Jodie Foster Comes Out At The Golden Globes

From Mediaite writer Matt Wilstein:

Jodie Foster had the Golden Globes audience on the edge of their seats as she accepted the special Cecil B. DeMille Award. She began by thanking Robert Downey, Jr., who presented the award to her, but quickly went off in a more personal direction, hinting that she was about to announce something big. “So while I’m here being all confessional, I guess I just have a sudden urge to say something that I’ve never really been able to air in public… a declaration that I’m a little nervous about… but I’m just going to put it out there, loud and proud. And I’m going to need your support on this. I am, uh… single.” After the laughter and whistling died down, Foster sort-of clarified her intentions, saying “I’m not going to do a big coming out speech tonight. Because I already did my coming out speech about a thousand years ago, back in the stone age.”

Golden Globes Awards 2013 Winners

Best Motion Picture (Drama) 
Argo
Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy)  
Les Miserables
Best Director 
Ben Affleck,Argo
Best Actor (Drama) 
Daniel Day-Lewis,Lincoln 
Best Actress  (Drama) 
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor (Musical or Comedy) 
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Best Actress (Musical or Comedy)
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Best Supporting Actor (Motion Picture) 
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Best Supporting Actress (Motion Picture) 
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Best Foreign Language Film
Amour
Best Animated Feature
Brave
Best TV Series (Drama)
Homeland 
Best TV Series (Comedy)
Girls 

Here’s the full list.

Matt Damon On Liberace

Via Playboy:

“These two men were deeply in love and in a real relationship—a marriage—long before there was gay marriage. That’s not an insignificant thing. The script is beautiful and relatable. Their conversations when they’re dressing or undressing or having a spat or getting ready for bed? That’s every marriage. It feels like you’re witnessing something really intimate you would normally see with a man and a woman, but instead it’s two men, which was thrilling. There’s stuff I think will make people uncomfortable. Great. It’s HBO—they can change the channel. We both have a lot of gay friends, and we were not going to screw this up or bullshit it.

“It wasn’t the most natural thing in the world to do, though. Like, for one scene, I had to come out of a pool, go over to Michael, straddle him on a chaise longue and start kissing him. And throughout the script, it’s not like I kiss him just once. We drew it up like a football plan. Michael was a wonderful kisser. My concerns ended up mattering a lot less once we were filming. The dynamic between the men was complex and interesting. Liberace was very powerful and adored, a great showman making $50,000 a week doing his act in Vegas. Scott was much younger and grew up in foster homes, so there was a lot to play.”

Seth MacFarlane To Host Oscars

ABC News reports:

Seth MacFarlane, the mastermind behind ”Family Guy” and the 2012 comedy hit “Ted,”  will host the 85th Academy Awards in 2013.
ABC made the announcement in a press release today.
“We are thrilled to have Seth MacFarlane host the Oscars. His performing skills blend perfectly with our ideas for making the show entertaining and fresh,” producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron said in the release. “He will be the consummate host, and we are so happy to be working with him.”
“It’s truly an overwhelming privilege to be asked to host the Oscars,” MacFarlane said in the release. “My thoughts upon hearing the news were, one, I will do my utmost to live up to the high standards set forth by my predecessors; and two, I hope they don’t find out I hosted the Charlie Sheen roast.”
MacFarlane’s hosting gig will mark his first appearance on the Oscar stage. Recently, he hosted the season premiere of “Saturday Night Live,” showing off his versatility as he sang and did voices during his opening routine.
MacFarlane made his feature directorial debut this past summer with the box office hit “Ted,” which he co-wrote and produced, while voicing the title character.  In addition to “Family Guy,” MacFarlane is also the co-creator of “American Dad!” and “The Cleveland Show.”
The 85th Annual Academy Awards will broadcast live on Feb. 24, 2013 on ABC.

Zac Efron Talks Marriage Equality, Gay Rumors & New Film The Paperboy

Via The Advocate:

Zac Efron was turning gay heads way before director Lee Daniels stripped him to his skivvies for the pulpy, ’60s-set southern thrillerThe Paperboy, which steams up theaters October 5. The High School Musical heartthrob is finally ready to return the love in his first gay press interview, which even he acknowledges is long overdue.
It’s good to see you return to your dancing roots with Nicole Kidman in the trailer for The Paperboy, but your moves seem to have gotten wetter and more naked.Believe it or not, that dance in the rain wasn’t planned. Nicole’s fun to work with because she’s very improvisational. She just started dancing with me, and we went with the moment.
Surely you knew that scene would attract some prurient attention.With a scene like that, you just have to stick with it and see where it takes you. After the fact, though, I remember thinking, Oh, jeez, what did I just get myself into?
Matthew McConaughey, your Paperboy costar, helped design his thong for Magic Mike. Did you help select your white briefs?I did, yeah. It’s a period movie, so there weren’t really a lot of choices. Initially, I wondered if my character would even wear underwear at all. But that would’ve been a very different movie.
You’ve worked with other gay directors, including Adam Shankman on Hairspray, but Lee Daniels has often spoken about how much his “gay sensibility” translates to his work. In fact, at a press conference for The Paperboy in Cannes earlier this year, Lee even made light of a connection between his being his gay and your being somewhat eroticized on-screen. Did you have any reservations or did you embrace Lee’s sensibility from the start?I’ve always just embraced Lee as a brilliant artist, so I followed him blindly, trustingly, and wholeheartedly. He’s searching for beauty and truth in every scene, so I believed in him and always felt safe. I was a fan of Lee’s work — I thought Precious was so marvelous and real — and I knew that he had a lot to teach me. All he required of me was that I be fearless, and that’s something I’m really working on right now in my career.
Screen grabs of you in wet undies made quite an impression in the gay blogosphere, but your presence on gay blogs is certainly nothing new.It’s very flattering. After High School Musical and Hairspray, I’ve always felt embraced by the gay community, and I feel incredibly grateful and honored. This is actually a very special interview for me. I’m extremely aware of the support I’ve gotten from you guys over the years, and it’s amazing that it’s taken this long to sit down and actually discuss it, but please know that it hasn’t gone unappreciated. I’m so excited to be talking to you.
When did gay fans first come to your attention?I really felt that support after High School Musical. I think the gay audience related to my character Troy, because it really was a story of embracing who you are, no matter how different you might be, and not being afraid to show it. That’s a universal theme for everyone, but it specifically resonated with the gay community, and I felt very proud of that.
Do you remember your first interaction with gay people?I started doing local theater so young — I was 12 — so to me, being gay was just another way that you can be. I never really had time to think about it or have any preconceived notions. I don’t judge anyone and I never have.
You’ve said in the past that the older college kids who performed with your local theater were your first role models.Absolutely. I might’ve been less aware of it back then, but without question I had gay role models.
After your involvement in last year’s Footloose remake fell through, fans worried that you might be done with musicals for good. Do you see more musical theater in your future?Without a doubt, I’d love to do Broadway. I actually can’t wait to get back to musical theater. There’s a part of me that wishes I could go do it right now, but there’s also a part of me that knows I need to tackle other types of acting opportunities first. I want to be a well-rounded, versatile performer. Until I master other things, it would be hard for me to get back to musical theater. But that will always be my home base and where I feel the most free, and it’s something I will definitely do again, even it it’s just for pleasure and personal fulfillment.
The Paperboy also marks McConaughey’s first gay role. Are you interested in tackling a gay character?I’d never take a role just for the sake of playing gay, but I’m always looking for a role that’s challenging, different, and entails some risk, so there’s no doubt in my mind that one of those characters will be gay at some point in the future. It’s always interesting to delve into unexplored territory, and that would be a new avenue for me. I definitely wouldn’t be afraid.
In a 2008 Details profile, the writer brought up the subject of gay rumors, particularly as they related to blogger Perez Hilton’s online speculation about you. You replied, “Honestly, if the worst he can say about me is that I’m gay, then I think I’ll be fine. I can handle it.” That was a pretty cool and classy response.Thank you. I don’t like to live in fear about things like rumors and backlash to begin with — that’s the way I was raised — but I just can’t see what’s so wrong about being gay.
Last year a number of blogs posted a picture of you wearing a FCKH8 T-shirt that read, “Some Dudes Marry Dudes. Get Over It.” Unfortunately, it was soon revealed to be Photoshopped.Yeah, that picture was fake, but a couple days after it went around, a fan sent me a shirt identical to the one in the picture. So now I do own that shirt.
Have you worn it?I’m sure I have and I’m sure I will. It’s still hanging up somewhere.
So what are your thoughts on marriage equality — and dudes marrying dudes?It’s an issue that affects so many people in my life — a lot of my close friends and some of the most influential people around me. I just want them all to be happy. It would make me so happy to see them able to live their lives and do what they want to do.

The word on the street is that you throw a mean party. Do gay friends make the exclusive guest list? [Laughs] You’re on for the next one.

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Will & Grace Stars, Eric McCormack & Debra Messing, “Pray For A Gay Child”

Pink News reports:

Eric McCormack and Debra Messing, stars of the ground-breaking sitcom Will and Grace have joked that they now pray their children will grow up gay.
McCormack and Messing had been hosting an event for LGBT suicide prevention charity The Trevor Project at the Chelsea Piers in New York City, which they described as “one of the nation’s most beautiful urban parks/cruising grounds”, on Monday.
With the approbation of the vice president for their work advancing views on equal marriage in the US, the actors said they ought to have had an invitation to dinner at the White House or “at least a tea with Michelle”.
In May, shortly before President Obama’s support for equal marriage, Vice President Joe Biden said last he “absolutely comfortable” with gay couples marrying. He credited Will and Grace with evolving many American’s attitudes to homosexuality.
He said: “I think Will & Grace probably did more to educate the American public than almost anything anybody has done so far. People fear that is different and now they’re beginning to understand.”
When McCormack said they hoped for a world in which gay, bi or transgender children could grow up “safe and equal to their straight peers”, Messing joked they were possibly better.
McCormack, who is straight, said: “I pray to God my son grows up gay.”
Messing, who also has a son, added: “I know. I’d be devastated if my son grows up to be a hetero. I mean, I’d still love him … but as a parent you just envision a certain life for your child. I mean, if he’s straight, think of all the fabulous things he’s going to miss out on.
“When I think my son might never know the joys of having a quarter share on Fire Island and walking through Judy Garland Memorial Park on the way to the Meat Rack…

Nora Ephron Dead At 71

ABC News reports:

Nora Ephron, the writer, producer and director of such American film classics as “When Harry Met Sally” and “Sleepless in Seattle,” died today. She was 71.
Ephron died in a New York City hospital after a long battle with leukemia and taxing chemotherapy treatment, friends of hers told ABC News.
Her family released this statement, “Nora Ephron passed away June 26, 2012 at 7:40 p.m. at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center surrounded by her family. The cause of death was acute myeloid leukemia. She was 71. Donations can be made in her honor to The Public Theater and The Motion Picture and Television Fund. We thank you all for your thoughts.”
The three-time Academy Award nominee was a prolific author, screenwriter, playwright and director who was a pioneer in Hollywood, where she was one of the first women to write and direct her own films. She contributed essays and reporting to outlets including the New York Times and the Huffington Post, for which she last wrote a story in June 2011.
Numerous notables, including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, are mourning Ephron’s passing.
“The loss of Nora Ephron is a devastating one for New York City’s arts and cultural community,” Bloomberg said in a statement. “From her earliest days at New York City’s newspapers to her biggest Hollywood successes, Nora always loved a good New York story, and she could tell them like no one else.”
Ephron had most recently written the play “Lucky Guy,” a drama based on the life of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mike McAlary, which was expected to open on Broadway in 2013 with Tom Hanks as its star.

Ephron left an indelible mark on the field of romantic comedy. Icons like Hanks, Meryl Streep, and Meg Ryan, often fronted her films. Streep starred in Ephron’s first hit, 1983’s “Silkwood,” which was directed by Mike Nichols and earned Ephron her first Oscar nomination for screenwriting.

Actress Cloris Leachman is an Atheist

Via Friendly Atheist: 

In an interview with Debra Ollivier of the Huffington Post, actress Cloris Leachman identified unmistakably as an atheist:

• Well, when I was six years old I heard that God was watching me, and I thought, “No, no, no, we’re not going to have any of that.” And then for many, many years I thought that God would get even with me or punish me because I didn’t believe in him, or her, or them. And nothing ever happened except for good things. So I don’t believe at all in God and I’m very relieved that I don’t.
• So you would you consider yourself an atheist?
• Definitely.

Leachman, as a senior citizen, represents a very underrepresented group of atheists so this is a welcome admission. As a celebrity, we know her statements tend to carry more weight with the general public, so maybe it’ll propel those who have been fans of hers since The Mary Tyler Moore Show (or at least Comedy Central’s Roast of Bob Saget) to come out as well.

Later in the interview, Leachman took a stab at those who say that God is the only acceptable answer to all of the unexplainable things that happen in people’s lives:

• So whatever your religious convictions — or lack thereof — you’ve lived a sort of blessed life.
• There’s something extraordinary that we’ll never understand, it’s just beyond anybody. Extraordinary miracles, billions and trillions of them, happen all the time but not because there’s a God.
• So where do all the millions of miracles come from?
• Is the answer God? It’s beyond belief. There are 7 billion people on the planet. Is He hearing 7 billion people at once?
• That’s a good question. I don’t have an answer, but I don’t believe that there’s nothing out there.
• I didn’t say there’s nothing out there, but there certainly isn’t any God. The stuff that’s made up about Jesus — that you have to go through Jesus to get to God and if you’re lucky, after you die, if you’ve done everything right, the reward is you get to sit on the right hand side of God. All that is made up by men. People made it up.

Having such an adamant female figure behind those words is powerful for anyone who is struggling with their disbelief. In the interview, Leachman also discussed growing up the daughter of an Episcopalian minister, so she has come to these conclusions after being immersed in a “fire and brimstone” culture. She is an incredible example of moving past painful or scary church experiences to see those who use fear as a motivator for what they really are: liars.

Thanks to Cloris for coming out so strongly and being a source of inspiration for those in her demographic who may be struggling to find solidarity among their peers.

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President Obama & George Clooney Set New Fundraising Record: USD $15 Million

Newser reports: 

As Dems hoped, President Obama set a new fundraising record at a glitzy event in George Clooney’s backyard last night. The fundraiser attended by Hollywood’s elite raked in a record-setting $15 million, according to DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, a major Obama fundraiser. Most of the 150 or so guests paid $40,000 for a ticket to the event but the bulk of the money raised came from a raffle for smaller donors: The two seats up for grabs were won by a science teacher from New Jersey and a utility company worker from Florida, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Obama circulated among stars including Barbra Streisand, Robert Downey Jr., Salma Hayek, Tobey Maguire, and Jack Black before giving a 19-minute speech. He thanked Clooney and noted that the famous “Hope” photo came from a photo of them both. “This is the first time that George Clooney has actually been Photoshopped out of a picture,” he quipped. “Never happened before, will never happen again.” He finished on a serious note. “This is going to be harder than it was last time,” he said. “Not only because I’m older and grayer and your ‘Hope’ posters are dog-eared; 2008 in some ways was lightning in a bottle.”