THEGAYUK

Day: 4 July 2019

  • Broadcaster Iain Lee comes out as bisexual

    Journalist, broadcaster and I’m A Celeb star, Iain Lee comes out as bisexual.

    Iain Lee, who came third in 2017’s I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here has come out as bisexual while on his TalkRadio show.  The broadcaster had been talking about seeing a therapist after a serious car accident and the breakdown of his marriage saying, “He’s helped me realise that I’m probably bisexual,

    “So I guess I’m coming out. This is me coming out, I suppose is how they would call it, at the age of 46, and I’m terrified by it.”

    Embed from Getty Images

    Taking to social media, Iain, wrote, “This week I kind of came out on air as bi and the support has been nuts. So like thanks. I’ll probably delete this tweet as I still feel embarrassed and ashamed and weird but I’m working on it.”

    https://twitter.com/iainlee/status/1146490792300728321

    He then joked about who he needed to pay his “gay subs” too.

    Stars and fans were quick to congratulate Iain, with Big Brother‘s Luke Anderson saying, “The strength it takes to come out as who you really are is phenomenal, congratulations Iain 🙂 be the real you!”

    While author Jonathan Harvey added, “Hooray. Good for you, kid x”

    Bisexual advocate and rights campaigner Lewis Oakley remarked on Iain’s status with “Always great to see other bi men in the media! Hope our paths cross so we can talk about it!”

     

  • Pink News apologises to MP and makes a donation to charity as compensation

    Pink News apologises to MP and makes a donation to charity as compensation

    One of the UK’s leading LGBT+ news outlets, PinkNews apologises after publishing a story about Joanna Cherry QC which was later found to be untrue.

    kconcha / Pixabay

    PinkNews has offered an “unreserved” apology to  Joanna Cherry QC the MP for Edinburgh South West after it published a story which was later found to be untrue.

    Taking to Twitter, Ms Cherry wrote, “Last week ⁦⁩ published a defamatory story about me. I’m pleased to have secured a full apology, a donation to a charity of my choice – – & full payment of my legal costs”.

    In a statement, PinkNews wrote,

    “The claim was untrue and we would like to apologise unreservedly to Ms Cherry.

    “It is well known that Ms Cherry is a human rights lawyer. She came out as a lesbian over 30 years ago and campaigned against section 28. She has spent a lifetime marching and campaigning for the rights of the LGBT+ community and as a politician regularly speaks up for their rights in parliament and beyond.

    “It was not our intention nor is it in our interest to alienate any member of the LGBT+ community and we are truly sorry for the harm caused.

    “We are happy also to confirm that we have made a donation to the Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group at Ms Cherry’s request in compensation for the damage done and we have paid Ms Cherry’s legal costs.

    In a statement published by Pink News, Ms Cherry wrote,

    “I am pleased that the PinkNews has withdrawn this damaging and hurtful allegation. I believe in equal rights for all. It is not acceptable for lesbians who speak up for women and girls’ rights and against hateful speech and abuse to be denigrated. I hope the LGBTI+ movement can resume its previous habit of respectful debate over differences of opinion within the community.”

    The amount donated to the UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group has not been disclosed nor have the legal costs involved.

     

  • Bitter Wheat Review: Downward spiral that becomes shockingly dumb

    Bitter Wheat Review: Downward spiral that becomes shockingly dumb

    ★ | Bitter Wheat

    (C) PR SUPPLIED

    John Malkovich and David Mamet attempt to tell a story about a Hollywood mogul and his downfall but it falls completely flat in the new West End Show Bitter Wheat.

    Malkovich, star of screen and stage (70 films in total including Empire of the Sun and Burn After Reading), and playwright David Mamet (Glengarry Glen Ross, Speed the Plow) are where the blames lie in a show that tries to deal with an issue that is very timely but in this stage production is poorly executed. Malkovich is super-rich movie mogul Barney Fein who thinks and makes decisions with his nether regions. All likeliness to Harvey Weinstein is purely coincidental (!!).

    In this satire that is far from funny, Fein’s life is managed by his loyal assistant (Doon Mackichan).

    He even relies on her to get a gift for his mother’s birthday (his mother owns the company) – strangely the same scarf she got her the year before. And then there is another assistant (Alexander Arnold) who has no other function then just to walk in from time to time (including at the end where he announces that there is a man with a gun in the lobby – the same man who kills Feins’ mother in the second half – not shown) – all very silly and unbelievable. But before we get to this we are witness to an attempt by Fein to get young British-Korean actress and Cambridge grad Yung Kim Li (Ioanna Kimbook), who’s flown in to meet him, into a sexual liaison (all she wants is to eat after a long flight).

    Fein first asks her for a massage, and then finally asks her if she would watch him take a shower.

    It’s all very creepy and weird. And the show, at only 110 minutes long, (it also has an interval,) continues on a downward spiral that becomes shockingly dumb and just as quick as Weinteins’ downfall. Malkovich is just not convincing enough and delivers his lines like he’s reading them, while Mamet, who wrote and directed, knows better than to stage a show this bad.

    Avoid at all costs.

    Bitter Wheat plays at the Garrick Theatre until 14th September, book tickets here