09/22/2006
News: Jared Leto, Richard Branson's Fight, Yale Gay Frats
Richard Branson announces he'll give $3 billion to fight global warming. It's the same amount pledged by the most powerful government in the free world.
Roofwalker Jared Leto wants to silence bloggers.
A look at the gay frat brothers of Yale. Student: "I think that it's a testament to the beauty of Yale that it's more of a stigma for you to be in a fraternity, supporting something perceived to be very heteronormative, than for you to be openly gay."
Like many straight men, Christian Slater may be gay after a few beers, according to Jackass's Steve-O: "Steve-O claims that Christian hit on him at a party when he was drunk, and told him he was cute and sexy and asked if he wanted to go with him. Steve-O later talked to Christians ex-wife and she said 'that's what happens when he drinks - he turns gay'."
Anti-gay reggae singer Buju Banton's performance canceled at Hollywood nightclub Highland: "We felt it was the right thing to do after doing some research on the matter."
Posted 9:48 AM EST by Andy Towle in Buju Banton, Christian Slater, Education, Global Warming, Jared Leto, Los Angeles, Music, News, Nightlife | Permalink
Like it?
Subscribe to FREE Towleroad daily headlines with our RSS feed!
RECENT STORIES:
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
Poor little Yalies. It's gonna be a rude awakening when they graduate and find that in the real world using the word "heteronormative" carries far more stigma than being either gay or a fratboy (or both).
Posted by: 24play | Sep 22, 2006 10:31:27 AM
Love the info about Christian Slater. His homophobic mother must be thrilled. As a casting director she once said to an agent, "Don't send me any more fags."
Posted by: chims | Sep 22, 2006 11:16:50 AM
Branson is not "giving," he's "investing." I've seen this misquoted several times. He most likely will make another fortune, but at least it's an investment in the right direction.
Posted by: vstill | Sep 22, 2006 11:36:12 AM
Leto betrays an old-school, narrow-minded, elitist bent on issue of credentialism in the blogosphere and the question of where journalistic integrity (if such a thing still exists) comes into play. Considering his fan base, his publicist will not be happy.
Posted by: rascal | Sep 22, 2006 11:36:21 AM
People need to get over the whole gay fratboy thing. The gays have been in fraternities for years...the only difference now is that they're actually out while still in school, instead of closeted and in denial as I was, a billion years ago. And from what I've seen as an alumnus, the chapters and the other undergrads are completely fine with their out brothers as well. (To top it off, this is in the midwest...not exactly the hotbed of tolerance.)
Posted by: Scott | Sep 22, 2006 12:33:34 PM
Buju was supposed to perform here in SF too and that has also been cancelled after people complained.
Posted by: Kitchenbeard | Sep 22, 2006 12:52:44 PM
Jared has a rather inciteful and valid point...blogs tend to popularize the inane:
-is Tom/John/Jake/Clay gay?
-Paris/Lindsay/Ashlee/Jessica/Jared/et al
I'm just saying...
Posted by: Mark | Sep 22, 2006 12:53:08 PM
Mark: The publishing of gossip and speculation wasn't invented or advanced by, and is not even necessarily specialized in, by bloggers. Where Leto and others are misguided is in their drawing of a parallel between institutional reporting (and the credibility/responsibility that goes along with it) and blogging which, for the most part, is carried out by individuals or small teams looking to instigate and facilitate commentary and discussion. This is a fundamentally different paradigm than most news media. Finding a more accurate parallel would mean going back to the days when people actually had the time and interest to gather in town squares and taverns to discuss and debate the issues of the day. Technology has in no small measure revived public discourse. Just because it now appears in a "published" format, doesn't mean it's the same as traditional published forms.
Posted by: rascal | Sep 22, 2006 1:15:23 PM
While I have always found Leto cute and a decent actor, if he was really serious about ending blogs, perhaps not giving interviews to them is a good start. Not wearing makeup and taking photos with eletrical tape around your head is another.
Most artists strive to have their work seen by the public, which makes them search for the spot light. The internet and blogs are going no where as long as people like Leto, Hilton and Cruise keep on putting logs on the fire.
Posted by: pbnyc59 | Sep 22, 2006 1:46:18 PM
Right on 24Play...I thought the same thing.
Posted by: jmg | Sep 22, 2006 1:50:28 PM
Why does this blog follow the carreers of second-rate straight professionals and not second-rate gay professionals?
I hear more about Jared Leto and Jake Gylwhatever than Chad Allen or Qboy or Matt Alber or Sam Harris.
Posted by: Jack | Sep 22, 2006 4:44:57 PM
Maybe because Chad Allen and Sam Harris are about 6th rate.
As for Qboy and Matt Alber: Who?
Posted by: 24play | Sep 22, 2006 6:32:52 PM
After reading many of the comments by various users on Towleroad, visiting other blogs and having done much research in the downfalls of the anonymity and concurrent bashing, flaming, disregard and disrespect shown to others, I must agree with Jared Leto. People abuse the internet by anonymously (in reality most people do not meet face to face online, thus creating a sort of 'mask' between individuals) insulting others directly contradicting what people may normally do in public. It's hypocritical, but more importantly it is a sad commentary on how society currently interacts and treats one another. Of course, who is to say if the online community creates this behavior or if the online community simply draws that demographic in, either way Jared Leto's socio-political commentary is on the mark. However, as most of his "fan base" seems to frequent those arena's which he critizes, he is seemingly biting the hand that feeds him...
Posted by: Cory | Sep 24, 2006 6:38:21 PM