Tag Archives: Oscars

Janelle Monáe Says She Felt ‘Pressure’ To Talk About Her Sexuality

Janelle Monáe has been speaking publicly about her identity for several years, and in 2018 she stated she was a “queer Black woman” who “has been in relationships with both men and women.”

In this months cover interview with Out magazine Monáe explained that she chooses not to talk about her relationships in public, but realised she would have to come out, she said: “I knew because of my art, I would have to talk about these things. So that put more pressure on me.

“The most important thing was me having conversations with my family. It was important that my family be reintroduced, not to the little girl they grew up knowing that they called ‘pumpkin’ or they knew was into this or into that, but they knew who I was today — that they knew that I was a free-ass motherf**ker.”

Monae added: “[Something] I identify with more than ever is the concept of coming in — and people coming into your life — and not coming out. I think there’s so much pressure put on people that can’t afford to announce to the world that, ‘I am queer’ or ‘I’m gay.’

“[I hope people can] talk about their sexuality and being queer, being gay, or being who they are, they can talk about it, not out of fear, but out of love and celebration for who they are.

“If people look at me as that beacon of hope, that’s great, but I always tell people don’t feel any pressure to be me. Take your time.”

Monáe added: “My hope is that we can continue to showcase the spectrum of storytelling around Black voices and around Black human beings, stories that humanize us.

“We can go beyond trauma, showing how powerful we are as Black people to persevere through trauma. I’m ready to see us in the past, the present, the future truly experiencing joy on screen and what it means to just exist.”

At the Oscars earlier this year, she gave an epic shout-out to Black History Month and made clear: “I’m so proud to stand here as a Black queer artist telling stories.”

Monáe explained of her Oscars moment: “[There are] so many people who have graced stages, who are out protesting and who are fighting to have their voices heard. I just happened to have a mic.

“To get on that stage and do anything other than that, would not have felt right to my spirit.”

Monáe added: “My hope is that we can continue to showcase the spectrum of storytelling around Black voices and around Black human beings, stories that humanize us.

“We can go beyond trauma, showing how powerful we are as Black people to persevere through trauma. I’m ready to see us in the past, the present, the future truly experiencing joy on screen and what it means to just exist.”

Despite The Strong Nominations, LGBT Films Lose Out At Oscars

Despite the hype, Carol – the critically acclaimed lesbian love story directed by Todd Haynes – failed to scoop any awards, despite both stars being nominated for awards.

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Cate Blanchett lost out to Brie Larson in the Best Actress category, while Alicia Vikander – who won the best supporting actress Oscar for her role in Tom Hooper’s transgender drama The Danish Girl – beat co-star Rooney Mara.

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The Danish Girl – which focuses on the first ever recipient of gender reassignment surgery and the effect this has on their marriage – failed to pick up any other awards, including Best Actor for Eddie Redmayne, who lost out to serial nominee Leonardo DiCaprio.

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The actor portrays the lead character, Lily Elbe, in the biopic – which also failed to pick up a BAFTA Award last week.

Carol also lost out at this year’s BAFTAs – despite a total of nine nominations.

Meanwhile, Sam Smith won the award for Best Soundtrack – dedicating his award to the global LGBT community, after wrongly suggesting he was the first gay man to win.

This year’s awards were seen to be one of the most controversial yet, after a number of stars announced their decision to boycott the ceremony due to a lack of diversity in nominees.

Lady Gaga Delivers Show-Stopping Oscars Performance Of ‘Til It Happens To You’

Lady Gaga delivered one of the most powerful and poignant performances of her song Til It Happens to You at the 88th Academy Awards.

The song was co-written by Diane Warren for the film The Hunting Ground, about rape on college campuses. Gaga started off the performance by playing solo on piano, but midway through the song, numerous sexual assault survivors appeared on stage beside her. On their forearms were words and phrases like “survivor” and “not your fault.”

Gaga was visibly moved at the end, with her performance garnering a standing ovation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV9YyjlGhro

The 29-year-old previously spoke out about her own direct experiences of sexual violence in 2014, revealing she was raped by a music producer while she was still a teenager.

Earlier this week, she became one of the numerous female musicians to publicly announce her support for Kesha, who’s injunction request against her label Sony Music was denied, despite the singer’s allegations of abuse at the hands of her long-time producer and collaborator, Dr Luke.

Gaga’s emotional performance of ‘Til It Happens to You’ was introduced by US Vice President Joe Biden, who used the appearance to speak about the Obama administration’s ‘It’s On Us’ campaign to tackle sexual assault. You can watch the performance in full below:

This year has already seen Gaga win an Emmy for her performance in American Horror Story: Hotel, and stun audiences with her Superbowl National Anthem rendition and Grammys tribute performance to David Bowie.

But despite the stunning rendition, Gaga missed out on the Oscar for Best Original Song, which went to Sam Smith for his Bond theme Writing’s on the Wall.

Ellen Page: “I Used To Be Depressed Hiding My Sexuality

Ellen Page has spoken numerous times about how much happier she is now that she’s come out of the closest as a gay woman, but in a new interview reveals just how bad things were when she was still inside.

In a new interview with Elle, reports Pink News, she admits:

When you’re on that track you’re a racehorse, going and going with these blinders on. You don’t stop to address how you feel.

I’d get panic attacks and sense an incredible discomfort because I didn’t relate to the conformity that comes with my gender [such as wearing feminine dresses on shoots].

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I was doing something I love and also wondering, ‘What’s wrong with me?’ You hate yourself for feeling bad, so you pretend you’re happy.

I’d ask myself, ‘Can’t you just flip a switch, be a character, play the game?’”

Page says she has now much more relaxed since coming out.

She added:

I do interviews [now] with a sense of, ‘Oh, this is what it’s like’. A photo shoot used to only represent discomfort, I felt guilty for lying. Fashion once meant dresses and heels, and I didn’t know why I’d want to be dressed that way.”

Earlier this month, the actor turned LGBT advocate urged fellow Hollywood stars who may be in the closet to be honest about their sexual orientation.

Page – who recently finished filming a new documentary exploring homophobia around the world – said she hopes that one day “coming out” is no longer an issue.

Ellen Page On Hollywood’s Double Standard: ‘Now I’m Gay, I Can’t Play A Straight Person?’

In a recent interview with Elle magazine, once Oscar nominated actress Ellen Page spoke out against Hollywood’s double standards against gay and lesbian actors, and how she is now being ‘pigeon holed’ in gay roles, after playing a series of heterosexual females in all of her previous films.

I have four projects coming up – all gay roles. People ask if I’m concerned about getting pigeonholed. No one asks: ‘Ellen, you’ve done seven straight roles in a row – shouldn’t you shake it up and do something queer?

There’s still that double standard. I look at all the things I’ve done in movies: I’ve drugged a guy, tortured someone, become a roller-derby star overnight. But now I’m gay, I can’t play a straight person?”

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Ellen goes on to point out the absurdity of what people can and can’t accept from LGBT actors in their roles.

There’s still that double standard. I look at all the things I’ve done in movies: I’ve drugged a guy, tortured someone, become a roller-derby star overnight. But now I’m gay, I can’t play a straight person?”

Page, who came out in nearly 2 years ago, has been incredibly vocal about her experiences as a gay actor, says she credits her film Freeheld – the true story of lesbian partners fighting for equal rights after one of them is diagnosed with cancer –  in many ways for encouraging her to come out to the public, telling Elle UK:

It was part of it. What blows my mind is how my own personal journey paralleled the development of that movie. It felt wildly inappropriate to be playing this character as a closeted person. Coming out was a long process, though.”

Since coming out in February, 2014, Page has been incredibly vocal about her experiences as a lesbian actor, the challenges she’s faced, and her personal life with her girlfriend, Samantha Thomas.

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She says she still won’t let Hollywood’s expectations steer her away from projects telling LGBT stories, and shortly she’ll be releasing Gaycation, with her friend Ian Daniel. In the show the two travelled the world learning about all different types of LGBT cultures for Viceland’s.

 

 

 

Ellen Page Discusses The Continued Oscars’ Diversity Problem: ‘How Could You Not Feel Angry?’

Ellen Page has joined a host of other actors and actresses, and said the Oscars diversity controversy extends far beyond just Hollywood.

May of Hollywood’s elite have issued voiced their concerns about the lack of actors of colour being considered for an Academy Award,

Talking to PEOPLE at the Sundance Film Festival, Page said that the issue “means a lot to me as an audience member and as a human being.”

Page, who was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar in 2008 for Juno, says that the Academy’s sweeping new guidelines, designed to address that lack of diversity among its voting body, are “crucial.”

It means a lot to me as someone who does this job. I think the issue is much more systemic and I hope that’s what changes, hearing more diverse stories, but I feel like finally there’s some steps going in the right direction.”

Page – who was at the annual Utah festival to promote her new drama Tallulah – also issued some suggestions for the continued implementation of positive changes across Hollywood.

There needs to be more diversity behind the camera, and more people getting hired in every aspect of the business, and more support for those stories and more opportunity. You look at something like Orange Is the New Black, and how many actresses we were introduced to who we may not otherwise have seen because they had no opportunity.”

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That makes me feel like, how could you not feel angry at that, you know? And I hope that is what is going to continue to happen, and just as an audience member I want to go see more stories from different perspectives. We do this job, sure to entertain, but also to reflect aspects of what it means to be a human.”

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See Cate Blanchett Dance For Joy After Winning Award For ‘Carol’ Role

Awards seasons frontrunner Cate Blanchett – who has been tipped for Oscars glory for her role in the critically acclaimed lesbian love story Carol – quite literally danced for joy after winning an award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala.

After it was announced she had won the Desert Palm Achievement Award – Actress at the ceremony over the weekend, the star threw her hands up and danced on stage.

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Other winners at the awards show included Johnny Depp, Matt Damon and Saoirse Ronan.

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Speaking of her new role as the repressed housewife who falls in love with a younger woman (played by Rooney Mara), Blanchett said it can be frustrating playing a gay character because many people expect their own relationships to be represented.

The problem is that when you represent a character in a same-sex relationship, it’s like you have to represent them all. You become a spokesperson, which really isn’t the point.”

She also added:

When the time comes that we have a diversity of same-sex couples in film, then the problem is solved, I don’t have to stand for everyone.”

Tangerine’s Leading Ladies Could Become First Trans Actresses Nominated for Oscars

According to GLAAD’s 2015 Studio Responsibility Index, which looks at the LGBT diversity of films released in the previous year, just 20 of the 114 releases from major studios GLAAD surveyed included any LGBT characters. 65% of the inclusive films starred gay male characters and none of those inclusive titles featured transgender characters.

Things have gotten a little better with 2015’s movie releases though snf one film garnering a lot of critical acclaim is Tangerine.

Tangerine has made headlines not just because the entire movie was shot almost entirely on an iPhone but also because it’s a film about two trans sex workers (played by two trans women of colour) as they set off to go and locate their pimp on Christmas Eve.

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Tangerine has already scooped up several accolades, including the Audience Award and the Breakthrough Actor (Mya Taylor, one of the films leads) at the Gotham Independent Film Awards.

But now the film is going one further as Magnolia Pictures, the distributor that picked up the film earlier this year, has now launched a campaign to get Taylor and Kitana Kiki Rodriguez (Tangerine’s other star) nominated for Academy Awards.

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Magnolia hopes to get Taylor and Rodriguez nominated in the Lead Actress and Supporting Actress categories and while it’s unclear exactly how successful the campaign is going so far, it does have some high profile supporters.

Recently, during a screening of the film to Oscar voters, Orange is the New Black’s Laverne Cox showed up to say that

I often imagine what it would be like for trans people all over this country and world if a trans woman is nominated for an Academy Award. You have a chance to make that happen.”

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Meanwhile, Mark Duplass (of the Duplass Brothers, who are producing the film) recently said that “the TV Academy has embraced what’s happening in the trans movement with Transparent and Orange is the New Black. The film Academy is a little behind on that front.”

Nominations for the Academy Awards will be officially revealed on January 14, 2016.

Hilary Swank Says There is a ‘Long Way to Go’ on Transgender Acceptance

Hilary Swank has spoken up recently about her portrayal of a transgender male in the 1999 film Boys Don’t Cry.

Swank was largely unknown when she starred in the real-life story of Brandon Teena, a trans man who was beaten, raped and murdered by his male acquaintances after they discovered he was transgender.

During an appearance on Thursday’s all-new Meredith Vieira Show, Swank was asked about the progress made for the transgender community since the film’s release.

I think we have taken strides since that movie, like you said 15 years ago. We have a long way to go. It’s astonishing to me that we are here in 2015 and there are so many issues that need to be looked at and handled and we shouldn’t dictate who people should love.”

Swank has been a proud supporter of LGBT rights for many years. In fact, she recently received the GLAAD award and Outfest award for her work in the famous film.

When asked if she ever expected the movie to spur so much conversation, she would have to say no.

I had no idea. If I had known that at the time, I probably would have collapsed from the enormous responsibility of that,”. “It was an enormous responsibility just to play someone who had lived and been murdered so brutally and whose life was taken short because of their choice of whom to love.”

In a world filled with many more issues, Swank argues that Americans should spend their time on far more important causes instead of preventing equal rights for the LGBT community.

Let people love people and let’s focus on what truly needs looked at and help homeless people, homeless pets, sick people. Look at the rest of the world, let’s focus on those things.”

Patricia Arquette’s Oscars Acceptance Speech Causes Backlash

Patricia Arquette, who won the Best Supporting Actress award at last night’s Oscars, is feeling the heat this morning. The Boyhood actress, who received a standing ovation from fellow nominee Meryl Streep as she called for equality for women, didn’t get the same reaction from fans on Twitter.

Backstage she went on to elaborate further on her comments, arguing that it’s time people of colour and the LGBTI community to fight for women’s rights, like women have fought for theirs.

“It is time for women – equal means equal. And the truth is, the older women get, the less money they make. The more children… the highest percentage of children living in poverty are female-headed households.

And it’s inexcusable that we go around the world and we talk about equal rights for women in other countries and we don’t… one of those Superior Court justices said two years ago in a law speech at a university ‘We don’t have equal rights for women in America and we don’t because when they wrote the Constitution, they didn’t intend it for women’.

So the truth is, even though we sort of feel like we have equal rights in America, right under the surface, there are huge issues that are applied that really do affect women. And it’s time for all the women in America and all the men that love women, and all the gay people, and all the people of colour that we’ve all fought for to fight for us now.”

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The reason for the criticism, is that many believe she ignored the unique struggles of women who are from ethnic minorities and LGBT with her comments, especially when she then went on to ask for gay people and people of colour to join the fight.

What she failed to recognise is this is a battle many are already facing, but I guess she did bring the debate to table and shine a massive spotlight on something that needs to be said.

Women still get the rough deal, be they gay, bi, ethnic, mothers, grandmothers, daughters… young or old. It is still a tough society to live in, and as a collective we all need to fight as one. Its hard to make changes as individuals, but unified we can do anything.

 

Oscar Talk | Graham Moore Takes Home Only Oscar For ‘The Imitation Game’

The Imitation Game screenwriter Graham Moore has won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay.

Moore took the stage, and thanked his collaborators on The Imitation Game, then opened up about his life; mentioning his attempted suicide as a youth and giving a message of hope to teens out there now.

“When was was 16 years old I tried to kill myself because I felt weird and I felt different and I felt like I did not belong. And now, I’m standing here.

And so I would like this moment to be for that kid out there who feels like she’s weird or she’s different and she doesn’t fit in anywhere. Yes, you do. Stay weird and stay different.”

Graham Moore

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGF8bzeRwcw

The Imitation Game screenplay is based on the biography Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges, which tells the story of Alan Turing, the father of modern computing, who cracked impossible German codes in World War II and helped end the war, only for Turning to later be criminally prosecuted for his homosexuality.

Best adapted screenplay was one of the most fiercely competitive categories at this year’s ceremony – The Theory of Everything writer Anthony McCarten and Whiplash writer/director Damien Chazelle were also considered frontrunners.

Oscar Talk | The Best Tweets, GIFS and Memes Of The Night

John Travolta creeping out all…

Lady Gaga does the Sound of Music

Meryl Streep and JLo reaction. “YES! YES! YES!” Mic drop.

Scarlett Johansson new hair style… HOT!

What the ladies were really expecting when Channing Tatum hit the stage…

Matthew McConaughey’s beard

Oscar Talk | Tegan and Sara Rock All Black At The Oscars

We really loved the look Tegan and Sara opted for at last nights Oscars. The rock duo went for an all black matching ensembles for the red carpet: one a black tuxedo suit and the other a chic black dress, respectively. Perfectly complementary. 

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Twin sisters, Tegan and Sara, were at the oscars to perform the song Everything Is Awesome, from The Lego Movie. The song was one of five tunes nominated for the Best Original Song award – and they pulled off a fantastic spot, lightening the mood and making the audience smile, with Andy Samberg’s comedy-music troupe The Lonely Island. Dancers even handed out Lego Oscars to Oprah, Steve Carell and other stars – an epic Oscars collaboration that will make the history books.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlUIYw6RbXU

 

Oscar Talk | Patricia Arquette – Its Time For Women’s Rights

Patricia Arquette last night picked up the first Academy Award for supporting actress in Richard Linklater’s coming-of-age story, Boyhood.

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Arquette, who plays the mother of Ellar Coltrane’s Mason in the film, which deals in real world emotions about what it means to go through life and be a women.

In her acceptance speech, Arquette dedicated her Oscar to American women, and ended with a powerful call to action.

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“To every woman who gave birth to every citizen and taxpayer of this nation, we have fought for everybody else’s equal rights. It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America.”

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And with that she brought Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lopez to their feet, and Twitter exploded with support.

Meryl Streep: “YES! YES! YES!” Mic drop.

In Boyhood, Patricia plays the mother to the main character, and throughout the nearly three-hour film, the audience sees her withstand the tribulations of single motherhood, divorce and domestic abuse.

Her role is touching, funny and without question worthy of the Oscar that it just garnered

Arquette, who also won the Golden Globe in the same category, beat out Laura Dern, Keira Knightley, Emma Stone and Meryl Streep, who has been nominated for an Academy Award a record 19 times.

Oscar Talk | Neil Patrick Harris Calls Out Hollywood’s Diversity Problem

Neil Patrick Harris, made sure to open the Academy Award show with a bang, and well timed joke about Hollywood’s overwhelming diversity problem.

Well, he did say he wanted to outdo Ellen DeGeneres’ epic Oscars selfie, and he may have done that in the first 8 seconds of the show.

The audience looked on in shock as he joked:

“Welcome to the 87th Oscars. Tonight we honor Hollywood’s best and whitest — sorry, brightest.”

Neil Patrick Harris

The actor’s shot at the Academy should really come no surprise. The hashtag #OscarsSoWhite began trending on Twitter shortly after the nominees were announced back in January, and  judging by the reaction on Twitter last night, plenty of others thought he was right to call out this year’s Academy Awards.

The rest of his opening show, involved an epic sing-a-long with Anna Kendrick and Jack Black, which was a heartfelt musical ode to Hollywood, with NPH inserting himself digitally on stage into movies like The Wizard of Oz, Star Wars and Ghost.

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Awesome, Tegan and Sara To Perform At The Oscars

Its been announced that Tegan and Sara will be taking the stage at the Oscars. The duo has been added to the long list of performers, to sing hit song Everything Is Awesome, which is featured in The Lego Movie.

Although The Lego Movie may have been snubbed at the Oscars in the Best Animated Feature category, it did nab a Best Original Song nomination for the song, which was written by Shawn Patterson.

The awards show producers have now announced that the song will be performed live at the Academy Awards by The Lonely Island and Tegan & Sara, who performed the song for the end credits of the movie. The Lonely Island confirmed that they would be playing the song live via their Twitter.

The 87th annual Academy Awards will be held Sunday, February 22 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles.

I *Heart* Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock is a German-American actress. She took acting classes with Sanford Meisner in New York and performed in a few off-Broadway plays. Early in her career, Bullock was the indie film darling. Her star-making role was that of Annie Porter from the 1994 action film Speed. Since then, she has starred in a number of box office hit romantic comedies and dramas, growing to hold the 2012 Guinness World Record for highest-paid actress.

She has won multiple Golden Globe awards, won an Oscar award for “Best Actress” and a Razzie award for “Worst Actress” in the same year. She is only the second actress to accept a Razzie award in the thirty-year history of this particular awards ceremony.

In accepting her Academy award for The Blind Side, she thanked…

What this film was about for me, which are the moms that take care of the babies and the children, no matter where they come from. Those moms and parents never get thanked. I, in particular, fail to thank one.”

She went on to thank her deceased mother for…

Reminding her daughters that there’s no race, to religion, no class system, no colour—nothing, no sexual orientation that makes us better than anyone else. We are all deserving of love.”

On a more light-hearted note, Bullock also mentioned Meryl Streep in her speech as “the best kisser”, alluding to a skit that she and the famous Streep had played for the 2010 Golden Globes Critics Choice Awards. The two acted out a vocal feud over the Best Actress nomination and award, which ended with Bullock striding towards Streep and pulling her face in for a quick but decisive mouth-to-mouth snog. The two embraced… “Meryl is a good kisser,” Bullock stated.

In addition to acting, Sandra Bullock is an activist for environmentalism and relief efforts for natural disasters.

Looking Forward to Watching Bette Midler and Pink Performing At 2014 Oscars

As if host Ellen Degeneres was not enough, the Oscars got even gay-er by including icons (and LGBT allies) P!nk and Bette Midler to the line-up.  The two will be performing live tonight and we can’t wait.

This is not the first time Midler has appeared at the Oscars as she has previously been nominated for a Best Actress in a Leading Role award for her roles in For the Boys and The Rose, but it is her first time performing.

There is no word on what songs the two diva’s will be singing, but I imagine it will be some performance.

Other performers tonight include Karen O, Idina Menzel, U2 and Pharrell Williams, who will each performing their respective nominated Original Songs.