Marc Malkin-Senior Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events While the LGTBQ rights movement has made tremendous strides since that first rock was thrown at the Stonewall Inn in New York City in 1969, there are still many areas of the U.S. where the queer community doesn’t feel safe. In the new Hulu documentary, “We Live Here: The Midwest,” director Melina Maerker and producer David Clayton Miller chronicle queer families living in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota and Ohio.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events As Fantasia Barrino rides the awards season buzz for her feature film acting debut in “The Color Purple,” the second season “American Idol” winner is thinking of her next moves on the big screen. “I want something very challenging,” Fantasia told Variety Tuesday night at Elle’s Women in Hollywood event in Los Angeles, where she was honored alongside her co-stars Danielle Brooks and Taraji P. Henson.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Jennifer Lopez may have gotten a ton of awards season buzz for her work in the 2019 drama “Hustlers,” but she didn’t walk home with any major honors. In fact, she reflected on not receiving any top prizes in the entertainment world at Monday’s Elle Women in Hollywood event. “I don’t have an Oscar.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Gael García Bernal is nursing a slight cold. He thinks he may have caught a bug during a flight to Los Angeles. But he theorizes it could have also come from the Academy Museum Gala, held in the museum’s open-air atrium, which he attended two nights before I meet him for breakfast at Chateau Marmont.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Director Lukas Dhont is the new guest curator for Galerie, Indian Paintbrush’s digital film club. Dhont, whose 2022 coming-of-age film “Close” was nominated for best international feature, names 18 films that influenced him the most for Galerie members. Among the entries is the 1975 documentary “Grey Gardens.” “A teacher in film school showed us ‘Grey Gardens,’ he writes about the film, which tells the story of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ eccentric and reclusive aunt, Edith “Big Edie” Ewing Bouvier Beale,” and cousin Edith “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Joey King is speaking out about her “Kissing Booth” co-star Jacob Elordi’s criticism of their hit Netflix rom-com franchise. “I think it’s unfortunate anyone would feel that way,” King told me Saturday at the Balenciaga fashion show in Los Angeles. “I had a great time making those movies no matter what anyone says.” Elordi disappointed the casts of the three “The Kissing Booth” films as well as their fans when he slammed the film in his GQ Men of the Year cover story.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events This year’s annual Snixxmas Charity event honoring Naya Rivera features a previously unreleased song by the late “Glee” star. “Prayer for the Broken,” first recorded by Rivera in 2012, now includes background vocals by her “Glee” co-stars Kevin McHale, Jenna Ushkowitz, Amber Riley, Heather Morris, Vanessa Lengies and Ashley Fink. “Prayer for the Broken” was written by Lindy Robbins and Isaac Hasson.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor “Unexpected,” a documentary short about Black women living with HIV in the South, will premiere on Hulu on Dec. 1, which is also World AIDS Day. Produced by “Abbott Elementary” Emmy winner Sheryl Lee Ralph and directed by Zeberiah Newman, “Unexpected” follows activists Ciarra Ci Ci Covin and Masonia Traylor as they create an underground network to help and support women with HIV in the rural South.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Robert Rich met Winona Ryder shortly after the release of “Girl, Interrupted” in 1999 when she was shopping at the Marc Jacobs store in the Mercer Hotel in New York City. Rich, who was head of communications for the designer at the time, nervously approached the actor. “I said, ‘I loved ‘Girl Interrupted,’ and she went, ‘That’s a girls movie,’” Rich recalls.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Cameron Diaz says she jumped into helping people with HIV/AIDS after watching a family member die from the disease. “My dad’s cousin, in the early 80s, died of AIDS. He was one of the first.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White and Harris Dickson didn’t know each other well before shooting their new drama “The Iron Claw.” But then came their first wardrobe fitting and camera tests. “Our bodies had to be completely shaved,” White told me at a reception for the film at NeueHouse Hollywood on Monday in Los Angeles. “We were strangers at the time.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Beyoncé captivated Hollywood’s attention Saturday night as the superstar held a stealthily staged world premiere of her concert movie, “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé,” at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The movie, which documents her Renaissance World Tour, will be released in the U.S. on Dec.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor “Fellow Travelers” stars Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer will not be competing against each for a Golden Globe. Sources tell me that Bailey has decided to submit for supporting actor in a limited series for his work in the Showtime series, clearing the way for Bomer to go for lead. “Fellow Travelers,” written by Ron Nyswaner and based on the Thomas Mallon novel of the same name, tells the story of a decades-long romance between a Washington D.C.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Russell Tovey wants you to know who David Robilliard was. He was a queer British poet and visual artist who died of AIDS in 1988 when he was just 36 years old. “I first learned about David at the ICA in London,” the “American Horror Story” star tells Variety, speaking from his London-area home.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked” movies, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, were just 10 days away from wrapping principal photography when most of the production was shut down due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. Jonathan Bailey, who plays Fiyero in the big screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, was able to continue some shooting because he’s on an equity contract.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor SPOILER ALERT: This story contains descriptions of key scenes and storylines in “Saltburn.” Oscar-winning filmmaker Emerald Fennell’s new twisted thriller, “Saltburn,” includes several graphic scenes that have left moviegoers debating whether to be titillated or disturbed. “It gets under your skin,” Fennell told me Tuesday at the film’s Los Angeles premiere. “We just want to make something that makes people feel something.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor “The Kissing Booth” actor Taylor Zakhar Perez says he was surprised by co-star Jacob Elordi’s criticism of the rom-com franchise. “I thought it was a shame because to my knowledge, everybody else had such a wonderful experience,” Perez told me Thursday at the GQ Men of the Year party at Bar Marmont in West Hollywood. “It’s a shame that was his experience on the set.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Nicholas Galitzine first gained attention when he played Prince Charming opposite Camilla Cabello in the 2021 film musical adaptation of “Cinderella.” The project launched a career that seems to have been going non-stop ever since. In “Purple Hearts,” a romantic drama from Netflix, Galitzine played a troubled Marine who falls for an aspiring singer (Sofia Carson) after they marry in order to get military benefits.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor The Jonas Brothers were first asked to play Yankee Stadium in 2008. It was just a couple of years into their pop star fame. “At that point it was like this meteoric rise for us over a two-year period,” Nick Jonas says.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay will be honored by international AIDS organization amfAR with its Award of Inspiration during the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 3. The black-tie gala and dinner, taking place at La Misericordia, will include performances by singers Rita Ora and Leona Lewis.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Rose Byrne jumped at the chance to voice Leatherhead in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” when producer-star Seth Rogen asked her to join the film. “It was ridiculous,” the “Physical” actor tells me. “Seth was like, ‘I want you to do just fully Aussie — just go for it!’ “I was like, ‘I’m going to do my best Eric Bana.’ This is an homage to Eric,” Byrne continues.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Jamie Lee Curtis doesn’t pretend to know when she thinks the SAG-AFTRA strike will end. “I have no idea,” the Oscar winner told me Thursday morning at Project Angel Food’s groundbreaking ceremony for The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation Campus in Los Angeles. However, Curtis says she remains “hopeful” that the actors union and AMPTP can find common ground.” “I’m hopeful that we can all see all sides.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor The new “River Wild” is a reimagining of Curtis Hanson’s classic 1994 thriller starring Meryl Streep, Kevin Bacon and David Strathairn about a rafting trip that takes a deadly turn. In the new version, Adam Brody plays a heavily-tattooed ex-convict who will stop at nothing to make sure he never returns to prison. The movie also stars Brody’s wife Leighton Meester and Taran Killam, and it was directed and co-written by the trio’s longtime friend Ben Ketai.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor It’s a busy week for Ciara. The music superstar is not only making her debut as the face of the new Gap and LoveShackFancy collection alongside her kids — son Future, 9, and daughter Sienna, 6 — but the “Level Up” singer tells me exclusively that she’ll be dropping a new song any minute. “I haven’t told the world yet so you’re the first,” Ciara said Monday night at the launch of the new LoveShackFancy collection at Harriet’s Rooftop at the 1 Hotel in West Hollywood.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Seth MacFarlane has donated $1 million to The Entertainment Community Fund to help provide financial assistance for industry workers during the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. The organization, formerly known as The Actors Fund, also exclusively tells me that recent donors include The Katie McGrath & JJ Abrams Family Foundation, Stacey Abrams, Annette Bening, Tom Bergeron, Greg Berlanti, Rachel Bloom, Rosanne Cash in memory of Johnny Cash, Suzanne Collins and Cap Pryor, Vince Gilligan, Lynn Nottage, Michelle Pfeiffer and David E.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Photographer and author Maxwell Poth’s gallery exhibit, “Young Queer America,” now at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, serves as a companion to his book of the same name, which features a collection of portraits and essays from young people across the United States. “I want every single queer person, especially every single queer kid to know this book exists,” the Los Angeles-based Poth said at the exhibit’s opening on July 29.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Margaret Cho headlined the second annual Comedy Funstival Friendstival fundraiser for Los Angeles-based women’s treatment and recovery organization Friendly House on July 29 at the Hollywood Improv. During her 20-minute set, the “Fire Island” actor weighed in on the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Bethenny Frankel has enlisted two of the most high-profile attorneys in Hollywood to help in her self-proclaimed fight to help protect reality stars from what she says is exploitation by networks and studios. Power players Bryan Freedman and Mark Geragos are now working alongside Frankel to investigate the treatment of reality stars. Freedman tells me that he has heard from roughly 50 reality show cast members from various docuseries and competition shows who believe that they were “used and unfairly” treated by television networks and streamers.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Kylie Minogue is officially bringing her beating heart to Las Vegas. The “Padam Padam” hitmaker will launch her debut U.S. residency on Nov.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor “And Just Like That …” actor Julie Halston is ready for her NSFW close-up. The Broadway veteran tells me it’s time for her zany ladies-who-lunch character, Bitsy von Muffling, to have a sex scene on the “Sex and the City” spinoff. “First of all, I have pretty tits,” Halston says.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Wilson Cruz will never forget the bullying he endured while in high school in southern California. “I don’t even know what it was like not to be bullied,” the “Star Trek: Discovery” star says. “I was called f—– every day.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Zurin Villanueva was starring in the national tour of “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical” when news broke in May that the music icon had died at age 83. A week later, while performing the scene in which Turner’s mother dies, Villanueva was overcome with emotion. “I was a wreck,” Villanueva tells Variety while in Los Angeles for the show’s run at the Pantages Theatre. “I thought I was okay. I felt like we grieved last week so I was fine. But then mama dies and I’m like, ‘I’m not fine.’ And right after she dies, I start singing ‘We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome).’ So I’m crying and it’s like you have to either sing through it or you let it impede you. I was like, ‘No, relax. There can be snot everywhere, but you can still sing.’”

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Becky G is a woman after my own heart — the “Mamiii” singer is a big Omar Apollo fan. “I love Omar Apollo,” the Latin music star tells me while promoting her new summer partnership with Patrón. “I adore him, and his creative mind is from another planet. I sat down with him, and it’s like, ‘Just talk. Please let it all out. Word vomit!’” Becky is also very into “What Was I Made For?,” Billie Eilish’s song on the “Barbie” soundtrack. “I’m obsessed with it,” she says. “It came in hot, poppin’. But I also love Billie in general. She’s incredible. She’s someone who kind of, like myself, started off very young in the industry. She’s such a beautiful soul, and I love the way she expresses herself.”

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Dove Cameron is getting close to releasing her debut album. “I’m inches away,” Cameron tells me. “I have just narrowed it down from about 60 songs that I have written. I’m trying to get the number of songs on the album really high, but Columbia is being reasonable. I’m being unreasonable. I’ve got all my favorites and most of them have been sent to the mixer and finished and the ones that aren’t I just left the studio last night at midnight while I’m in L.A.” The “Boyfriend” singer and “Schmigadoon!” star teased that a release date has been set, but details are under wraps: “It’s definitely this year. I can say it’s very soon. I was working against a deadline that might have pushed it to next year but I fixed it. I’ll be able to announce it in a week or two.”

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Busy Philipps has good reason to believe in psychics. “I’m psychic,” the “Freaks and Geeks” actor says during an appearance on the July 24 episode of the podcast “Ghosted! by Roz Hernandez.” What? “Well, I think I’m very intuitive,” Philipps explains. “But sometimes I just know things are going to happen. I sort of just see things in the future and then I have a lot of really psychic connections with people.” If that’s not enough bizarreness for you, “Ghosted!” host Hernandez says she and her best friend, “A Million Things” star Sam Pancake, once came face-to-face with a murderer while housesitting for Philipps. “You and Sam thwarted the murderer from coming to my home,” Philipps said.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Power publicist Alla Plotkin is teaming up with Jillian Roscoe, becoming a partner in Birch Public Relations. Roscoe launched the firm in March 2023 after leaving ID PR. Plotkin also departed ID at about the same time but didn’t announce her next move until her new partnership with Roscoe. Plotkin’s clients, including Sarah Paulson, Nicholas Braun, Bette Midler, Holland Taylor, Harvey Guillen and Titus Burgess, will join Birch’s roster, which includes Donald Glover, Jeremy Allen White, Sharon Horgan, John Cho, James Marsden, Kemp Powers, Gerard Butler, Judy Greer, Jesse Garcia, Mandy Moore, David Duchovny, Lake Bell, Jim Parsons, Fred Armisen, Jake Johnson, Ben Schwartz, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Melissa Rauch, Hannah Fidell, Ken Marino, Sarah Chalke, London Hughes, Lewis Howes, Zach Woods, Ty Burrell, Clay Tarver, Kevin Tancharoen, Julian Dennison, Jake Szymanski, Nicolette Robinson, Anna Drezen, Dan Perrault and Noah Pink.