Is Kelly Ripa A Hypocrite?

Kelly Ripa made a stink several months back when Clay Aiken co-hosted Live with Regis & Kelly and (in a failed attempt to be funny) covered her mouth with his hand.
“I don’t know where that hand has been,” shouted Ripa to the Gayken.
Her comments drew much controversy, and she eventually called in to The View to defend herself, saying that she has three kids and was concerned about germs.
Interesting thing happened, though.
On Monday, July 9th’s episode race car driver Jeff Gordon was the co-host.
He accidentally drinks from her cup and apologizes. Her response? “Oh, that’s ok,” as she takes a sip.
So Gayken’s hand is too germy, but Jeff Gordon’s spit is just fine?
Seems like a double standard to us.
Rosie was right!
from PerezHilton.com

Rosie Rips Kelly for "Homophobic" Remark

Rosie O'Donnell started a bitchfight with fellow morning-diva Kelly Ripa when she accused Ripa of making a "homophobic" remark.
The fracas started on "The View" when O'Donnell said that Ripa was "homophobic" for her scolding of Aiken when he co-hosted her show the other day and playfully put his hand over her mouth, prompting Ripa to snap, "I don't know where that hand has been." Rosie suggested that if Aiken had been a "straight guy, a cute guy" or, for instance, Mario Lopez, Ripa wouldn't have made the same remark. (Aiken, of course, has never said anything publicly about his sexuality.)
Ripa was incensed enough to call into the show immediately, firing back that Rosie's accusation was "outrageous" and "irresponsible" and that Ripa made the remark last Friday because it was "cold and flu season" and that Aiken had shaken the hands of the studio audience. Rosie wasn't buying it, and in acknowledging that she admires Ripa, said that "from where I sit" as an openly gay woman, Ripa's response was homophobic.
Kelly, for her part, continued to pile on Aiken as well, saying that his behavior on last week's episode was "disrespectful," including the fact that he never thanked her for the opportunity to co-host. Kelly and the ladies agreed on one thing: guest host Sherri Shepherd's assertion that Clay probably wouldn't have muzzled Regis like he did Kelly.
from TMZ

Perez Hilton's Open-Closet Policy

The white-hot center of the celebrity gossip world is currently a back table at a heavily trafficked Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf on Sunset Boulevard, just west of Fairfax. There, Perez Hilton, a slightly pudgy, recently blonded 28-year-old Cuban American blogger, has leveraged his reign as "queen of all media" to become a one-man celebrity outing operation, doing his best to uncloset as many gay celebrities as he can, because, as he sees it, they have forfeited their right to privacy on that point.
"In American culture, a lot of people still think that being gay is bad, and that being gay will hurt your career. I generally don't think that," said Hilton, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira. He began using his made-up Web moniker full time after getting death threats from Clay Aiken fans who didn't appreciate Hilton's calling the singer Clay Gay-kin. (Aiken has denied being gay.)
Styling himself a "gossip gangsta," Hilton picks heroes and villains (Angelina Jolie = good, Jennifer Aniston = bad), elevates obscure figures to fame (the bodaciously endowed British model Jordan) and never tires of ragging on Lindsay Lohan, of whom he delights in posting vulgar photographs.
But it is the absolutely brutal way he demands that gay actors avow their sexuality, coupled with the huge readership of his site, that is something of a departure, even in the rough-and-tumble world of celebrity blogs.
"I am not some safe, cookie cutter, queer-eye-for-the-straight-guy homo," said Hilton, who pings between comedy and gross vulgarity on his site. "I am dangerous. I am gonna push the envelope. I am gonna be who I am: a loud, gay Latino that has opinions and in my own way, subserviently, I am trying to make the world a better place."
It is true that Hilton does not take credit for the recent spate of revelations by the actors Neil Patrick Harris and T.R. Knight and the former 'N Sync band member Lance Bass. But, at least with Bass and Harris, Hilton kept up a drumbeat about their sexual orientation. Some think the relentless attention may have played a part in their decisions. He agreed, up to a point.
"I am never gonna take ownership of someone's coming out — that's their moment, and their decision," Hilton said Tuesday evening, twisting his baseball cap around as he sat at his "desk" in the Coffee Bean with his indispensable laptop and pink Sidekick. "I will say that I may be leading the conversation, and I might grease the wheel and make it easier for them."
Even serious-minded thinkers on the subject do not disagree. "Nowadays, it's the blogs that get it going," said USC professor Larry Gross, author of "Contested Closets: The Politics and Ethics of Outing." "In the previous round of outing in the early '90's, everybody wanted to be first to be second. No one wanted to take the heat for starting it, but the blog phenomenon has changed that by lowering the threshold to the point that other media can't avoid it. What we are now seeing is Outing 2.0"
This year, Hilton practically trilled, "there have been six — well, 5 1/2 if you count Ted Haggard — notable people that have come out as gay or lesbian, by choice or not." In addition to Knight, Harris and Bass, he cites ex-Florida Rep. Mark Foley and a TV actress who has not publicly acknowledged she is gay.
In 2004, Hilton added, there was only one notable gay person who stepped out of the closet: James McGreevey, who resigned as governor of New Jersey when he came out. "It's gone from one to 5 1/2 ," said Hilton. "Wow, wow, wow. That's progress, whether we like it or not."
With more than 2.5 million hits a day on the site, Hilton wields tremendous power. "I don't want to sound full of myself, but if I had not been talking about Lance Bass as much as I was before he came out, there is no way he would have gotten the cover of People magazine. He would have gone about it the traditional way, coming out on the cover of the Advocate, which is read by 70,000 people instead of the 3.4 million who read People every week. So I offered him this silver platter, you could say."
Still, in the arena of true breakthroughs, said Gross, the gay world is still waiting for its Jackie Robinson equivalent, an A-lister who would make it OK for others to come out. In that regard, he said, Hilton's efforts are "salutary, because we are still living in a double-standard world ... where there is something shameful about sexuality. The fact that someone is gay only will become neutral information when it's treated that way, not as a bombshell revelation or a dirty story."
Hilton already operates as though that is the case. He wishes that gay celebrities who don't want to talk about their private lives could just say, "Yes, I am gay and I don't want to talk about my private life."
He does not own a TV or read books and has no Internet at home. He is a voracious consumer of magazines, though, and has a network of trusted friends and tipsters who, he said, have yet to lead him astray.
He starts work around 6:30 a.m., sometimes posting 30 times a day, a far more prodigious output than many fully staffed sites. By sheer energy and personality, his site and he are rapidly evolving into a brand. He is in demand by radio and TV outlets as a celebrity commentator. He recently taught a Learning Annex class, "How to Blog Your Way to Fame and Fortune." ("I inspired myself!" he said.)
Collaborating with the production company World of Wonder, Hilton will star in his own reality show. He is the subject of a four-page layout in December's GQ, will co-host MTV's New Year's Eve special, will appear on the cover of the Advocate next month and was just named to a list of 25 powerful Latinos by the New York Post, which sued him in May 2005 for trademark dilution, among other things, prompting him to rechristen his original website, Pagesixsixsix (it's now called perezhilton .com). "I guess they didn't find the name funny," said Hilton.
Hilton is also smart enough to know that his current good fortune could be fleeting and is working 19 hours a day to make sure it stays. After all, it was only last year that this lower-middle-class, Jesuit-schooled kid from Miami was unemployed, $60,000 in debt, in bankruptcy and deeply depressed. Today, he said, he earns six figures. He has agents, a lawyer, a manager and a public that, despite its craving for the content he provides, can be vicious toward him in comments on his site. Which he loves. "Every time they leave a comment, it's a page view," he said. "I'm laughing all the way to the bank."
He moved to Los Angeles full time in 2002, after graduating from New York University, where he studied acting. While looking in vain for acting gigs, he was hired as a publicist, but didn't like the clients. "The last straw was this 40-year-old single mother who came out with a mermaid bikini calendar. It was her in a mermaid tail, and I was like, 'Oh, my God, this lady is like too old for this. But hey, I was resourceful…. I booked her at Long Beach aquarium!"
He was hired by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination, overseeing newsletters and annual reports. "I don't think I am their favorite person right now," he said.
A spokesman for GLAAD was diplomatic. "Media speculation about a celebrity's orientation is not something we support and it can be problematic," said Damon Romine. "Whether you are a celebrity or not, coming out is ultimately a personal process."
After Hilton left GLAAD, he freelanced for gay publications and found work at the Star briefly before being fired. Combining his three failed occupations — actor, publicist, journalist — he has struck gold.
"Next year will be one of two things," he said. "I am gonna fall or it'll be even bigger and better and crazier than this amazing year has been. I am hoping bigger and better, but I'm prepared for the other one too."
from The Los Angeles Times

Another Gay Out Of The Closet

Former American Idol finalist RJ Helton has admitted he is gay.
Helton, 25, made the revelation Friday on Larry Flick’s “OutQ in the Morning” show on SIRIUS Satellite Radio.
The singer, who was in the top five of season one of American Idol, was asked why he has stopped performing Christian music since his 2004 album Real Life.
“I can have a faith but can’t be who I want to be, so a lot of it was just personal things I needed to overcome and just be proud of who I was,” Helton said.
“Just because I am gay does not mean I can’t love God.”
Helton said he wasn’t planning to open up publicly about his sexuality. “I’ve never even said that. It feels good. I’m just really comfortable with who I am now.
“I’m very proud of who I am.”
Helton is the second Idol competitor to come out of the closet. Jim Verraros, a top 10 finalist in season one, is also openly gay. Since Idol, the 23-year-old has released a dance CD and starred in the gay-themed comedy Eating Out and its sequel.
Season three runner-up Clay Aiken has also been dogged by speculation about his sexuality. He recently told ABC’s Diane Sawyer: “It's one thing to try to be open and talk to people and try to share as much as I can and, and of course I want to. But at some point it becomes just really rude, you know? I don't understand why it's any of your business.”
from The Montreal Gazette

Jimmy Kimmel (Hearts) Clay Aiken

Clay Aiken finds a superfan in Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday as the talk show host dons full Claymate regalia to greet the singer at an autograph signing in Hollywood. Later, Aiken returned the favor, showing up on Kimmel’s chatfest for a two-song performance to promote his new album, A Thousand Different Ways. That’s got to be the weirdest Clay fan yet!
from Outside The Beltway

Clay Aiken Says Sexuality, Private Life Are Nobodys Business

NEW YORK - Former "American Idol" star Clay Aiken believes that his sexuality and private life are his business and no one else's.
"I've gotten to a point now where I, A., am tired of trying, and B., I feel it's kind of invasive, you know?" Aiken said to "Good Morning America's" Diane Sawyer.
"What I do in my private life is nobody's business anymore."
Since his 2003 "Idol" runner-up performance, Aiken feels almost everyone has assumed the right to ask, "Is Clay Aiken gay?"
"It's one thing to try to be open and talk to people and try to share as much as I can and, and of course I want to," he said. "But at some point it becomes just really rude, you know?"
Aiken said he didn't understand the curiosity, Sawyer's included, about his sexual orientation.
"I don't understand why it's any of your business," he told Sawyer. "I don't think you're rude because I figure, you know, people have a job to do."
"I'm not spending my time with this anymore," Aiken said. "This is a waste of my time."
Aiken said he was not curious about celebrities' private lives, mainly because he was tired of others' curiosity about his life.
In one instance, however, the gossip surrounding the much-discussed breakup of Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt caught his attention.
"The only time I can remember getting caught up into it was that whole Jennifer-Angelina thing. … Just a little bit," he said.
The hardest part of the gossip is what it does to his family, he said.
"Even though stuff about me that I read in the magazines isn't true, it still makes me … lose sleep," he said.
"I hurt, not just for my mother who has to watch it happen and who hurts for me. At least when I was in middle school … I understand why they picked on me."
Aiken still said he was bewildered by the negative attention.
"I don't understand why people are offensive in that way. … I don't get it."
Aiken has taken advice about the situation from his mother.
"You know who you have to answer to -- God and yourself -- and that's it," he said she had told him.
Despite the trauma that the reports have caused, Aiken said his Baptist faith had gotten stronger.
"Are there tolerant Baptists? Absolutely. Are there intolerant Baptists? Oh yes, I'm sure there are," he said.
But the Jesus that he believes in loves all faiths, races and sexual orientations: "Muslim, Jewish, Christian, gay, straight, black, white, everybody."
The pop star is also not averse to fighting back.
In one skit during an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Aiken threw Kimmel against a wall after the late-night host apologized for making jokes about him.
"How do you like me now, Kimmel?" Aiken shouted.
As for his fans, Aiken said he hoped that they would judge him on his music, not rumors.
"I hope … people like me for my singing. I hope I sing well enough for people to stick around," he said. "Sometimes I wonder myself, but, you know, that's what I want to do."
from ABC News

Clay Aiken In People Magazine

Clay Aiken is no longer the charmingly awkward, self-confessed "dork" who came in second on 2003's second season of American Idol. He has a new look, a new album – A Thousand Different Ways, which hit stores Tuesday – and some new, hard-won wisdom.
"I learned this year that you can't make people like you or care about you or love you," the 27-year-old, Southern Baptist-bred singer, whose 2003 debut album Measure of a Man sold 2.6 million copies, tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview.
"I'm becoming a man, not just with my hair," he says, laughing about his darker, longer 'do, "but with my life. This year's been an education: the education of Clay."
He's also aware of what people have been saying about him this year, and in the new issue of PEOPLE (on newsstands Friday), he addresses rumors about his sexuality and more. Here's a preview:
On whether he's gay: "What do you say (to that question)? … It's like when I was 8. I remember something would get broken in the house, and Mom and Dad would call me in and say, 'Did you do this?' Well, it didn't matter what I said. The only thing they would believe was yes. … People are going to believe what they want."
On the panic attacks he suffered after Idol: "I'd walk into a room and say to myself, 'I am not going to have a problem when these people stare at me.' … But then (in) that situation, my heart would start pumping, and I'd start sweating and looking around nervously and shaking. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack."
On taking the anti-anxiety drug Paxil: "I said (to my doctor), 'Listen, I don't want to go to a therapist. I have nothing against therapists. I want to think I can do this on my own.' And she recommended that I try a medication. … Now I can sit here; I can go into a store; I can handle a photo shoot. I'm able to get rid of all that stuff in the periphery. It makes everything easier."
On the future: "I want to be a father so badly. I want (kids) one day. Not now. … I would love to adopt. There's an orphanage not too far from my house, and I've been up before with church. I always thought, 'What happens to those kids who have the potential to go to college but just can't afford it?' I've been thinking a lot lately about finding a way to pay for one of those kids to go to college."
from People Magazine

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