Neil Patrick Harris has a snake in his pants!

The star of Broadway’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch poses for famed photographer Annie Lebowitz for Vanity Fair. I think that’s one lucky snake!

Robin Roberts on why she waited so long to come out: ‘News flash: Some people like their anonymity’

We all know that Robin Roberts has been on ABC’s Good Morning America since 1995 and shared with viewers her battles with breast cancer and myelodysplastic syndrome.

She kind of felt like family.

But it was not until last December that she shared with the world that she is a lesbian and in a long-term relationship.

Robin was widely applauded for her decision to finally go public but there were also those critics who felt she had waited much too long given her high-profile and the battle for LGBT equal rights on the front burner.

She has no apologies.

‘News flash: Some people like their anonymity.’ she says in a new interview with Good Housekeeping.

Being in people’s living rooms for nearly two decades on GMA isn’t exactly anonymity but okay.

‘This is what’s right for me,’ Robin says. ‘Love is love, and I’m grateful to have that. Sometimes there’s a stigma attached to how people view you if you’re living a certain way. But I don’t care — you gotta live your life.’

‘You gotta find what happiness is and what it means for you, and you can’t get caught up in what someone is saying about you on Twitter,’ she adds. ‘You don’t go through a year like I did (surviving myelodysplastic syndrome) to not be happy and not make your own choices.’

OUT’s Power 50: Ellen is #1 with NPH, Michael Sam, Andy Cohen and Robin Roberts also in top 10

We’ve always known Ellen DeGeneres is one powerful woman but now it is official.

Boosted by her triumph hosting the Academy Awards last month, Ellen has landed atop Out Magazine’s 8th annual Power 50 list which ranks of the most influential LGBTI voices in American culture.

Ellen, who finished second on the list last year, moved up a spot based in the Oscars which were the highest rated Academy Awards telecast in a decade and resulted in the temporary crashing of Twitter due to the host’s all-star selfie.

Ellen also set a new 10-year ratings record for her daytime talk show last month.

Apple CEO Tim Cook dropped to second place and is followed by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, US Senator Tammy Baldwin, and journalist Glenn Greenwald who gained fame for interviewing whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Also in the top 10: Glee creator Ryan Murphy, Neil Patrick Harris, Bravo personality Andy Cohen, football player Michael Sam and Good Morning America host Robin Roberts.

Sam and Roberts came out publicly in recent months and are making their debut on the list.

Other Power 50 names: CNN’s Anderson Cooper (14), Glee star Jane Lynch (20) CNN’s Don Lemon (27), Oscar nominee Ellen Page (29), TMZ founder Harvey Levin (34), Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black (38), Grammy winner Frank Ocean (42) and RuPaul (49).

Well Greg In Hollywood, there’s always next year. I have a feeling I was probably number 51 and just missed the cut.

Tuesday Morning Man: Jonathan Bennett!

This handsome guy is Jonathan Bennett who is best known for playing Aaron Samuels in the 2004 film Mean Girls.

He also was in Cheaper by the Dozen 2 with Hilary Duff and Lovewrecked with Amanda Bynes.

But Jonathan, 32, has not only starred opposite former teen queens. He also had roles on Veronica Mars and All My Children and done guest spots on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Deception, Smallville.

He also found work in direct-to-DVD flicks of well-known franchises including The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning, in which he played Bo Duke and in National Lampoon’s Van Wilder: Freshman Year.

I’m not sure what going on with Jonathan’s personal life but if you do a simple Google search, there are all kinds of stories of him previously being linked to Matt Dallas who came out publicly last year.

Jonathan has not publicly confirmed or denied those reports.

Seeing original “Grey Gardens” documentary at TCM Classic Film Festival was fascinating treat

Kicked off day 2 of the TCM Classic Film Festival with a noon screening of the documentary Grey Gardens.

Had seen the excellent movie with Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore but to see the real-life Edies (Edith Bouvier Beale and Edith ‘Little Edie’ Bouvier Beale) in action was something else.

The Beales are the aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and lived their eccentric lives in a filthy, decaying mansion in East Hampton crawling with cats and had racoons in the attic that Little Edie fed each day.

One of Grey Garden’s directors, Albert Maysles, was on hand to introduce the film and to do a Q&A after.

He told us ‘it was love at first sight’ when he met the pair. “I’m really, really glad you got to know there people – it’s all them.”

“We thought we would live in the house (during six weeks of filming) until we arrived there – we couldn’t take it. The smell was so pervasive.”

Maysles said that after he showed the finished 1975 documentary to mother and daughter, the younger Beale got up and said proclaimed it ‘a classic.’ As Big Edie was close to death years later she said: “There’s nothing more to say – it’s all in the film.’

In 2010, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

BONUS VIDEO: A 2007 interview with Albert Maysles …

TCM Classic Film Festival recap: Seeing “Gone With the Wind” and “The Wizard of Oz” on the same day

The TCM Classic Film Festival ended on Sunday and it was a day that will go down as one of the greatest of my moviegoing life.

I just don’t know how anything will ever top this day: saw Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz on the big screen for the first time and to top it all off, it was at the historic Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

Gone With The Wind was in a fantastic digital print and there is so much to be gained by seeing the movie on the big screen. Vivien Leigh could not have been more gorgeous and her performance is one of the greatest of any actress in any movie – ever.

I also gained tremendous respect for Hattie McDaniel’s performance as Mammy and now understand perfectly why she won the supporting actress Oscar over Olivia de Havilland.

The scene as she walks Melanie up the staircase telling her about Bonnie Blue’s death probably sealed the award for her but she is first-rate throughout.

As for The Wizard of Oz. I know it forward and backward from all those years on TV but to see it on the big screen and as a new 3D print, it was an amazing experience. The 3D only enhances the movie, it does not detract. It especially enhances Margaret Hamilton’s scenes at the Wicked Witch of the West who is never scarier – or greener.

For me, the performances of Hamilton and of Bert Lahr are especially good and can be appreciated all the more theatrically. Judy Garland is, of course, aces throughout. It’s astounding what she was able to achieve so young.

So that was Sunday and it was perfect.

But the festival runs four days so there’s more. I saw nine films in all and would have seen more except for having to leave early Saturday to cover the GLAAD Media Awards in Beverly Hills. On that day, I saw Mr. Deeds Goes to Town for the first time on any screen and fell in love with Gary Cooper all the more and became an instant fan of Jean Arthur whose work I was not really familiar with. And there was Lionel Stander as Cooper’s sidekick in a gem of a performance. I had only known him as Max from Hart to Hart!

On opening day Thursday, I covered the red carpet for the gala screening of Oklahoma! and thought I’d see that but made a last minute decision to go over to Chinese Theatre #1 and see Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. Seen it many times but on the big screen, Bette Davis’s performance is even more extraordinary. so funny, so tragic. How did she not win an Oscar for this? Anne Bancroft won that year for The Miracle Worker – Bette was robbed just as she was for All About Eve.

One woman who did win an Oscar and deserved to was Olivia de Havilland for The Heiress which I also saw on opening night. Have never seen the film on big screen or small so this was quite a treat. Montgomery Clift is even more beautiful in this, his third film, than he was in A Place in the Sun.

Friday was jammed with four films and would have been five if I had not required some sleep!

Kicked off the day with a noon screening of the documentary Grey Gardens and have written about that in a separate post you can see HERE.

Then headed over to see My Sister Eileen starring Rosalind Russell who is just a hoot as a writer who moves from a small town in Ohio to New York City with her actress sister (Janet Blair) and they encounter all sorts of madcap adventures after moving into a studio apartment in Greenwich Village.

Russell received the first of four Oscar nominations for her performance and later starred on Broadway in a musical version of the story called Wonderful Town and won a Tony Award.

Her son, Carl Lance Brissen, attended the screening and said how His Girl Friday opposite close friend Cary Grant and Eileen were a major influence on his mother’s career.

“She found a path forward in her career playing strong women,” he said.

After Eileen, I made it over to Grauman’s to see Double Indemnity which is another classic I had never seen – at least that I recall. Sometimes you see these movies as a kid on television or have seen so many clips you think you’ve seen it.

All I can say is wow!

Fred MacMurray is the real revelation for me here. I knew him from My Three Sons, not as this completely hot insurance salesman who commits murder. And Barbara Stanwyck is delicious too. Loved it!

My fourth and final film on Friday was The Innocents starring Deborah Kerr which reminded me in some ways of The Others which starred Nicole Kidman.

This kind of psychological horror is not my favorite genre but I was spellbound by Miss Kerr throughout even if I’m not sure why she kisses the little boy.

So that’s a wrap for TCM Classic Film Festival 2014 which in just five short years has become this hugely successful monster of an event. I’ve gone each and every year and it is always such a joy to be around these particular audiences who know so much about film, are so passionate and appreciative of what is up there on the screen and who is responsible for it being up there.

And thank goodness for the presence of TCM Channel host Robert Osborne who is a real rock star at this event. He walks onto a stage and you’d think it was The Beatles!

My GLAAD Media Awards red carpet gallery!

Am just managing to get this up today, about 48 hours late.

You can blame the TCM Classic Film Festival for that.

Yesterday, they screened both Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and I just had to be there.

Will write about that in another post.

Saturday, I had a nice spot on the red carpet at the GLAAD Media Awards and what made it even nicer was getting to work alongside one of my favorite bloggers, Matthew Rettenmund of Boy Culture fame.

He’s a hoot.

We were initially a few spaces away from each other but kept going over and gabbing with each other so much that the cool team from Autostraddle offered to switch with me!

Anyway, we’d spot people and try and interview them or, in some cases, just take their picture.

We had the misfortune of being stationed just before the cute guys from LOGO who all the publicists wanted to make sure their clients spoke to.

So they would try to either drag or rush them past us or give us a stern look that said: “Three questions tops and we’re outa here.”

I’m kind of assertive in these situations – just get a case of red carpet fever – so got pretty much all the folks I wanted: Rita Moreno, Ross Mathews, Laverne Cox, Carmen Carrera, Guy Wilson, Kate Kansi, GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis and The Fosters stars Teri Polo, and Sherri Saum.

So, here are my photos from the red carpet. We were in a strange, dimly lit portion of the red carpet but I did the best I could – sorry the photo of Eric (“McSteamy”) Dane is so blurry – he held the pose for me which I appreciated but he did not break stride so there you go.

1. Rita Moreno who presented Vanguard Award to Jennifer Lopez) 2. Stephen F. Kolzak Award recipient Laverne Cox 3. Outstanding Documentary Award winners Shane Bitney Crone and Linda Bloodworth-Thomason (Bridegroom) 4. Eric Dane! 5. Stars of The Fosters Teri Polo and Saum 6. GLAAD spokesman Omar Sharif Jr. 7. GLAAD spokesman Wilson Cruz 8. Days of Our Lives star Guy Wilson 9.  Anne Jeffreys, still glamorous at 91 10. Days of Our Lives star Kate Mansi 11. Transgender model Carmen Carrera 12. Orphan Black star Jordan Gavaris 13. Prop. 8 plaintiffs Paul Katami and Jeff Zarillo 14: Winners for Best Drama Series: Bradley Bredeweg and Peter Paige – co-creators and producers of “The Fosters” 15. Boy Culture’s Matthew Rettenmund and Greg In Hollywood’s Greg Hernandez.

Lance Bass and Pauley Perrette to co-host next month’s third annual Voice Awards which will be star-studded

Attended the Voice Awards for the first time last year and I’m really looking forward to this year’s edition on May 3 because it has quickly become a can’t-miss event in just three short years.

It’s an awards show put on by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles who gave such a tremendous spring concert a few weeks ago that I’m still not over it!

Hosting this year’s event at the Globe Theatre on the back lot of Universal Studios will be NCIS star Pauley Perrette and singer Lance Bass.

The presenters and other stars expected is quite an impressive list led by Emmy winner and Oscar nominee Felicity Huffman and her Oscar nominee husband William H. Macy, and Oscar and Grammy winner Melissa Etheridge.

Also expected are Oscar winning producer Bruce Cohen (Milk, American Beauty), four-time Olympic gold medalist Greg Louganis, Super Bowl champ Steve Young, Tony winner Marissa Jaret Winokur, GLAAD Media Award winner Shane Bitney Crone (Bridegroom), Emmy nominee Sharon Lawrence, and Olympic medal winning swimmer Gary Hall Jr.

Being honored at the awards are: India’s Crown Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil, business leaders and community activists Brian Pendleton and Chad Goldman, and the Montgomery Family who are the subjects of the film Families Are Forever.

“Eastsiders” announces second season and launches Kickstarter campaign to pay for it

There’s a lot of Kickstarter campaigns out there and there are a lot of gay-themed web series out there.

Here is one I can promise you is worth getting behind.

It is Eastsiders and I am just wild about it for so many reasons not the least of which is that As the World Turns alum Van Hansis, who played Luke Snyder of the show, is one of the leading men on this series.

Another big reason is that it takes place in Silver Lake, the Los Angeles community in which I live.

Here is a LINK to the Kickstarter campaign page – more than $9,000 of the $125,000 needed has been raised since this morning.

The creative force behind the show and its other lead Kit Williamson who you may know from his recurring role as Ed Gifford on Mad Men.

“I’m so excited to take the show back where it started: in the fans’ hands, on Kickstarter,’ Kit says. ‘This is a very unique moment in time where audiences have the power to say what kind of stories they want to see told. We’ve been so lucky to have found an amazing community of viewers that have been with us from day one, and continues to grow every day. I hope they want to see more from us, because I am so excited to continue telling this story.”

The second season of the show is about gay couple (Hansis and Williamson) trying to stay together in the aftermath of infidelity.

Satya Bhabha (New Girl, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), Adam Bucci (10 Year Plan), Vera Miao (Best Friends Forever) and Willam Belli (Nip/Tuck, Rupaul’s Drag Race) have signed on to join the cast and season one series regulars and guest stars Sean Maher (Firefly), Traci Lords (Crybaby, Zach and Miri Make a Porno), Stephen Guarino (Happy Endings), Brea Grant (Heroes, Dexter), John Halbach (Wallflowers), Constance Wu (Browsers, Sound of my Voice) and Matthew McKelligon (Int. Leather Bar) are slated to reprise their roles.

It will begin production this summer after a whirlwind year that has included making its cable broadcast debut as a feature film on LogoTV, wins at both the Indie Series Awards and LA Web Fest, a Satellite Award nomination from the International Press Academy, securing DVD and International VOD distribution from Wolfe Video, and the release of a new web comic, EastSiders: The Series.

EastSiders Season One is available internationally on www.WolfeOnDemand.com and onwww.LogoTV.com in the United States. Follow the show on Twitter and Instagram at @EastSidersTV and “Like” the show on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/EastSidersTheSeries.

Video: Debby Boone speaks about the “tough transition” to accepting and supporting gay people

My great pals Renee Sotile & Mary Jo Godges of Traipsing Thru Films did a terrific interview with Debby Boone at the GLAAD Media Awards on Saturday night.

We all remember Debby’s monster hit You Light Up My Life and lately, you can’t avoid her “lifestyle lift” commercials in television!

Debby is a well-known Christian and it’s been tough for Christians, including some of my own family members, to reconcile their faith with being accepting of gay people.

But Debby, whose father Pat Boone is very publicly anti-gay, has made that transition and speaks about it here.

I love what she says.

“I am one of the people that has made the transition from an old way of thinking to a new one. … I have really good friends and family members that have changed my mind.”

The White House to dedicate Harvey Milk stamp

Sorry about the slow trickle of posts so far today.

I promise there is much more to come.

I’ve been slammed over at Gay Star News and didn’t even have time for a Morning Man – that’s ridiculous! There should always be time for a man in our mornings.

Tomorrow will mark the return of the Morning Man!

Anyway, The White House announced today that it will have a dedication ceremony next month to celebrate the debut of the US postage stamp featuring slain civil rights leader Harvey Milk.

The stamp will become available to the public on May 22 which, of course, is Harvey Milk Day in California.

In announcing the ceremony, The White House described Milk as ‘a visionary leader … whose achievements gave hope and confidence to the (LGBTI) community in the United States and elsewhere at a time when the community was encountering widespread hostility and discrimination.’

The White House also stated: ‘Milk believed that government should represent all citizens, ensuring equality and providing needed services.’

It will be what is known as a ‘Forever Stamp’ which means that even if postage fees go up, the stamp will still be valid and no additional postage will be needed.

Milk was a Navy veteran, businessman and community activist when he was elected to the San Francisco board of supervisors in 1977 – the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California.

He was shot and killed, along with San Francisco mayor George Moscone, on Nov. 27, 1978 by their former colleague on the board, Dan White.

Milk was only in office for 11 months but was responsible for passing a stringent gay rights ordinance for the city.

His story was told in the 2008 film Milk which won Academy Awards for Sean Penn (best actor) and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black. In 2009, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.

Snapped! MTV Movie Awards arrivals!

People.com did a whole gallery of the stars arriving for last night’s MTV Movie Awards – 67 in all – and I went surfing through them to pluck out the pics of the gay celebs.

Well, more people may be coming out but not many of them are showing up at the MTV Movie Awards it seems.

Still, we were represented by some class acts: Oscar nominated actress Ellen Page who had been at the GLAAD Awards as a presenter the night before and newlyweds Sara Gilbert and Linda Perry in their first public appearance since their recent marriage.

Zac Efron gets shirtless to accept Best Shirtless Performance Award at the MTV Movie Awards

Shirtless Zac Efron stole the show at tonight’s MTV Movie Awards.

Guess what category he won in.

Okay, I will tell you: Best Shirtless Performance Award!

Silly, but hot!

My recap of GLAAD Media Awards

I’ll have more later but I’m off to the TCM Classic Film Festival to see Gone With the Wind for the first time on a big screen – at Grauman’s!

Last night was epic and I got lucky when a sponsor (Ketel One Vodka) invited me to sit at their table which was just off the main area of the ballroom and was an awesome ringside seat.

My pics are a bit fuzzy but they are mine!

I’ll have red carpet stuff tomorrow.

Anyway, here is a LINK to my recap over at Gay Star News.

“Bridegroom” and “Call Me Kuchi” tie for Outstanding Documentary prize at GLAAD Media Awards

The audience at last night’s GLAAD Media Awards got a bit loud at times – even during some of the speeches and presentations. But there was one part of the night you could hear a pin drop until the standing ovations that followed.

That was during the presentation of the Outstanding Documentary award.

Fresh off dominating the awards circuit for her performance in 12 Years a Slave, Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o was on the presenting side of things and told the crowd at the Beverly Hilton Hotel: ‘I wanted to be here tonight in solidarity with this community.’

She then announced that there was a tie in the category between two very different but very acclaimed films: Bridegroom and Call Me Kuchu.

Bridegroom, directed by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason of Designing Women fame, tells the love story of Tom Bridegroom and Shane Bitney Crone and what happened after Bridegroom died in an accidental fall at the age of 29.

Bloodworth-Thomason accepted the award with Crone and described him as ‘still the greatest young person I’ve ever met. … I was touched my Shane and Tom’s incredible love story.’

Crone told the crowd he had dreamed of falling in love and getting married as a kid but had often been suicidal as a teen because ‘peers and The Bible’ had convinced him he wasn’t worthy of another person’s love.’

‘I’m so thankful that I didn’t give up because I met the love of my life,’ he said, fighting back tears. ‘Tom Bridegroom. He loved me unconditionally and he changed my life forever. I miss him more than anything but I’ll forever be grateful for the six years that we had together.’

Nyong’o next announced Call Me Kuchi, co-directed by Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall as the other winner.

Their film explores the struggles of the LGBT community in Uganda and on the 2011 murder of LGBT activist David Kato who was killed shortly in 2011 after they completed filming. They had followed Kato was a year as he did his difficult work.

The filmmakers took the stage with Ugandan activist John ‘Longjones’ Abdallah Wambere to accept the award and a complete hush fell over the crowd as Wambere spoke.

‘We continue the fight in David’s memory,’ Wambere said. ‘We were devastated but not defeated.’

Wambere hopes the GLAAD award will lead to more people seeing the film and becoming aware of the plight of people in his country.

He spoke of the recent anti-gay bill that was signed into law in his country recently and said that since then people have been ‘humiliated, kidnapped and jailed. Some have even attempted to take their own lives.’

‘LGBT people exist in Africa and we are fighting for our lives.’

GLAAD’s highest honor presented to Laverne Cox at GLAAD Media Awards by Ellen Page

It was so nice to see Ellen Page show up at the GLAAD Media Awards last night and say one of the great things about being out is that she can pay tribute to those who inspire her.

One of those people in Laverne Cox.

Ellen presented the Orange is the New Black star with GLAAD’s highest honor  calling the trans actress an ‘LGBT icon.’

LaVerne received The Stephen F. Kolzak Award which is given to an LGBT media professional who has made a significant difference in moving equality forward.

LaVerne proclaimed herself ‘overwhelmed’ and explained that she is not used to getting awards and that trans people ‘are not programmed’ to think such things could happen to them.

But she believes that can change and praised the media advocacy organization for its efforts on behalf of the trans community.

‘I’m so moved by the work that GLAAD has been doing, particularly over the past year, to make sure that the “T” is not silent in the LGBT community,’ she said.

‘For years, I was trying to have a career as an actor doing what I love to do most and was told repeatedly that they didn’t know what to do with me, and that I would not work.’

LaVerne grew emotional when thanking her longtime agent then was surprised by her mother who walked onto the stage to present her with a bouquet of roses.

The actress returned to the microphone to thank her mother ‘for letting me stay in dance classes and letting me do what I love.’

GLAAD Media Awards: Honoree Jennifer Lopez graciously accepts the Vanguard Award

Jennifer Lopez sure was a class act at last night’s GLAAD Media Awards in Beverly Hills.

I’ve always been sort of indifferent to JLo but I was really impressed with her as she paid emotional tribute to her ‘way cool’ lesbian aunt as she accepted the Vanguard Award.

‘Her struggles were mostly kept to herself,’ she said of her late aunt. ‘Tonight, I know she’s proud of me and everybody here.’

The Vanguard Award is presented to a media professional, who – through their work – has made a significant difference in support of LGBT equality.

JLo said it was her aunt’s memory and influence on her that helped her decide to produce ABC Family’s The Fosters which won the Outstanding Drama Series award just before Lopez was presented hers by Rita Moreno.

The sexy Moreno said of Lopez: ‘Jennifer knew she’d get shit from anti-gay haters and she did. But she didn’t care. Everything this woman touches is golden.’

The show centers on a lesbian couple and their brood of biological and foster children.

‘We are so proud of this show, because our biggest hope is that it’s outstanding because it is doing the same for young people – helping them feel loved, understood, included – as Rita did for me, and as GLAAD does today,’ Lopez said.

‘I knew the show would be controversial,’ she added. ‘I decided to listen to my heart and my gut and said yes. I’ve always felt a tremendous love for the LGBT community.’

She concluded her well-received speech by saying: ‘The world is changing and that’s because love is stronger than hate … Love is love. That’s what I tell my children every day.’

Are you ready for “True Tori”?

When reports had the Tori-Dean marriage unraveling over a cheating scandal, I jokingly did a Facebook post on possible book titles about it for the author of such best sellers as sTORItelling and star of Tori and Dean: Inn Love.

Turns out my little joke, which some did not think was funny, wasn’t so far off the mark: On April 22, Tori Spelling’s revealing new show ‘True Tori’ will give viewers an in-depth insight into the actresses unraveled marriage to Dean McDermott.

Tori has a new ABC Family series with Jennie Garth on tap so why she agreed to do this is puzzling.

This is when she and Dean officially jumped the shark.

Barbra Streisand on The Normal Heart: “I tried very hard to get it made … I’m glad it’s finally here”

Next month, the film version of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart will air on HBO.

It was nearly 30 years ago that Barbra Streisand first saw Kramer’s play and acquired the rights. But a movie never got made during the 10 years she held the rights and for decades after that.

Kramer has blasted her publicly for this.

Streisand tells here side of the story to The Hollywood Reporter. Here are some excerpts:

I tried very hard to get it made, but when it became clear that we couldn’t raise the money to do it as a film due to the controversial nature of the material, I thought, “All right, we’ll do it on TV.” At least it would reach a wide audience. But HBO would only pay Larry $250,000 for the rights, and he would not let it go forward for anything less than $1,000,000, and no company was willing to move on it.

In the press, Larry kept speaking out against me. But I think it’s unfair to keep blaming me for the movie not getting made. I worked on it for 25 years, without pay. Larry had the rights for the last 15 years and he couldn’t get it made, either. Those are the facts.

In 2007, he sent me a note before giving the project to another director, asking me again if I wanted to direct it — but only with his screenplay. As a filmmaker, I couldn’t have my hands tied like that. What if I needed changes? Sadly, I turned his offer down and wished him well.

I will always believe in Larry’s play and its powerful theme about everyone’s right to love. It’s been 28 years since I tried to get this piece made … so much has happened since. But I’m glad it’s finally here.

Days of Our Lives: Cousin Julie is having a hissy fit over Nick not being invited to Will & Sonny’s wedding

No Will and Sonny today but their wedding is still on the minds of some in Salem – including Nick’s cousin Julie.

Julie blows into town after one of her cruises and starts stirring the pot right away having a hissy that Nick wasn’t invited to the wedding.

She confronts Sami then later Sami has another confrontation that ends in a slap!