06/25/2007
News: Junior Vasquez, Gay Republicans, Speeders, Price is Right,
Isaiah Washington continues to speak out about his unjust firing: "All of this I'm saying to you has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he's gay. [T.R. Knight] came out October 19 as purely a tactical move to do exactly what it did, get public opinion in an outrage to lead them to believe that he is being picked on because he is gay. He could care less about the gay community."
DJ Junior Vasquez warns against crystal meth — "Don't touch that shit. It'll suck your soul and ruin your life, and it'll take years to get it back" — and working with Cyndi Lauper — "I think she's immensely talented, but she's a control freak with bizarre ideas. She's a royal pain in the ass to work with."
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's gay appointees: "Nowhere in the releases from the governor's office will you find any mention of the fact that seven of his appointments hail from the LGBT community. But since 2005 he has selected six gay men and one lesbian for political posts, three Republicans, two Democrats, and one independent."
Not coming on down: Rosie O'Donnell won't be doing The Price is Right after all.
Sunil Pant, founder of Nepal's Blue Diamond Society, the only LGBT support group in Nepal and the winner of the prestigious 2007 Felipa de Souza Award from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, speaks out about what it's like to be gay in Nepal - MP3 interview.
Can Kelly Clarkson survive her clash with music mogul Clive Davis?
Madonna buys sixth London property for £6 million: "The American singer and her husband Guy Ritchie last week signed a contract on the 10-bedroom Georgian townhouse in London's Marylebone. It adjoins the eight-bedroom property the couple live in with children Lourdes, 10, and Rocco, six. They also own two nearby mews houses, which are occupied by staff, and two other houses in central London...Madonna faced competition for the house from comedian Jennifer Saunders and photographer Mario Testino.
Paris Hilton to leave jail on Tuesday, have sitdown with Larry King. Illustration courtesy Pretty on the Outside.
CNN looks at gay adoption: "For the Manford-Roach family, difficulties arose when they first tried to hyphenate [their son] Jackson's last name. The judge overseeing the legal procedure in Dallas, Texas, crumpled up the paper and threw it over her shoulder when she realized they were a same-sex couple, Manford said. 'Get out of my courtroom, I would never do this for you,' the judge said, according to Manford. 'Children need a mom and a dad.'"
Transgender firefighter Jennifer Lasko pulls out of dinner with Barack Obama after her transgender status is exposed for fear of causing disruption to his campaign. Obama spokeswoman: "Sen. Obama would love to have her attend the dinner. If she chooses not to attend, Sen. Obama looks forward to meeting her and hearing more about her thoughts on how we can change this country."
Ad campaign attempts to humiliate male Australian speed demons by suggesting they are 'lesser' men: "The below-the-belt television ads show women noticing a young man roaring past then turning scornfully to their friends and wiggling their little fingers. The mocking gesture with the 'pinkie' is a clear sign they believe the driver is trying to compensate for an inadequate manhood, and is designed to counter the idea that speeding is cool and macho."
Posted 1:18 PM EST by Andy in Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gay Adoption, Isaiah Washington, Junior Vasquez, Kelly Clarkson, Madonna, Nepal, News, Paris Hilton, Real Estate, Rosie O'Donnell, T.R. Knight | Permalink
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Every time Isaiah Washington opens his mouth he attains some new and uncharted level of assholism. First he was fired because he was black. Now he was fired because TR Knight had some vast conspiracy to manipulate the media. The more he runs his mouth, the more people will want to avoid seeing his work. I know I feel that way with Tom Cruise's constant ranting, and he's actually more talented and certainly more influential than Washington. Beware, Isaiah. Maybe you should shut up, do some stage work, and figure out how to be a graceful human being.
Posted by: Brian | Jun 25, 2007 1:36:22 PM
Isaiah Washington sounds like a crazy person. Doesn't he have people to tell him to STFU?
Posted by: dcndn | Jun 25, 2007 1:37:08 PM
Wow! Isaiah just keeps digging himself deeper and deeper. Sounds like a desperate plea to keep himself in the media. Sad. That's right buddy, call him a fag and now pick on him some more, but now say that it's NOT because he's gay. Cover all your bases!
Posted by: JR | Jun 25, 2007 1:41:24 PM
Thanks JV for the original words of wisdom, I've never heard that one before.
Posted by: Dave | Jun 25, 2007 1:44:11 PM
he still has freedom of speech, and can give his side of the story, whats so wrong about that? He made a huge mistake, but, of course here, an apology by anyone who has made a gay slur is never forgiven. i just hope this does not turn into that ugly racial brawl that occured when he first spewed his nasty, hateful remarks.
and, rosie on tpir? not the best gig for her, she needs her own show in a talk show forum where she can bring up and discuss issues that the rest of the world is afraid to do. an hbo sort of setup where she can speak freely.
Posted by: mark | Jun 25, 2007 1:57:59 PM
Mark: I don't think it's a question of an apology never being forgiven. Many people accepted his initial apology at face value, myself included. But his subsequent behavior, including his stupid remarks at the Golden Globes plus all of his recent interviews, has nullified that apology. He continues to blame everyone else for the situation, rather that accepting his part in the loss of employment.
Posted by: Gregg | Jun 25, 2007 2:05:35 PM
No one is suggesting that Washington isn't free to keep saying stupid stuff, we're simply questioning the wisdom of him exercising that freedom.
Posted by: Tom | Jun 25, 2007 2:30:31 PM
Mark, Isaiah is absolutely free to tell his "side" of the story. But after denying that he ever made a remark in the first place and subsequently apologizing for it and now lashing out claiming to be the victim just seems very silly. He is perpetuating the notion that he was fired for what he said, when he may in fact have not been re-hired because they were done with his character's story. Openly saying that T.R. should have been the one "fired" and painting him as a villain really just sounds like cry baby stuff. He needs to shut up and move on.
Posted by: JR | Jun 25, 2007 2:42:57 PM
Washington is turning into the gay-bashing version of the obsessed ex-husband, blaming TR for everything that has gone wrong in his life.
I think TR needs to hire some security.
Posted by: Ray | Jun 25, 2007 2:44:56 PM
Now that we know what it's like to work with Cyndi Lauper let's talk about Madonna. What's she like to work with Junior?
Posted by: Alex | Jun 25, 2007 2:52:03 PM
Now that we know what it's like to work with Cyndi Lauper let's talk about Madonna. What's she like to work with Junior?
Posted by: Alex | Jun 25, 2007 2:52:51 PM
Wokred with Cyndi years ago, and while she is friedly, she is also extremely difficult. So I think Junior is right. And now she has become a bullshit artist also. She has been giving interviews about her gay "True Colors" tour talking about when she wrote the song "True Colors" Except that she didn't write that song, it was written by Steinberg/Kelly, the same team that wrote "Like A Virgin". Cyndi needs a reality check.
Posted by: cyndi lies | Jun 25, 2007 2:55:59 PM
Um... Isaah? No matter WHAT the reason, you still used the f-word when discussing T. R.; so what exactly are you saying? It's okay to call someone a fag if you feel your anger is justified? Or it's okay to call someone a fag if they aren't present at the time? Next question--do you feel it's okay to use the n-word under the same circumstances?
A bit of advice...take your punishment, and move on. Learn from your mistakes, and get into anger management therapy.
Posted by: Nathan | Jun 25, 2007 3:00:02 PM
jr. needs to shut his trap when he is a "shell" of a talent that he used to be....his PRIDE party was atrocious and couldn't even mix two records together. And Jr. has nerve to diss cyndi when he doesn't even create his remixes - fumi and other jap artists send him the remixes and he just says yeah or neh to them.... he needs to retire...he's washed up
Posted by: Jr. is Tired... | Jun 25, 2007 3:02:52 PM
Isaiah Washington has long been rumored to be a troublemaker and a loose cannon. He's going out of his way now to confirm that reputation.
Posted by: phil | Jun 25, 2007 3:36:58 PM
The Governator may have appointed seven people from the GLBT community to work in his administration, but he also vetoed a bill, passed by both houses of the California State Congress, that would have extended marriage rights to millions of GLBT Californians who are currently unable to enjoy the legal protections afforded by marriage. That's sort of like seven steps forward and a thousand steps backward. I can't wait until Ahnold steps aside and lets a real leader run my state.
Posted by: peterparker | Jun 25, 2007 3:43:45 PM
keithboykin.com
EXCLUSIVE: Isaiah Washington Breaks His Silence In Revealing Interview
By Keith Boykin, in pop culture
Friday, June 22 2007, 10:07AM
The phone call caught me off guard. As long as I've been talking and writing about Isaiah Washington, I have never met the man or spoken to him, despite the arguments by some critical commenters that I've "defended" him because of a supposed friendship we have. That's not the case.
Washington called me last Sunday for the first time to speak about the brewing controversy and to tell me his side of the story. It took several days for us to connect, but last night we finally spoke.
I stepped out of a DNC dinner when I received his first call, and Washington told me that he had wanted to call me for six months to share his side of the story but he had declined to do so out of "loyalty" to ABC and Grey's Anatomy's black producer Shonda Rhimes.
Listening To Washington
In his first voicemail message on Sunday, June 17, Washington said he was "trying real hard not to incite an unnecessary war," but he wanted the rest of the story to come out. "A lot of people made a lot of mistakes," he said. Washington said he had "owned up" to his mistakes, but added that there were "some things that happened October 9 on the set that were never addressed, that were covered up," he said. "The truth will set you free," he added. Washington seemed reluctant to disclose the new information then out of fear that it might hurt Shonda Rhimes's show. "Apparently that's what's gotten me in trouble, trying to be loyal and a defender of something that obviously has not been interested in defending me," he said.
Then last night he filled in the details. Ironically, I was speaking to HRC President Joe Solmonese when the call came from Washington. Solmonese and I had discussed the subject on TV when we appeared on CNN's Paula Zahn Now back in January when the story first broke after the Golden Globes.
Last night Washington told me he stood behind everything he said in an interview in his hometown paper, the Houston Chronicle. "I'm not firing back at anybody else in the cast but T.R. Knight and Katie Heigl because they both know as well as Chandra Wilson knows that T.R. Knight was very tactical in trying to remove me from the show because he knows that I know, and I was gagged, that he has been working on a conspiracy to get Patrick Dempsey and myself off the show for the last year and a half.
According to Washington, "The only reason I used his name, T.R., in the argument was because he had led me to believe that Patrick Dempsey was so abusive and so horrible to people in a two and a half hour conversation on the plane. For two and a half hours, this boy talked my ear off, Keith, about how horrible Patrick Dempsey is and how he needs to be removed from the show. And in my argument, the irony of it is that Patrick happened to show some behavior that was very in line with what T.R. was telling me on the plane and I challenged T.R. to deny it or say this isn't true."
I know Patrick Dempsey has supported me by stating that if there is anyone that needs to be fired it is T.R. Knight.
He went on: "All the dirty macking that he gave me about Patrick Dempsey led me to believe that Patrick was trying to treat me in a disrespectful manner, in the same kind of manner apparently accorded to T.R. that Patrick had treated him. And even to this day, when I went back to the set Patrick Dempsey and T.R. still have a rift and are still not on speaking terms. They do not talk to each other...I know Patrick Dempsey has supported me by stating that if there is anyone that needs to be fired it is T.R. Knight because he has created such a negative environment on that set because he felt like he has not been treated and given the same leading man kinds of story lines that have been given to Patrick and Isaiah. He felt like his character was being treated very caricatureish and dopey and he wanted a change. That's why you see his character changing so significantly into being all of a sudden this really dopey guy into being this uber he-man that's sleeping with everyone."
"This is something that T.R. Knight has been trying to do and using the incident of the so-called F-word that was targeted at him, which is a flat out lie, to blackmail the writers into doing his bidding, and it's not working. The producers are not happy about it, and quite frankly, they all think that something has gone awfully awry with the stability of T.R. Knight. And I can freely say this now because I am no longer a Disney employee and I am no longer gagged. But everyone there, including the producers, all the way up to Touchstone, are very disappointed in the behavior of T.R. Knight."
"And let me be clear Keith. All of this I'm saying to you has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he's gay. He came out October 19 as purely a tactical move to do exactly what it did, get public opinion in an outrage to lead them to believe that he is being picked on because he is gay. He could care less about the gay community."
Speaking Of Washington
To be clear, I have never defended Isaiah Washington's use of the F-word. I have said repeatedly that his use of the word was wrong. But I have also declined to join the army of people who have called for Washington to be fired from Grey's Anatomy. I said this back in January on CNN and I still believe it now.
To me, Washington's history of support for the LGBT community argued that he should get the benefit of the doubt. The f-word using Isaiah Washington is not the same man I first saw on the screen playing an openly gay man in Spike Lee's groundbreaking 1996 film Get On The Bus. Nor is it the same man who wrote an article in Essence magazine a few years ago where he condemned homophobia.
Last night Washington told me in no uncertain terms that he had not changed. He said he's still the same person he was before who always believed in respecting everyone regardless of their sexual orientation. He said he supported the gay community in the past and continued to do so today. And it was T.R. Knight, he said, who had pimped the LGBT community. Washington charged that Knight was not on the set the day when the f-word was used and that it wasn't used against Knight. But another source close to the story told me this morning that Knight never claimed that Washington called him the f-word to his face, but only that Knight said he was hurt by it.
Washington went on to say that he wanted to give me a "scoop" on the story but couldn't do so because I hadn't gotten back to him in time. He pointed me to an article in the Houston Chronicle yesterday that he said was mostly accurate in describing his side of the story. Washington told the Chronicle that "I used the word during a disagreement with Patrick [Dempsey]. I apologized for that. We shook hands and went back to work."
So, if all this is true, it sounds as though Washington did use the f-word last fall on set but did not use it around T.R. Knight, and then Knight found out about it and used the incident as an excuse to go after Washington and launch his own career. But why did Washington use the word again at the Golden Globes in January? When asked that question, Washington told me that he was responding to a reporter in the audience who had yelled a question to him about the incident with T.R. Knight.
I told Washington that the footage I had seen only showed him speaking at the mic and did not seem to show anyone asking a question about the issue. It looked to me as though Washington just started shooting off about the issue for no reason. But Washington said the part of the discussion where the question was asked was cut out from the stories in the media.
I've worked with the media for 20 years, and I think what could have happened was that the questioner was not on camera or on mic, and therefore the question might not have been picked up by the cameras that were hooked up through the mult box to the main microphone.
I spoke to Washington again late last night and by text message early this morning. He told me he was planning to tell all when he appears on Larry King Live on CNN.
So what does all this mean? After speaking to several people on all sides of the issue, I think there is much more to the story than has been reported. I have to admit, I haven't being paying close enough attention to every detail of the story the past few months to know who's right and who's not. All I can do is present the facts as they are presented to me and let the readers decide for themselves.
Posted by: noah | Jun 25, 2007 3:45:50 PM
Cyndi Lauper is a diva who's "a royal pain in the ass to work with."? Hello kettle? This is the pot. You're black.
Posted by: Hoss | Jun 25, 2007 4:21:10 PM
Wow Junior.
This is coming from the man who three years ago had a visible pipe on the mixing decks for New Years eve at Roxy.
And who continues to crash records in public.
And who has had people thrown out of spaces for requests.
SO warm and cuddly.
That's where I go to for advice and wisdom. He obviously still hasn't recovered
Posted by: Br!on | Jun 25, 2007 5:23:53 PM
Dear Mr. Vasquez,
When have you made a remix that doesn't sound exactly the same as the old remix, with a few added synths, some high hats and a kick drum please don't bitch about someone else. Thanks in advance.
Posted by: Tread | Jun 25, 2007 5:31:00 PM
"I think she's immensely talented, but she's a control freak with bizarre ideas. She's a royal pain in the ass to work with."
Speaking as a DJ, I think the old saying "People in glass houses..." applies to Junior here. And the Crystal speech is nice and all, but I would hope he's actually recovered from his own demons or else it's a bit hypocritical to say the least.
Posted by: mark m | Jun 25, 2007 5:46:04 PM
I REALLY respect Keith Boykin but I think he's swallowing a bunch of bull here.
I'm also concerned that he seems to be insenuating that it's OK to use the word "faggot" in an argument as long as you are not speaking directly to a gay person. I wonder if he feels the same about racial epithets. I know I sure don't. I call people out each and every time they use racial epithets around me because I don't think the words are any less offensive just because a black person didn't hear it.
I find it very curious that Boykin would feel any differently. Perhaps I misunderstood or misinterpreted what he intended to say.
Posted by: Zeke | Jun 25, 2007 11:31:47 PM
To turn IW firing into something that was racially motivated is beyond absurd.
Keith Boykin is normally quite enjoyable, but I have to take issue with his buying into this PR spin by IW.
Its simply gross that IW is now blaming TR Knight for all of this. And before any commenters go on Boykin's site and refer to the Towleroad people like me as racist like I've been reading over there, check yourself before you wreck yourself.
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re: Isaiah's new Version: So TR Knight got him all wound up with lies against Dempsey, in a bid to divide and conquer Gray's. I missed the part about how that made him say "faggot"...????
Posted by: Strepsi | Jun 26, 2007 5:48:05 AM
Interesting that Vasquez calls Lauper a control freak, since apparently Britney Spears wanted to perform at one of the True Colors concerts, and according to Rosie on her blog recently: "Cyndi said no, and it's her show." That's pretty controlling, considering it's supposed to be a charity concert for gay rights (although it's only like 10% of the ticket price going to it.) Perhaps Lauper was justified however, Spears would've been the only Republican to perform on the tour, after all. Let Britney renounce the Repugs before she tries to position herself as a gay rights advocate.
Posted by: Johnny | Jun 26, 2007 7:10:02 AM
You know ... I think Peter Rauhofer is a lot better than Junior Vasquez. Hands down!
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