News: Dolly Parton, Murakami, Polar Bears, Purse, Phillip Bloch

Recently out Degrassi star Adamo Ruggiero to host Canadian talent show The Next Star.

Takashi Murakami sculpture of anime dude ejaculating goes for $15 million at auction: "The winning bid was submitted to Sotheby's by telephone, probably because no one likes to buy this sort of thing in person, even if it's at a classy art auction."

Don't mess with Dolly! Howard Stern alters Parton's audiobook to make her say some disgusting things.

Bee Gees musical to disco up London's West End: "The Bee Gees are still staying alive and, post-Saturday Night Fever, readying another stage attack with a compilation musical based on their greatest hits. Brother Robin Gibb confirmed the status of the project this weekend while unveiling a green plaque at the former London home of the band’s manager and producer Robert Stigwood, where they wrote songs including 'Chain Reaction' and 'Heartbreaker'."

It's a slow news day at the BBC.

Wonder Twin messes activate!

Polar Bears declared a threatened species: "Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne cited dramatic declines in sea ice over the last three decades and projections of continued losses, meaning, he said, that the polar bear is a species likely to be in danger of extinction in the near future. But Kempthorne said it would be 'wholly inappropriate' to use the protection of the bear to reduce greenhouse gases, or to broadly address climate change."

Robert Downey Jr. showcases the season's hottest accessory.

Stylist Phillip Bloch forcibly removed from Madison Square Garden over mistaken marijuana incident: "Bloch, who had earlier lit a cigarette but quickly stubbed it out unnoticed, had been talking to a group of pot-smoking teenagers in the row behind him who were passing a pipe among themselves. 'The whole stadium smelled like pot, and the kids behind us were smoking. I'm sitting there having fun, laughing,' said Bloch. 'Then I get an order to go with this man. They say, 'You're leaving, give us your ticket.' I held it up, they took it. At that point they grabbed me by my arms to take me out, so I threw my hands up and said, 'You've got to keep off me. I'm no threat.'' Page Six witnessed three security guards then spin Bloch around and pin him against the corridor wall."

Chris Carmack's new movie should ensure plenty of shots like this.

Gay kiss heats up South African soap opera: "The protagonists were Stone (played by Zenzo Ngqobe) and Thula (Wright Ngubeni). Thula’s unemployed mother is bedridden by HIV/Aids, and to make ends meet he is selling his body to a married man. Not even his best childhood pal, Charlotte (Stone’s girlfriend) played by Nosipho Nkelemba, knows about the big secret. When Stone confronts Thula about the prostitution, there is an exchange of words and Stone suddenly kisses his friend, Thula. Both are left staring at each other in shock. The kiss did not last longer than five seconds, but is as big a talking point as After Nine – a locally produced short film on black gay men, screened on SABC1 last year."

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DeGrassi: The Next Generation's Adamo Ruggiero: I'm Gay

Adamo Ruggiero, who plays gay teen Marco Del Rossi in Degrassi: The Next Generation (which broadcasts in the U.S. on The N network), came out publicly in an interview with Canada's CTV web show eTalk.

Said Ruggiero: "I think with what I've done on the show for the last six years, and you know, my place in the show I feel like is coming to an end and there is sort of a conclusion with Marco and I thought it was the perfect time to now speak up. The thing with DeGrassi is it's not just like the role that we're kind of playing, it's not just like this 'we're on TV and celebrity' thing but it really is — we've kind of become these role models and spokespeople for these issues and I thought, you know, I was learning and I learned and what better way to kind of share my knowledge than right now."

Ruggiero said it was difficult at times because his personal life mirrored his character's self-discovery on the show: "I was growing up at the exact same time that my character was growing up. He was questioning things that I was questioning and I was just a kid and I'm completely petrified and you don't really understand or know where you fit in or who you are, and my character's asking these exact same questions, but he moved along a little faster than I did - for TV time's sake. I think it really scared me. I think I suddenly had this kind of third life. There was the composed life and the TV life, and then there was my personal life in a way. So it was a little overwhelming in the sense that everything that I was feeling and all the questions I was having was kind of being broadcast to the world and it kind of in a way made me revert even more back almost because I didn't know how to confront it myself. Or the reaction...It's just time to talk."

Check out Adamo's entire interview here.

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