Open Thread

Billboard Magazine reports: Kendrick Lamar flew to New York City Wednesday (May 30) to accept the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his album DAMN. The ceremony took place at Columbia University. The honor marks the first time ever a non-classical or jazz artist received the distinction. In the Facebook live stream posted by Pulitzer Prize, Lamar is introduced to the …

In case you missed this sidebar to the Roseanne furor: Donald Trump Jr. retweeted some of the offensive tweets posted by Roseanne Barr before her show was canceled Tuesday — calling billionaire George Soros a Nazi “who turned in his fellow Jews.” After falsely claiming that Chelsea ​Clinton ​is married to Soros’ nephew, Barr responded ​with ​an “apology” that included …

Billboard Magazine reports: Korean boy band BTS debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with its latest effort, Love Yourself: Tear. It’s the first No. 1 for the seven-member group, the first K-pop album to lead the tally, and the highest-charting album by an Asian act. Notably, as Love Yourself: Tear is performed mostly in the Korean …

TMZ Sports reports: The Pope is gonna be stoked ’cause he just got some serious props from the guy who won “Dancing with the Stars!” Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon — the first openly gay U.S. athlete to medal in the Winter Olympics — says he heard about Pope Francis telling a gay man that his sexuality “does not matter” …

Billboard Magazine reports: The Force is being tested in a serious way. Disney and Lucasfilms’ Solo: A Star Wars Story is struggling in its debut at the Memorial Day box office, where it could come in well behind expectations with about a $110 million four-day holiday. The projected three-day weekend tally sees the movie just topping $90 million. The Han …

The Huffington Post reports: A trio of older gay men offer their collective take on terms and expressions used by younger members of the queer community for a hilarious new video. The clip ― released Tuesday by Grindr’s online lifestyle magazine, INTO ― finds the men sounding off on popular slang phrases like “werk,” “extra” and, of course, “yas kween.” …

CNBC reports: Former first lady Michelle Obama has just unveiled the cover of her memoir “Becoming,” which will be hitting bookstores around the world on Tuesday, November 13. Leading up to the big reveal, Obama has been posting previously unpublished family photos on her Instagram, offering a never-before-seen look at her personal life. “The process of writing this book has …

The Los Angeles Times reports: The porn star who was paid hush money to stay silent about a sexual tryst she says she had with President Trump was honored with an official Stormy Daniels Day in West Hollywood and given a key to the city on Wednesday. “In these politically tumultuous times, Daniels has proven herself to be a profile …

Playbill reports: Matt Bomer makes his Broadway debut with the 50th anniversary revival of Mart Crowley’s The Boys in the Band, now in previews at the Booth Theatre before an official opening May 31. As the actor told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, he feels like this play is one of importance. “It’s about a group of gay men …

The Christian Post reports: Eight former gays and lesbians who are residents of California have released a video resisting pending state legislation banning therapy for individuals with unwanted same-sex attraction, arguing their state government considers them frauds. The video, which was published Saturday by Church United on the video sharing site Vimeo, features eight men and women who once lived …

Courthouse News reports: Nearly seven months after his criminal indictment, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort has yet to gather the $10 million in assets needed to ease his house arrest. But that could soon change. On Friday U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered prosecutors to say by May 25 whether a property in Renton, Washington can be posted …

Billboard Magazine reports: Elton John performed for guests at newlyweds Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding reception on Saturday (May 19). The singer was among 600 people invited to the marriage ceremony at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. He sported a bold pair of pink spectacles as he arrived with husband David Furnish. The palace did not disclose which …

As tonight’s starter topic, consider the below video from Vox, which explains how the “orchestra hit” so popular in pop music production got its start over a century ago in Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird and became common in the 80s with the advent of the Fairlight CMI synthesizer. As you’ll see, that one digital sample has appeared in countless familiar hit …

So this happened today: The so-called “deportation bus” that a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Georgia is taking across the state broke down on Thursday, after water got into the fuel tank. Georgia state Sen. Michael Williams’s bus was sidelined on Interstate 75 in Calhoun, Ga. Seth Weathers, a spokesman for Williams’s campaign, said that “a closer watch will be kept …

Variety reports: Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine is developing its first feature-length documentary about tennis legend Martina Navratilova in partnership with Glenn Greenwald and Suzanne Gilbert. The documentary will explore Navratilova’s achievements as a social justice pioneer told through Greenwald’s personal lens as a gay child growing up in Reagan-era Florida. The documentary will examine Navratilova’s impact on him as his …

Two-time Tony winner Nathan Lane has some tips for attending the awards show, where this year he’s nominated for playing Roy Cohn in Angels In America. “I love the Tony Awards. They’re just like the Oscars if the Oscars had a fabulous Queer Eye makeover. I look forward to the afterparty where I get to explain who Roy Cohn was …

Playbill reports: As part of his press tour for Deadpool 2, Hollywood heartthrob Ryan Reynolds appeared on the South Korean TV show King of Masked Singer May 13th. The show features celebrities singing while disguised, and is one of the country’s most popular programs. Reynolds, dressed as a masked unicorn, chose to sing “Tomorrow” from the musical Annie. Reynolds marks …

Billboard Magazine reports: On the May 12 episode of Saturday Night Live, the NBC sketch comedy show parodied the Hulu dystopian drama The Handmaid’s Tale, but this time reimagined it as a spinoff of Sex and the City. In the spoof, called Handmaids in the City, SNL host Amy Schumer is joined by her fellow maids around the cafeteria table, …

The New York Post reports: It’s no secret that UPS is keenly interested in upgrading its fleet of trucks to more environmentally friendly models. As a quick example, UPS just a few months ago agreed to purchase 125 Tesla Semi trucks, the largest order Tesla has fielded since pre-orders opened up. Taking things a step further, on Friday UPS announced …

Reuters reports: Losses more than doubled at the US Postal Service in the first three months of the year to $1.3 billion. But that’s not Amazon’s fault. President Donald Trump has frequently complained that Amazon (AMZN) takes advantage of the post office, which has a contract to help deliver many of the online shopping giant’s packages. Last month he created …