Thursday Ad Watch

 

I must say Aaron Rodgers and Jake from State Farm are looking awfully fit in this latest commercial for the insurance company. (I don't know Jake's relationship status, but the Green Bay Packer is newly single.) Watch HERE.

You may have noticed that State Farm updated its "Jake" ad campaign to be more diverse. (They apparently also wanted a real actor as the campaign grew because the original guy was an actual employee.) 

But did you also notice that in addition to recasting the phone rep, they edited the dialogue so that when the suspicious wife finally hears the voice on the other end -- which the hubby keeps assuring her is a man -- she no longer says: "She sounds hideous"? Have to wonder if that was a nod to trans sensitivity. 

Page 1 Roundup (07/17)

The Daily News: Yet another reason not to leave the house

Buzzfeed: The Berlin Wall came down faster than Ellen DeGeneres 

The WoW Report: Every time a denialist gets touched personally by the virus, an angel gets its wings

Towleroad: Mary Trump opted not to come out to her family after hearing her grandmother call Elton John a ‘faggot’

An open letter to gay men on Covid-19 from 205 gay physicians

Instagram: Henry Cavill building a computer in a tank top sends internet into overdrive

The Sun: Might be a good time for Aaron Rodgers to get back in touch with his old 'roommate'

Just Jared: Michelle Obama is launching a podcast

Boy Culture: Zac Efron's hottest 'Down to Earth' moments

Washington Blade: Two men charged in Sterling, Va., gay murder

Vulture: Kevin Connolly probably raped someone right around the last time you thought of him

Greg in Hollywood: Out NBC News correspondent Joe Fryer was unintentionally sporting a pirate look this morning

New York Post: 'I think there is absolutely valid causes about what came out of Minneapolis … but I think that people are using that just cause to advance agendas and agendas that existed long before the incident happened'

BosGuy: I like my men like my peaches: furry

NewNowNext: If only Scarlett Johansson or Halle Berry had shown interest in playing a trans character

The Randy Report: Brian Austin Green serves up dad bod for 47th birthday

The Washington Post:  15 women accuse then-Redskins employees of sexual harassment

Supreme Court deals blow to felons in Florida seeking to regain the right to vote

The New York Times: The Twitter breach that targeted Joe Biden, Barack Obama and others served as a warning: Had it happened on Nov. 3, hoping to upend the election, the political fallout could have been quite different

Mask rules expand across U.S. as clashes over the mandates intensify

USA Today, after fracas, says op-ed attacking Fauci fell short of standards

Hunk wanted a Manhattan bachelor pad for under $600,000. Which of these would you choose?

The Wall Street Journal: Russian hackers blamed for attacks on coronavirus vaccine-related targets

Now arriving at JFK: Private pilots get their chance to fly into major airports

Hot Cat of the Day: Three cheers for Rojo, who made a parliamentary committee call unexpectedly fun!

Page 1 Roundup (01/09)

The Daily News: Trump demands wall cash in fact-challenged Oval Office address, as shutdown set to become longest in history

Kevin Spacey claims alleged victim lied about age, welcomed flirtation

Second suspect in savage 2016 slaying at an Upper East Side apartment takes manslaughter plea

Associated Press: I think I see a new man in Aaron Rodgers's future

Business Insider: The Supreme Court handed Mueller a victory in his mysterious grand-jury subpoena fight

New York Post: Remember when Speaker Paul and Senate MAJORITY leader Mitch built a wall? Me, neither ...

The Washington Post: ‘Chuck and Nancy’ present a united front in challenging Trump on border wall

A writer spent her career mining her past. Then she took an ancestry DNA test.

Turkish rebuke of Bolton highlights troubled effort to sell U.S. plan for exit from Syria

The New York Times: Trump appeals for wall, citing misleading statistics of crisis and crime along border

The Wall Street Journal: Are those gold teeth or did you just eat in the gaudiest place on earth?

Page 1 Roundup (05/24)

The Daily News: Nothing screams patriotism like banning peaceful protests

Jessica Walter claims Jeffrey Tambor verbally harassed her on ‘Arrested Development’ set

Video reveals police roughing up Milwaukee Bucks player Sterling Brown

A Son Speaks Out: Moses Farrow defends dad Woody Allen against "crime he didn't commit," accuses mom Mia Farrow of physical abuse and brainwashing

COS: I agree that white people shouldn't use the n-word -- but you have to be kidding me with this trumped-up fake outrage

New York Post: Jets boss breaks rank with NFL: I’ll pay the anthem fines

LIRR rider charged with hate crime for racist rant caught on video

Olivia Munn details the Aaron Rodgers family drama

The New York Times: North Korea issues new threat on Trump meeting, calling Pence remarks ‘ignorant and stupid’

Truth in a post-Truth era: Sandy Hook families sue Trump pal Alex Jones, conspiracy theorist

San Francisco Chronicle: ‘Vertigo’ star Kim Novak talks Hitchcock, #MeToo at sold-out Castro celebration

The Washington Post: It’s exhausting being a reporter in the Trump era. A new documentary captures the toll at the New York Times.

The Randy Report: A partial list of Trump lies and conspiracy theories

Washington Blade: LGBT candidates to watch in 2018

The Wall Street Journal: The tight job market has forced plumbing companies to offer Silicon Valley-style benefits to keep the talent happy

Aaron Rodgers's Mustache Reports to Fudge Packers Camp

Sorry. But this new look isn't likely to quell rumors that the Green Bay quarterback was involved in a nasty breakup with his "roommate."

It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A. ...

Aaron Rodgers Tat Gets Instagram Commenters' Jock Straps in a Twist

People are up in arms about some guy getting the gayest Aaron Rodgers tattoo of all time -- and it wasn't even his ex-boyfriend!

Aaron Rodgers and Olivia Munn Break Up

Now that the Green Bay (fudge) Packer is done with this beard, maybe he can reunite with his ex-"roommate."

Munn's the Word

Olivia Munn, Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers dating: report

Unlike Michael Sam, Aaron Rodgers is totally NOT gay.

BREAKING: Aaron Rodgers Is Still 'Not' Gay

Ex brothers-in-law?

I don't know what the hell is going on here -- another Troy Aikman? a spurned lover? a disgruntled employee trying to "frame" someone as being gay? -- but this Kevin Lanflisi - Aaron Rodgers situation is queerer than a three-dollar bill. See more unearthed tweets from the "personal ASSistant/roomMATE" HERE.

Chico and the Man

(H/T Queerty)

Tebow's Gay Baggage ... and a Packer's Denial

Given that he's an evangelical, and that his own pastor is anti-gay, Viv Bernstein asks the question whether it matters to new employer ESPN what Tebow's views on gay issues might be. Read HERE.

And in related news, Aaron Rodgers finally addressed Internet rumors that he is gay today: 

“I’m just going to say I’m not gay,” he said Tuesday on 540 ESPN Milwaukee. “I really, really like women. That’s all I can really say about that.” 

That topic came up when he was asked about the positives and negatives of being a celebrity, to which the Chico native and Cal product talked about the “uncool side” of dealing with “crazy rumors.” 

“There’s always going to be silly stuff out there in the media which you can’t worry too much about, and I don’t,” Rodgers said. “So, just, keep on trucking. I think professional should be professional, and personal is personal.”

Aaron Rodgers' 'Dad' Calls Gay Rumor Post 'Disgusting'

Update: Olivia Munn Suspects an ex-Boyfriend Was Secretly Gay (Aug. 14, 2020)

A man purporting to be Aaron Rodgers' father -- but more likely a pussy of a Packers fan -- just sent me this email. He wants me to know, among other things, that Aaron is engaged to a "beautiful Christian woman." (Emphasis mine and, I think it's safe to say, his.) He also doesn't seem to be very familiar with First Amendment law, but here you go ...

From: EDWARD RODGERS 
To: KENNETH M. WALSH 
Sent: Monday, December 30, 2013 6:10 PM 
Subject: Dumbass post 

I'm Aaron's dad and this is a disgusting post. Aaron is actually engaged to a beautiful Christian woman. You are a slime ball for spreading this bullshit. How would you like your sorry ass sued!!! 

 Sent from Ed Rodgers' iPhone 5  
 __________________________

No word if said fiancee is the woman pictured above, who was eloquently described this way in a blog post by Terez Owens:

Here’s Aaron Rodgers with his latest girlfriend Destiny Newton frolicking on the beach…She’s blond…check…Tramp stamp…check…Stripper name…check…and looks like she’s up for a good time…

Something tells me a simple "He's not gay -- not that there's anything wrong with that" would have been a better route to go for Papa Rodgers, but what does a "slime ball" like me know about good graces?!

Kevin Lanflisi: 5 things to know about Aaron Rodgers's alleged lover

UPDATE via Twitter: Aaron Rodgers just said on a radio show: "I'm not gay. I really, really like women."

Tweet Nothings

Good lord. Someone purporting to be Aaron Rodgers' dad just wrote to tell me, among other things, that his son is engaged to a "beautiful Christian woman." Read HERE.

While neither Aaron Rogers nor Kevin Lanflisi have commented on speculation that they were lovers ...

these messages (from happier times) certainly show a close and rather sweet bond.

Seen HERE.

The entire story is based on anonymous sources, but the latest morsel is that Rodgers backed out of the NFL coming-out party last summer and got engaged to Destiny Newton. I've reached out to Kevin Lanflisi  via social media. Stay tuned.

Was QB Aaron Rodgers Outed by His Increasingly Impatient (Ex-)Boyfriend? (UPDATE)

There is compelling evidence that Super Bowl-winning quarterback Aaron Rodgers is one of the NFL players who was supposedly close to coming out of the closet last summer. 

Is this man a Green Bay packer?

It never happened, of course. But now it seems his rumored lover, Kevin Lanflisi, has been tweeting and deleting cryptic messages like the ones above, leading some to speculate they broke up because their relationship was never brought out in the open. This, along with many old quotes from Rodgers that certainly sound like Kevin is more than his "roommate," has me believing. (Friends in Wisconsin say this would be "no surprise.") Would be HUGE if he came out. Read the full story and decide for yourself HERE or HERE. To be honest, the mustache alone was pretty much all the evidence I needed.

Who's the hag?

With this ring, I thee bed

UPDATE: As it would happen, a friend of mine read this post as he was sitting at a table in South Beach with one of Aaron's Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition model ex-girlfriends. She doesn't believe the rumor and said she would be "shocked" if it were true, adding: 

"There was never an ounce of me that would make me think he was gay." 

Words I'm pretty sure Jason Collins' ex said, too. Julie, who reportedly used to date Russell Simmons as well, also said she doesn't know Kevin.

UPDATE 2: Good lord. Someone purporting to be Aaron Rodgers' dad just wrote to tell me, among other things, that his son is engaged to a "beautiful Christian woman." Read HERE.

5 things to know about the rumored lover HERE.