston Churchill was accused of having ”participated in acts of gross immorality of the Oscar Wilde type” with fellow cadets at The Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He successfully sued his accuser for libel, and there has never been evidence that, as an adult, he engaged in physical same-sex relationships. Yet, Churchill was anything but straightforwardly straight.

He worshipped his beautiful American mother, yet he had a lifelong aversion to women. He seems to have had a low sex drive, or maybe he was just asexual.

At 33-years-old, he married for social and dynastic reasons, just after being appointed to the H.H. Asquith (Liberal Prime Minister of the UK from 1908 to 1916) cabinet. Though he came to depend on his wife Clementine in many ways, she was often exasperated by his emotional unresponsiveness and treatment of her as a child-bearer and housekeeper, and more than once, she considered leaving him.

While he never showed much interest in women other than his wife, Churchill’s life was marked by a series of extremely close friendships with attractive young men. The most important was Edward Marsh, who served devotedly served as his private secretary 25 years. Marsh was an accomplished polymath and arts patron. He was a pal to gay poets Rupert Brooke and Siegfried Sassoon and gay actor, playwright and songwriter, Ivor Novello. Marsh was a discreet, but influential figure in Britain’s gay circles.

Then, there was Archie Sinclair, whom Churchill described as his ”friend I shall cherish and hold on to all my life”. Sinclair was a cavalry officer, whom Churchill chose as his second in command on the Western Front in 1916, as his War Secretary from 1919-22, and finally, after Sinclair had become leader of the Liberal Party, as Commander of the Royal Air Force in 1940. Plus, there was Bob Boothby, the youngest and handsomest MP, whom Churchill appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (the go-between for PM and Parliament), despite having criticized Churchill’s conservative policies; and Brendan Bracken, a callow, beautiful young man whom Churchill, to the horror of his family, unofficially adopted in the 1920s and who served as his right-hand man in the 1930s.

Of the four men, Marsh, who had a thing for young writers and actors, and Boothby, who had a taste for rough trade, were more or less openly gay, and Bracken, who led a very private life, probably was gay too.

Churchill seemed to have had rather pervy feelings towards his son, Randolph, another thing that estranged him from his wife, though these feelings cooled when Randolph lost his looks to excessive drinking, and became a noted womanizer. Churchill was romantically drawn to men rather than women, even if his relations with them stopped short of being physical.

When the first discussions about whether to decriminalize gay sex in Britain reached the cabinet, Churchill was Prime Minister. He had helped create The Wolfenden Report, a government investigation into homosexuality in the UK. This eventually lead to the partial decriminalization of gay sex.

But, Churchill did this during an era when LGBTQ lives were totally closeted. And, while leading the Right-Wing Conservative Party. Did he simply hold more liberal views, or was he hiding a secret double-life?

After WW II, there was a significant increase in arrests and prosecutions of gay men. Churchill, who had been beaten in an election immediately after the war, was now back in power. Yet, the 1951 General Election gave him just the slimmest majority in Parliament. By the end of 1954, in England and Wales, there were 1,100 men in prison for being gay. This prompted a cabinet discussion. The meeting considered whether the best way to stop the rise in prosecutions was simply to decriminalize homosexuality.

As Prime Minister, Churchill chaired that meeting. In it, he quite bluntly states that the Tory Party would not accept responsibility for making the law more lenient towards gay men. He felt it was simply not the time.

The Wolfenden Report was published in 1957. It stated that ”homosexual behavior between consenting adults in private should no longer be a criminal offense”.

It would take 10 years and a more liberal government, to introduce the report’s suggestion. Perhaps Churchill’s reasoning for not pursuing it at the time was not because of his own views; he probably just didn’t have the votes in Parliament.

During that cabinet meeting, he said: ”Remember that we can’t expect to put the whole world right with a majority of 18”. So, his cabinet set up the Wolfenden Committee to build reasoned argument and public support for the future.

Churchill left this world in 1965, two years before England finally made gay sex legal. So, he never saw the passage of the bill.

Was Churchill gay? We will never know. His family destroyed certain files on his private papers after his death. There are so many Churchill biographies written, so many films made about him; but there are hardly any gay or bisexual aspects his life mentioned.

There is a famous story that when Churchill was Prime Minister, he was woken one freezing February morning by a 10 Downing Street aide relating the shocking news that a male Tory MP had been caught having sex with a naked guardsman in St James’s Park. Noting that it had been the coldest night of the winter, Churchill remarked: ”Makes you proud to be British.”

Always quotable, Churchill often made quick-witted quips like this. And, his remarks from his meetings about what to do about homosexuals are known from the British National Archives.

Churchill personally blocked a knighthood for Noël Coward even though the popular playwright / actor / composer had spied for Britain during the WW II. In 1942, Churchill urged King George VI to abandon his plans to bestow the honor on Coward, who was a personal friend of the Monarch.

Churchill, openly disapproved of the Coward’s flamboyant lifestyle and used the excuse of a relatively minor court case to block the title. Two months earlier, Coward had been fined a small amount for inadvertently breaching war time currency exchange laws by spending money on a trip to the USA. Coward was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1970 and three years later he took that final bow.

Gary Oldman plays Churchill in a new biopic, Darkest Hour, directed by Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement).  In September, John Lithgow won an Emmy Award for playing Churchill in the fabulous Netflix series The Crown. If you can’t get enough Churchill, there is also Churchill (2017) with Brian Cox as the man.

By the way, Churchill was #BornThisDay in 1874.

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Roy Moore Blames LGBTQ Folks for His Sexual Abuse of Teenage Girls Accusations!

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Photo via YouTube

Roy Moore, the always charming Republican Senate candidate in Alabama, took up more anti-gay rhetoric, accusing LGBTQ people and others of coordinating a conspiracy to discredit him and undermine his campaign.

On Wednesday, while giving a speech at an Alabama church, Moore claimed that this “conspiracy” is behind the sexual misconduct allegations brought against him in the past month.

Moore, who was removed as Chief Justice of Alabama’s Supreme Court, reiterated his denial of the allegations, telling the congregation at Magnolia Springs Baptist Church that he didn’t know these women and that their claims were the product of “dirty politics”.

Moore began his speech by listing the conspirators he said are eager to discredit him. Moore:

“Who are they? The liberals. They don’t want conservative values. They are the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender … who want to change our culture. They are socialists who want to change our way of life, putting man above God … They are the Washington establishment. They want to keep everything the same so they don’t lose their position, power and prestige.”

Moore, who opposes transgender rights and has said repeatedly that “homosexual conduct” should be illegal, added that he believes people angered by his prosecution of drug cases as a district attorney are at “the heart of this conspiracy” against him.

In 2015, as Alabama’s Chief Justice, Moore ordered probate judges not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples despite the Supreme Court ruling legalizing marriage equality nationwide. He was thrown off the bench over that nonsense.

Moore was greeted by a standing ovation when he entered the church last night. When Moore mentioned that he had not, until earlier this month, been accused of sexual misconduct in his 40 years of public service, a man in the crowd shouted:

“Are all the girls lying?”

The mas was escorted out of the building. He was later identified as comic Tony Barbieri, who pretends to be a Donald Trump supporter named Jake Byrd at political rallies for Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

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