Ian Parker's expansive reporting in the New Yorker on the Tyler Clementi case is definitely worth a read. The friend who pointed me to the piece said it would change my opinion about Dharun "Worst Roommate Ever" Ravi: "This case has taken on a life of its own that isn't based in reality. There was no sex tape! There was no broadcast over the Internet! There was no outing!" But perhaps she oversold his lack of culpability to me. Because while it's clear that things are never as black and white as a juror might want them to be -- and I agree that only the person who takes his life is responsible for killing himself -- I came away thinking he was not only a major douche who had broken the law, that he was arrogant for refusing to take a no-jail plea deal that also helped to ensure he would not be deported. Decide for yourself HERE.
UPDATE: I deliberately left my main point out of this post as I wanted to leave it to the reader to decide for himself. But given some of the comments, I will say this: The defense would like us to now believe that Ravi is being swept up in some "anti-bullying" backlash that does not really fit this situation, but I'm not so sure I agree. He has not been charged with violating ome reactionary anti-bullying statute. He's been charged with invasion of privacy (which he clearly did), witness and evidence tampering (which he clearly did -- and I don't even blame him; he was scared and tried to get his story straight with friends and delete tweets), and bias intimidation. The ONLY part -- and admittedly the most serious part -- that is debatable is the bias part, which a jury can decide. But even if you believe his defenders who say he did not have hate toward gays, can you really see ANY situation where he would have done what he did -- setting up the camera to spy, tweeting about how gross it was, setting it up again and inviting others to come watch -- if his roomie had a chick over? I can't, so isn't that kind of the definition of a bias?
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Crime and Punishment (UPDATE)
Victoria Azarenka Does Ellen DeGeneres
'Service' With a Smile
Fans of LGBT Hollywood lore are going to love this one. New York Times reporter Brooks Barnes has a great profile about Scotty Bowers, who recently wrote a shocking tell-all memoir about Old Hollywood's sexual underground, where he was a major player as a rent boy "arranging" gay liaisons for the likes of Tennessee Williams, Charles Laughton, Vincent Price, Rita Hayworth, Errol Flynn, Gloria Swanson, Katherine Hepburn ("over 150 different women"!), Noël Coward, Mae West, James Dean, Rock Hudson and J. Edgar Hoover, to name but a few. Bowers himself -- now 88 and married to a woman for the last 27 years -- claims Edith Piaf, Spencer Tracy, Vivien Leigh, Cary Grant, and the abdicated King of England Edward VIII as past lovers of his own.
After years of being pestered, Bowers says he finally wrote the book -- "Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars." -- "because I’m not getting any younger and all of my famous tricks are dead by now. The truth can’t hurt them anymore.”
Hart to Hart
Madonnapocalypse*
*Stole the headline from my pal Robbie!
Hollywood & Pine
'Decapitated Cerebellum in Tavern of Ill Repute'
Arizona's Split Personality
The Arizona Daily Star reports: The records show Ronald Brewer was indicted on two charges of sexual assault and one count of kidnapping. In July 1989 he forced his way into a woman's apartment, slapped her numerous times and then committed sex acts against her. In February 1990, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Gregory Martin concluded Ronald Brewer was not legally responsible "because at the time of the conduct, the defendant was suffering from such a mental disease or defect as not to know the nature and quality of his acts, or that was he was doing was wrong." Martin committed him to the Arizona State Hospital.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Ladies, Start Your Engines
Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick
Cynthia Nixon: That Kenneth Walsh Was Right All Along (UPDATE)
OK, maybe she didn't quite say that. But I did tell her so -- and I'm happy to see Cynthia Nixon now admits that I was right -- she's not choosing "to be" gay, she's bi and choosing to exercise her gay option -- even if she has to be all Miranda-y about it.
In a statement, she said:
"My recent comments in The New York Times were about me and my personal story of being gay. I believe we all have different ways we came to the gay community and we can't and shouldn't be pigeon-holed into one cultural narrative which can be uninclusive and disempowering. However, to the extent that anyone wishes to interpret my words in a strictly legal context I would like to clarify:
"While I don't often use the word, the technically precise term for my orientation is bisexual. I believe bisexuality is not a choice, it is a fact. What I have 'chosen' is to be in a gay relationship."
Monday Ad Watch: David Beckham Bodywear
Fasten Your Seatbelts, It's Going to Be a Bumpy Night
Nick Jonas Gets Porked
Saw Nick and Joe Jonas at Rub BBQ the other night and see it's now turned up in the "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" star's "My New York" list for The Post. The kid's got a good taste -- I'm a pulled pork fan myself -- and his brother likes my other favorite restaurant in Chelsea. If you haven't been "we" both recommend ...
He writes:
5 RUB, 208 W. 23rd St., between Seventh and Eighth avenues
“I was really craving barbecue [one] night, so I went on Google and looked up the best barbecue spot in NYC and this place came up. It’s really good. I’ve been there a few times since — I watched the Giants game there a few weeks ago, which was fun. I get the pulled pork sandwich with some cornbread and hush puppies. That’s my main deal.”
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Novak Djokovic Defeats Rafael Nadal in Longest Grand Slam Final in Open Era!
Friday, January 27, 2012
Thomas Roberts Does '30 Rock'
On the Rag, Vol. 183
A weekly look at what's making news in the free gay mags:
RIP, Juan Luis Pedro Felipo de Huevos Epstein
Smells Like Team Spirit
Andy Murray Would Give the Shirt Off His Back for a Slam
Friday Ad Watch: Looking Good!
Dateline: BOLLYWOODAd copy: Rohit Chauhan, famous singer-performer, got Hair Transplant done from Dr. A's Clinic, widely considered world's leading hair transplant centre.
(Mustache-removal sold separately.)
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Armie Hammer -- Hottest Mug Shot Ever!
'Real World' Hottie Danny Roberts Wants You to Come Downtown
When I briefly lived in the Little Tokyo section of downtown Los Angeles in the early '90s, the idea of a television show being set there -- much less a gay one -- seemed impossible. A lot has changed in 20 years, and now "L Word" producer Larry Kennar is bringing us "DTLA," a new series that follows a group of friends in Downtown Los Angeles as they deal with the breakup of lovers Lenny (Darryl Stephens) and Bryan (Matthew Stephen Herrick). The show will begin airing on Canada’s OUTtv in late spring, but because it's a DIY project, it looks like there's a KickStarter page looking for donations for a second season. (If there is a home for it in the U.S. I have not heard about it.)
What I find most interesting about the project, however, is the eclectic cast, which includes Danny Roberts ("The Real World"), Tiffany Pollard ("I Love New York"), William McNamara ("Doing Time on Maple Drive") and Leslie Jordan ("Will & Grace"). Guess which two starred in my '90s sexual fantasies -- hints HERE and HERE!
