Celebrity News
Why Wayne Brady coming Out as pansexual is a big deal
Brady, 51, shot to stardom in 1998 on “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” the TV show that showcased his enormous talent at improvisation
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2023/08/Wayne-Brady-People-MAg.jpg)
MALIBU, Calif. – Someday it won’t matter when a celebrity comes out as LGBTQ+, but until that day comes, when every orientation and identity is embraced, accepted and respected equally, this is how it goes: Wayne Brady told TikTok and Instagram followers that he is pansexual, and People magazine told the world.
“I am pansexual,” he told the magazine’s Jason Sheeler in an exclusive interview. “Bisexual — with an open mind!” Brady added.
Sheeler explained to People readers that this means he is “attracted to persons regardless of their sex or gender.” In its wide-ranging media guide, GLAAD defines “pansexual” as “an adjective used to describe a person who has the capacity to form enduring physical, romantic, and/ or emotional attractions to any person, regardless of gender identity. This is one of several terms under the bi+ umbrella.”
As the most mainstream television personality to come out so far, Brady is a standout among other pan celebrities, including Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Janelle Monáe, Cara Delevingne, Asia Kate Dillion, Jazz Jennings and JoJo Siwa.
Brady, 51, shot to stardom in 1998 on “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” the TV show that showcased his enormous talent at improvisation, a program that’s still on the air with Brady now serving as an executive producer. The Georgia native is also an actor with dozens of credits to his name, in movies, on Broadway and on television, and served as the host of the rebooted “Let’s Make A Deal.”
The first person Brady came out to was his ex-wife, Mandie Taketa. “I just said, ‘Great.’ As I knew coming out would help him be happier,” she said.
Taketa is co-parenting a toddler with both Brady and her partner, Jason Fordham. Brady and Taketa, 47, also have a daughter, Maile, 20. The blended family of four are currently filming a reality show for Hulu, according to the magazine.
“I love all people equally, and now that includes myself,” said Brady. That’s a turnaround from a bitter time more than 20 years ago, when the actor had a falling out with a writer on “The Chappelle Show.” It was over a joke that Brady insisted as recently as 2021 offended him mostly because it wasn’t funny: “White people love Wayne Brady because he makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcolm X,” the late Paul Mooney said on Dave Chappelle’s sketch comedy show.
Brady was later invited to appear on the show in a hilarious and memorable sketch that portrayed him in an entirely different light.
For People magazine, Brady wrote his own coming out story, which appears below in full:
I’m pansexual.
In doing my research, both with myself and just with the world, I couldn’t say if I was bisexual, because I had to really see what that was, especially because I really have not gotten a chance to act on anything. So, I came to pansexual because — and I know that I’m completely messing up the dictionary meaning — but to me, pan means being able to be attracted to anyone who identifies as gay, straight, bi, transsexual or non-binary. Being able to be attracted across the board. And, I think, at least for me for right now, that is the proper place. I took pan to mean that not only can I be attracted to any of these people or types physically, but I could be attracted to the person that is there.
People think they really know me. That has its advantages and disadvantages.
Like with any blessing, I’m like, “How cool.” It’s cool that people like me, especially doing a show, like Let’s Make a Deal, or when various companies or networks think, “I want Wayne Brady to host this,” what a blessing! What a blessing to be in people’s homes every day and connect with them. I love that piece of it. But there are days that I’m not a fan of it. Because, really, I’m an actor. I don’t want to lead personality-first.
There’s a reason why I live in a canyon in Malibu and not in the middle of Hollywood. I’m an introvert. Shy. I always have been. I had a very thick stutter at one point during my childhood, growing up in Orlando, brought on by anxiety and bullying and stress. I couldn’t communicate the way that I wanted to until I started acting, singing and performing.
As characters. I was Tigger and Goofy and a Toy Soldier in the Disney Christmas parade. I loved that because you see the work. You don’t necessarily see me. I love bringing joy, which is why I love being a character: if I can do that as a character, so maybe the character is Wayne Brady. There’s a lot of therapy that I’m doing right now. I wish I didn’t care what people think of me, but the fact of the matter is, I do care. It’s a weird dichotomy, going from a screaming audience to sitting in a house, just chilling all by yourself.
Robin Williams’ death in 2014 really impacted me — and set me on my path to self-discovery.
After Robin’s death, I got involved in certain groups, like Glenn Close’s group, Bring Change to Mind, being very vocal about mental health. And not just the buzzword of mental health, but really what do I have to do to function in this big world and still be okay with yourself and more importantly, to love yourself so that you don’t hurt yourself? Not even just physically hurting yourself, but not taking care of yourself because you are depressed and frightened and weighed down.
Once I opened that door to myself though, I had to start learning about myself, and I had to start owning up to things that maybe I’d either repressed, suppressed, or just didn’t wanna deal with. I’ve done a lot of work on a lot of other things until now, one of the last things on that checklist was, what’s one of the last things that you need to be really happy and to be truly, authentically yourself? I gave joy at work. But the pity is then I come home, and I don’t have that joy. I have joy because I love my daughter and I love my family. I love being a dad more than chocolate ice cream. But that can’t be my only joy. I have to love myself. And that’s when I realized that I had a problem because if I can spend everything on stage and on camera but then I come home and there is a love deficit, what is going on? That was my rock bottom.
I was never suicidal, but I have empathy for those who face those thoughts.
I understand it now. I got to a point where I thought, “I’m not here, then whatever this pain is, whatever this loneliness is, this soul-crushing loneliness, I could stop it. I could be absolutely pain-free of whatever this is inside of me.” And when I felt that, I went, “Oh, s–t. Okay. let’s get to the bottom of it. Let’s do it now.”
I did all the therapy I could do. I was treated for love addiction. It’s a part of my journey. I had to start examining why I was looking for myself and happiness in a slew of people. If I marry this person, then everything will be fine. If I date this person, everything will be fine. I’ll be good. I’ll be fixed. That is obviously a problem. And so, in doing that work, I now know absolutely that love addiction is borne of trauma. I can’t feel any shame around that, just like I wouldn’t shame somebody if they said they were addicted to meth or cocaine. That’s a sickness.
What am I looking for in these people that I can’t find in myself? And then leaving a wake of people and never being satisfied and then going back to being lonely. Fast forward to recently asking myself the question: “Wayne, um, are you gay?” And the answer was no because despite having been in all of these unsuccessful relationships and now dealing with what I know can be diagnosed as love addiction, I started to go, “Okay, I’m feeling something, but I just don’t know how to get there.” And then I felt like a fraud.
I’ve been attracted to men at times in my life. But I have never dated a man.
Let’s be really honest: I’ve also been attracted to certain men in my life, but I’ve always pushed that aside because of how I was raised, and because I live in today’s world, and it’s scary as s–t. What’s the fastest way to hurt another man? I’m gonna call you out of your name. I’m gonna call you gay. I’m gonna emasculate you. I’m gonna use the F-word. I learned that very early from the people around me, they’re like, “Oh, so those are bad things? Yeah. You, you don’t wanna be that.”
So, what does it mean if I feel something? I don’t think I’m gay, but what if I feel something for another [man]… That’s still gay. I was already bullied about a bunch of other s–t. I didn’t wanna add a top hat on top of that suit.
I’ve dealt with the shame.
A shame cake, just eating it every single day — and then worried about… people finding out. I’ve always had a wonderful community of friends who are in the LGBTQ+ community, people that I’ve grown up with in shows, gays and lesbians, and, later in life, my trans relatives and my niece. I’ve always had that community, but I’ve always felt like a sham because I wasn’t being forthcoming with myself. I could speak out about Black issues because I can’t hide that. And you can play at being an ally, but until the day that you can truly say, “This is who I am, and I wanna stand next to you,” that’s not… I always wanted that day to come.
I’ve told myself in the past, also, nobody needs to know my personal business. The world can absolutely go without knowing that Wayne identifies as pan. But that gave me license to still live in the shadows and to be secretive. What does that feel like to actually not be shameful, to not feel like, “Oh, I can’t be part of this conversation because I’m lying?” I had to break that behavior.
I’m now trying to be the most Wayne Brady I can be.
I don’t know about most, actually. I’m still coming together. But If I’m healthy, then I can go onstage at Let’s Make A Deal and be the best Wayne Brady that everybody wants and expects. I can be the best dad that Maile needs. I can be the best friend to Mandie, the best son to my mother, and one day, the best partner to someone, because I’m doing this for me. Not dating yet though! [Laughs] I am single, but it’s not about being with someone right now. I’ve got some work to do still. Then, Wayne as a single, open-minded pansexual can make a decision and be free and open to other people.
Follow Wayne Brady on Instagram at @mrbradybaby and on TikTok at @waynebrady
Related:
Wayne Brady Comes Out as Pansexual | PEOPLE:
Celebrity News
Christian writer apologizes for attacking LGBTQ+ ally Dolly Parton
Andersen, who self identifies as a Christian mom & Bible study leader, apologized for her attacking the Country Icon
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/06/Dolly-Parton-Shine.jpg)
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Freelance writer Ericka Andersen, who self identifies as a Christian mom and Bible study leader, in an interview with Yahoo Entertainment apologized for her attacking Country Icon, singer-songwriter Dolly Parton over her allyship and advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community.
Indianapolis-based Andersen told Yahoo Entertainment on Saturday that the widespread backlash made her realize she shouldn’t have used Parton to press her argument. “I regret using Dolly as the example for the point I was making in the article,” she said.
“As I wrote in the piece, I love her and think she does some incredible things for the world. We all make poor choices in how to frame things sometimes. This was one of those moments for me! Dolly is one of the few people who is beloved by all and who loves all. The world is lucky to have her.”
In a piece for the far-right extremist magazine The Federalist, Andersen had written:
“In a world where division is the default, she collects fans of every political stripe, refusing to denigrate anyone, and regularly proclaims, “I love everybody,” when asked how she does it.
This response is usually seen as a nod toward the LGBT alliance during interviews with media folks forever fixated on this particular group.”
“When asked about her diverse community of fans, Parton always mentions Christianity, saying she does her best “not to judge” and only “to love” for that reason.
But Parton’s version of love, which includes condoning immoral sexual behavior (“be who you are,” she’s said), is unaligned with God’s vision for humanity. Like so many secularized spiritual leaders, Parton equates love with agreement, but the two are not reciprocal. Love doesn’t mean we must accept sinfulness as good to avoid hurting someone’s feelings.”
The Federalist was widely denounced on multiple social media platforms for its attack of the beloved Country Icon.
Paul Richmond, a Monterey, California-based queer artist and art instructor, who is an acquaintance of the singer and has created a couple of artwork pieces for Parton, was asked by the Blade for his reaction to the homophobic parsing of Parton’s character by the Federalist writer.
Richmond said: “There is nothing that exemplifies how desperate for attention and unhinged the far right has become than by this attack on America’s sweetheart. Dolly has always shown kindness and empathy for others, which is what all supposed Christians should be striving for.”
Celebrity News
Flipping the Script: Chris Colfer on his new book & LGBTQ+ Pride
Actor Chris Colfer, speaks to NBC News’ Joe Fryer about his latest book, & the importance of LGBTQ+ representation in books and media
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/06/Chris-Colfer-speaks-about-his-new-book-and-LGBTQ-representation.jpg)
(NBC News) NEW YORK – Actor Chris Colfer, known for his starring role as Kurt Hummel on “Glee”, speaks to NBC News’ Joe Fryer about his latest book, “Roswell Johnson Saves The World!” and the importance of LGBTQ+ representation in books and media.
Watch:
Celebrity News
Far-right publication attacks Dolly Parton over her LGBTQ allyship
“There is nothing that exemplifies how desperate for attention & unhinged the far right has become than this attack on America’s sweetheart”
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/06/Dolly-Parton-in-Dec-2022.jpg)
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – In an article published Thursday in the far-right anti-LGBTQ+ online magazine The Federalist, Indianapolis-based freelance writer Ericka Andersen, who self identifies as a Christian mom and Bible study leader, attacks Country Music icon and megastar singer-songwriter Dolly Parton.
Parton, a long time ally of America’s LGBTQ+ community, was taken to task by Andersen who wrote:
“In a world where division is the default, she collects fans of every political stripe, refusing to denigrate anyone, and regularly proclaims, “I love everybody,” when asked how she does it.
This response is usually seen as a nod toward the LGBT alliance during interviews with media folks forever fixated on this particular group.”
Andersen then notes:
“When asked about her diverse community of fans, Parton always mentions Christianity, saying she does her best “not to judge” and only “to love” for that reason.
But Parton’s version of love, which includes condoning immoral sexual behavior (“be who you are,” she’s said), is unaligned with God’s vision for humanity. Like so many secularized spiritual leaders, Parton equates love with agreement, but the two are not reciprocal. Love doesn’t mean we must accept sinfulness as good to avoid hurting someone’s feelings.”
When the magazine promoted Andersen’s piece on X (formerly Twitter) it amplified her homo/trans phobias.
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/06/Homophobic-Federalist-attacks-Dolly-Parton-600x600.jpg)
Paul Richmond, a Monterey, California-based queer artist and art instructor, who is an acquaintance of the singer and has created a couple of artwork pieces for Parton, was asked by the Blade for his reaction to the homophobic parsing of Parton’s character by the Federalist writer.
Richmond said: “There is nothing that exemplifies how desperate for attention and unhinged the far right has become than by this attack on America’s sweetheart. Dolly has always shown kindness and empathy for others, which is what all supposed Christians should be striving for.”
A sampling of reaction on social media platforms from other Parton supporters generally echoed Richmond’s reaction:
No. You do not come after Dolly Parton. You absolutely do not. https://t.co/GdUJfDZcgc
— Travis Akers (@travisakers) June 7, 2024
Imagine coming for Dolly Parton who won’t criticize anyone. She says she’s not a good enough Christian to throw stones. Her mantra is love everyone. And that’s exactly what the self righteous zealots at The Federalist are calling her out for. You decide who’s more “Christian”. pic.twitter.com/zcAGBnLTPh
— Geoff 🗽🇺🇸⚖️🏳️🌈🗽 (@GeoffBrown82) June 7, 2024
Celebrity News
Madonna pays tribute to the queer community for Pride 2024
Pop Diva and superstar musical artist Madonna expressed her gratitude to her legions of LGBTQ+ fans in a Pride Month post
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/06/Madonna-30th-annual-GLAAD-Media-Awards.jpg)
NEW YORK – Taking to her Instagram account on Thursday, June 6, Pop Diva and superstar musical artist Madonna expressed her gratitude to her legions of LGBTQ+ fans. The singer also urged her fans to embrace Pride and their queer identity.
“When Truth or Dare was released in 1991 I had no idea it was going to cause such a stir 🌈🌈🌈 But that could be said of most of the things I do!!
I simply wanted to capture the world. I was living in—and share it with the world.
I am forever grateful to the gay community that has always supported me from day one!!!
When I arrived in New York for the first time in 1979 — They made an awkward girl from Michigan feel like she fit in, like she wasn’t a freak and. That it was OK to be different. I am forever indebted.
In this increasingly chaotic world, we are living in. I will never stop fighting for diversity, inclusiveness and equal rights for all!!!
DON’T HIDE YOUR PRIDE! 🏳️🌈!
Let’s celebrate this month and every month ! 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈.”
The American singer and actress has long been recognized as a LGBTQ+ icon.
According to her biographical entry in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Madonna was introduced to the gay community while still a teenager growing up in first Pontiac and then later Rochester Hills, north of Detroit, Michigan.
It was her ballet teacher, Christopher Flynn, a gay man, who first told her that she had something to offer the world. He also introduced her to the local gay community of Detroit, Michigan, often taking her to local gay bars and discotheques.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Madonna began as one of the first “notable” names in the entertainment industry to publicly advocate in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s.
More recently the singer was honored at the annual GLAAD Media Awards in 1991 for ‘Raising Gay Awareness’ and again in 2019 as an ‘Advocate for Change’.
Read her entire biographical entry here: (Link)
Celebrity News
Oprah sends a message to the LGBTQ+ community for Pride
“I wish for you the continued freedom to rise to your truest, highest expression of yourself as a human being”
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/06/Oprah-Pride-Message-2024.jpg)
MONTECITO, Calif. – Entertainment mogul and longtime LGBTQ+ ally Oprah Winfrey posted an affirming Pride Month message Tuesday to her Instagram, honoring her brother Jeffrey Lee, who died 35 years ago from complications of AIDS.
The 2024 GLAAD Vanguard award winner noted:
“It was 35 years ago that my younger brother, Jeffrey Lee, died from AIDS,” she said in an Instagram video. “He was 29 years old. The year was 1989, and the world was an extremely cruel place, not just for people suffering from AIDS, but also for LGBTQ people in general.”
“I often think if he’d lived, he’d be so amazed at how much the world has changed, that there actually is gay marriage and a Pride Month,” she noted. “How different his life might have been had he lived in these times. In a world that saw and appreciated him for who he was rather than attempting to shame him for his sexuality.”
Winfrey additionally added that everyone should have the right to “love who they want to love and be the person they most want to be.”
“I wish for you the continued freedom to rise to the truest, highest expression of yourself as a human being,” she said.
Related:
Celebrity News
Adele shuts down ‘Pride Sucks’ yell at Las Vegas show
Sitting down on the piano bench bantering with the audience which is routine, the singer eviscerated the unseen audience member
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/06/Adele-Reacts-To-Pride-Sucks-Yell-From-Audience.jpg)
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – British pop megastar and longtime LGBTQ+ ally Adele, reacted to a member of the audience who repeatedly yelled ‘Pride Sucks’ in between songs during her show Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Adele, who is continuing her iconic residency, Weekends with Adele, at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, has been a strong LGBTQ+ supporter. Last year, she celebrated Pride Month during her Las Vegas residency wearing a black dress with a rainbow flag train and Pride-themed confetti.
Sitting down on the piano bench next to her pianist bantering with the audience which is routine, the singer eviscerated the unseen audience member:
“Did you come to my fucking show to say pride sucks? Are you fucking stupid?” Adele angrily said reacting. “Don’t be so fucking ridiculous. If you have nothing nice to say, shut up, alright?”
The incident, which was caught on mobile phone footage and posted to X (formerly Twitter), has since gone viral:
Adele goes off on audience member who yelled “Pride sucks” at her concert tonight:
— Pop Base (@PopBase) June 2, 2024
“Did you come to my f*cking show and just say that Pride sucks? Are you f*cking stupid? Don’t be so f*cking ridiculous. If you have nothing nice to say, shut up, alright?” pic.twitter.com/M3yl2mdzLV
Adele did not hold back when an audience member yelled “Pride sucks!” during her Las Vegas residency on Saturday night.
— Variety (@Variety) June 2, 2024
“Did you come to my f—ing show and just say that Pride sucks?" the singer said. "Are you f—ing stupid?" https://t.co/tDbvFCJRcT
“Happy Pride… not to you though” (points to the man who yelled Pride sucks). 😭#WeekendsWithAdele
— Adele Daily (@adeledailynet) June 2, 2024
pic.twitter.com/Jl0dqymy40
Celebrity News
Actor Richard Dreyfuss mocks trans people in misogynistic rant
Dreyfuss ranted about subjects reported to include trans people, Barbra Streisand, the MeToo movement and women in general
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/05/Dreyfuss-in-dress.jpg)
BEVERLY, Mass. – Patrons at The Cabot theater in the suburban Boston township of Beverly were all set to celebrate the 49th anniversary viewing of the classic 1975 Steven Spielberg horror film ‘Jaws,’ along with a question and answer with one of the film’s stars actor Richard Dreyfuss, when from the minute Dreyfuss appeared on stage, the event derailed.
Dreyfuss walked onto the stage wearing a blue floral pattern house dress, pausing to turn away from the audience and shake his hips suggestively, actions that were caught on multiple mobile phone video footage posted online. Then two stage hands appeared and tore the dress off the actor who then took his seat opposite the event’s moderator.
According to Variety and the Boston Globe’s reporting, Dreyfuss ranted about subjects reported to include trans people, Barbra Streisand, the MeToo movement and women in general. As attendee Diane Wolfe described it to the Boston Globe, “[Dreyfuss] said that the parents of trans youth, allowing them to transition, was bad parenting and that someday those kids might change their minds.”
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/05/The-Cabot-advert-for-event-600x597.jpg)
A number of members of the audience took offense and left the venue. On The Cabot Theater’s Facebook page one attendee wrote: “This was disgusting. How could the Cabot not have vetted his act better. Apparently (I found out too late), he has a reputation for spewing this kind of racist, homophobic, misogynistic bullcrap.”
The Cabot has since limited commenting on its page.
The Cabot’s executive director J. Casey Soward on Sunday apologized in a statement that read:
“We regret that an event that was meant to be a conversation to celebrate an iconic movie instead became a platform for political views. We take full responsibility for the oversight in not anticipating the direction of the conversation and for the discomfort it caused to many patrons,” Soward said. “We are in active dialogue with our patrons about their experience and are committed to learning from this event how to better enact our mission of entertaining, educating and inspiring our community.”
WBSM News Talk Sports Radio 1420AM in New Bedford–Fall River reported that The Cabot also sent an email, that the station had been forwarded, to those who purchased tickets apologizing.
“Dear Cabot Patrons,
I am writing to address an important matter concerning last night’s event with Richard Dreyfuss at The Cabot.
We deeply regret that Mr. Dreyfuss’s comments during the event were not in line with the values of inclusivity and respect that we uphold at The Cabot. We understand that his remarks were distressing and offensive to many of our community members, and for that, we sincerely apologize.
At The Cabot, we are committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment for all members of our community. The views expressed by Mr. Dreyfuss do not reflect our beliefs, and we do not endorse them in any way.
We take full responsibility for the oversight in not anticipating the direction of the conversation and for any discomfort it caused.
We are taking immediate steps to ensure that such an incident does not happen again. This includes more rigorous vetting of our event participants and more proactive communication strategies to keep our audience informed.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support of The Cabot.
We value your feedback and are dedicated to learning from this experience to better serve our community.”
The actor has a lengthy record of anti-trans remarks and bigotry. He has directed transphobic rants about trans youth affirming their gender and has taken aim at the Academy of Motion Pictures & Sciences calling out the Academy’s diversity efforts in a 2023 PBS’ Firing Line broadcast saying that the Academy’s focus on diversity “makes me vomit.”
“We’re so fragile that we can’t have our feelings hurt,” he also said. “We don’t know how to stand up and bop the bully in the face.”
Deadline reported that Dreyfuss apparently made similar comments at a Friday night Jaws screening at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. “I live in Mass, but the Cabot showing was all booked so I saw him in NH on May 24,” a Facebook commenter wrote. “He made anti-gay remarks that night too.”
The actor has not responded to requests by multiple media outlets for comment.
Celebrity News
Estimated 1.6 million attend Madonna concert in Rio
Free event took place on Copacabana Beach on Saturday
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/05/Madonna_performs_in_Rio_screen_capture_insert_via_Reuters_YouTube.jpg)
RIO DE JANEIRO — An estimated 1.6 million people on Saturday attended Madonna’s free concert on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach.
The concert, which was the last one as part of Madonna’s Celebration Tour, included a tribute to people lost to AIDS.
Bob the Drag Queen introduced Madonna before the concert began. Pabllo Vittar, a Brazilian drag queen and singer, and Anitta, a bisexual pop star who was born in Rio’s Honório Gurgel neighborhood, also joined Madonna on stage.
Congresswoman Erika Hilton, a Black travesti and former sex worker, and Rio Municipal Councilwoman Mônica Benício, the widow of Marielle Franco, a bisexual Rio Municipal Councilwoman who was assassinated in 2018, are among those who attended the concert.
“Madonna showed that we fight important fights for the human rights of Black (people), young (people), women and LGBTQIA+ people, and against all injustice, discrimination, and violence,” said Associaçao Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais (National Association of Travestis and Transsexuals), a Brazilian trans rights group known by the acronym ANTRA, on its X account. “What they call identitarianism’ is our subversion to the retrograde and conservative tackiness that plagues the country.”
The Associated Press reported the concert was Madonna’s biggest ever.
Celebrity News
Brittney Griner considered ending her life in Russian prison
In a sit down interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts, the WNBA star spoke about the “mistake” she made in hurriedly packing for her trip to Russia
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/04/Roberts-and-Griner-2.jpg)
CONTENT WARNING: The following story discusses suicide ideation.
PHOENIX, Ariz. — Her first few weeks behind bars in a Russian prison took a terrible toll on Brittney Griner, the out lesbian WNBA star who is breaking her silence on the ten months she was held on drug-related charges.
“I wanted to take my life more than once in the first weeks,” Griner told ABC’s Robin Roberts in a primetime interview Wednesday. “I felt like leaving here so badly.”
The two-time Olympic gold medalist and nine-time WNBA All-Star, who plays for the Phoenix Mercury, said she ultimately decided against suicide, partly because she feared Russian authorities would not release her body to her wife, Cherelle Griner.
While Cherelle and the White House worked to gain her release, Brittney reflected on what she admitted was the “mistake” that landed her in Russian detention.
“I could just visualize everything I worked so hard for just crumbling and going away,” Griner told Roberts, who is co-anchor at Good Morning America and is herself an out lesbian and former college basketball player.
Griner, 33, was arrested on Feb. 17, 2022, at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Khimki, a suburb of Moscow. Authorities said they found vape cartridges in her luggage containing cannabis oil, which is illegal in the country.
Griner told Roberts that was the result of a “mental lapse” on her part — packing the cannabis oil cartridges in her luggage, Griner said that she had overslept on the morning she was leaving for Russia to play during the WNBA’s off-season, which is how many of the league’s vastly underpaid players earn a living, compared to NBA players.
So, she packed while she was “in panic mode,” Griner said.
“My packing at that moment was just throwing all my stuff in there and zipping it up and saying, ‘OK, I’m ready,’” she told Roberts.
After landing in Russia, Griner realized that she had those two cannabis oil cartridges in her luggage as Russian security officers inspected her bag at the airport. She recalled the moment as a sinking feeling.
“I’m just like, ‘Oh, my God.’ Like, ‘How did I– how did I make this mistake?’” Griner said. “I could just visualize everything I worked so hard for just crumbling and going away.”
Russian authorities immediately arrested Griner, but her trial would not take place for five months. She described the horrible conditions of her imprisonment during that delay, saying that she didn’t always have toilet paper and that the toothpaste they gave her had expired about 15 years ago.
“That toothpaste was expired,” she said. “We used to put it on the black mold to kill the mold on the walls.”
“The mattress had a huge blood stain on it, and they give you these thin two sheets,” she added. “So you’re basically laying on bars.”
On July 7, 2022, Griner pleaded guilty at her trial to drug charges, admitting that she had the vape cartridges containing cannabis oil but stating she put them in her luggage unintentionally. She testified that she had packed the cartridges by accident, and had “no intention” to break Russian law.
Roberts pressed Griner on this point: “You know there are those who say, ‘Come on. How did you not know that you had cartridges in your luggage?’”
“It’s just so easy to have a mental lapse,” Griner replied. “Granted, my mental lapse was on a more grand scale. But it doesn’t take away from how that can happen,” she explained.
Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison on Aug. 4, 2022, and in October 2022, a judge denied the appeal filed by Griner’s attorneys.
The sentence landed Griner in a penal colony in the Russian region of Mordovia.
“It’s a work camp. You go there to work,” said Griner. “There’s no rest.” Her job was cutting fabric for Russian military uniforms.
“What were the conditions like there?” Roberts asked.
“Really cold,” Griner said. So cold that her health was impacted and she decided to chop off her long dreadlocks.
“What was that like losing that part of you, too?” Roberts asked Griner.
“Honestly, it just had to happen. We had spiders above my bed — making nests,” she said. “My dreads started to freeze,” she added. “They would just stay wet and cold and I was getting sick. You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do to survive.”
Her arrest came around the same time as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, further increasing tensions between Russia and the U.S. But as the Los Angeles Blade reported on Dec, 8, 2022, Russia agreed to release Griner in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
However, before winning her freedom, Griner revealed authorities forced her to write a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“They made me write this letter. It was in Russian,” she said. “I had to ask for forgiveness and thanks from their so-called great leader. I didn’t want to do it, but at the same time I wanted to come home.”
Griner said her heart sank upon boarding the plane to freedom and finding that Paul Whelan, another American the White House said was “wrongfully detained,” wasn’t leaving Russia with her.
“I walked on and didn’t see him, maybe he’s next. Maybe they will bring him next,” she said. “They closed the door, and I was like, are you serious? You’re not going to let this man come home now.”
Griner recounts on the experience in “Coming Home,” a memoir set to be released on May 7.
988 is the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and is available 24/7 via phone, text or chat to everyone of all ages, orientations and identities. If you are a transgender, nonbinary or gender-nonconforming person considering suicide, Trans Lifeline can be reached at 877-565-8860. LGBTQ+ youth (ages 24 and younger) can reach the Trevor Project Lifeline at 1-866-488-7386. You can still also contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 24 hours a day, and it’s available to people of all ages and identities.
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/04/image-20.png)
Additional resources:
If you are in a life-threatening situation, please dial 911.
If you are in crisis, please dial 988 or contact Rainbow Youth Project directly at +1 (317) 643-4888
Celebrity News
Ellen launches new comedy tour & jokes about demise of her show
Ellen discussed her show’s cancellation on the 1st night of her comedy tour which she says will be taped for a Netflix special
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/04/Ellen-DeGeneres-on-access-hollywood.jpg)
WEST HOLLYWOOD – Returning in a stand-up performance this past week, Ellen DeGeneres appeared on the stage of the Largo at the Coronet Theater in the heart of West Hollywood Wednesday night in a sold-out show, the comedian joked about the abrupt end of her daytime ratings behemoth talk show two years ago.
Rolling Stone journalist Krystie Lee Yandoli was in the audience and reported that DeGeneres addressed the end of ‘Ellen’ in her opening routine:
“I used to say that I didn’t care what other people thought of me and I realized…I said that at the height of my popularity,” DeGeneres said, prompting the audience to erupt in laughter. “It is such a waste of time to worry about what other people think…Right now I’m hoping you’re thinking, ‘This is marvelous, I’m so happy to be here.’ But you could be thinking, ‘Let’s see how this goes.’”
Wednesday’s gig marks the first night of DeGeneres’ Ellen’s Last Stand…Up Tour, which she noted a new Netflix special was to be taped this fall. According to Rolling Stone Netflix declined to comment on the news. A representative for DeGeneres did not respond to a request for comment.
In the summer of 2020 a firestorm erupted around the talk show host in the wake of revelations from staffers that she presided over a “toxic” workplace environment for years, and the accompanying allegations that a woman who built an empire on the “niceness” of her persona is in reality one of the meanest people in the business.
In August, Variety magazine reported that her show has ousted three senior producers in the wake of accusations of racial insensitivity, sexual misconduct and other problems behind the scenes at the talk show.
Three senior producers — executive producers Ed Glavin and Kevin Leman, and co-executive producer Jonathan Norman — have been ousted from the Warner Bros.-distributed syndicated strip following damning allegations raised in recent reports by Buzzfeed and Variety.
“Ellen” veterans Mary Connelly, Andy Lassner and Derek Westervelt will remain at the show as executive producers alongside host DeGeneres. Connelly, Lassner and Westervelt have been with the show since its inception in 2003.
In a phone call at the time with the Los Angeles Blade, a spokesperson for Warner Brothers confirmed the departure of the three former executives.
The news was broken to the staff of the show after what Variety described those sources knowledgeable as saying that it was an emotional remote video teleconference between DeGeneres, the newly appointed producers and staffers.
Then in May of 2021, in an announcement made to the show’s staff yesterday and in an interview DeGeneres gave The Hollywood Reporter, it was reported that the show was ending its 19 year daytime television run in 2022.
Rolling Stone reported that in her stand-up set this past week, DeGeneres kicked off with a recap of what she’s been up to since her talk-show ended: gardening, a lot of sweatpants-wearing, and collecting chickens as pets. She joked that as someone who once hosted a daily show, she appreciates the plight of the chicken who has to lay an egg every day. Still, most of the routine found her grappling with having become Public Enemy No. 1 — a whiplash turn from her once-firm reputation as the happy-go-lucky talk-show host who ended each episode telling her audience to “be kind to one another.”
“What else can I tell you?” she mused, mock-reflecting on her recent past before adding sarcastically, “Oh yeah, I got kicked out of show business. There’s no mean people in show business.”
“The ‘be kind’ girl wasn’t kind,” DeGeneres continued. “I became this one-dimensional character who gave stuff away and danced up steps. Do you know how hard it is to dance up steps? Would a mean person dance up steps? Had I ended my show by saying, ‘Go fuck yourself,’ people would’ve been pleasantly surprised.”
At the conclusion of her set, the crowd gave DeGeneres a standing ovation, prompting her to return to the stage for a candid conversation with the audience. DeGeneres called on people one by one as they asked questions and shared messages of gratitude.
As she closed out the night she told the audience:
“Honestly, I’m making jokes about what happened to me but it was devastating, really,” she said. “I just hated the way the show ended. I love that show so much and I just hated that the last time people would see me is that way.”
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