Queen Latifah On Lesbian Sex Scenes

"People feel a type of way when they see any sexuality on-screen. I think it's almost human nature. People are so fascinated by it. It shouldn’t even be a discussion. But it is, because people are still curious, and people still wonder how they feel about things. At the end of the day I don’t really care if someone feels uncomfortable about it. It is what it is, and it’s life. So you either deal with it or not. It’s just part of who she is, and I had to tell the story honestly.” - Queen Latifah on her lesbian sex scenes in the coming Bessie Smith biopic, which debuts on HBO this weekend.

Queen Latifah And Renee Fleming Perform At Opening Of Super Bowl 2014

Did either one lip-sync? Fleming seem live to me.

Queen Latifah To Sing At Super Bowl

New Jersey native Queen Latifah will perform America The Beautiful at Sunday's Super Bowl.

The singer-actress -- fresh off marrying 33 couples at Sunday night's Grammy Awards -- will perform the song Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The performance will be televised live on Fox prior to kickoff. Latifah also performed the song at Super Bowl XLIV four years ago. The pregame show also include the singing of the National Anthem, which this year will be performed by opera singer Renee Fleming. Amber Zion will perform in American Sign Language the National Anthem.

Here's how it went at the 2010 Super Bowl.

Quote Of The Day - Queen Latifah

“I look forward to the day when presiding over a historic wedding ceremony like this is just the norm. To me, it was special to all the couples we married today and I look forward to dashing off to go sign their marriage certificates. It’s awesome. I had to get sworn in as a commissioner for the state of California, so I’m not an ordained minister like I said, but I’m a commissioner. So you can call me to commish – Queen Commish!" - Queen Latifah, telling reporters had her authority to officiate expired at midnight last night. When asked if she would ever get married on national television, she returned to her stock position: "That would probably be something I would keep for me."

Macklemore, Madonna, Queen Latifah: 34 Couples Marry At Grammy Awards

This clip will not last on YouTube. What did you think?

Tonight's Grammy Awards To Feature On-Stage Marriages Of Gay Couples

At tonight's Grammy Awards, Queen Latifah will officiate the on-stage mass weddings of 34 couples, including gay couples.

At the Grammy Awards on Sunday night, pop’s megastars will compete for the music industry’s most prestigious trophy, and put on flashy performances that are sure to ricochet through social media. But the producers behind the program, which is to be broadcast live by CBS at 8 p.m., are hoping that the biggest show-stopper of the night will be a much more solemn event: an on-air wedding of 34 couples — gay, straight, old, young, of many races and many colors. The ceremony will be part of the hip-hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s performance of their Grammy-nominated song “Same Love,” which became a marriage-equality anthem last year just as that issue was drawing intense national attention.

The segment follows what the Grammy organizers said was the show’s long history of addressing timely social issues through music, like Elton John’s duet in 2001 with Eminem, who was then widely criticized as homophobic. “We’re serious about this,” said Ken Ehrlich, the longtime producer of the Grammys. Yet as part of a televised awards show that works hard for its ratings, showbiz will also play a part in this sacrament. Queen Latifah will officiate at the nuptials, and Madonna will join the number with Macklemore, Mr. Lewis and the song’s featured vocalist, Mary Lambert. Grammy organizers said they knew that controversy might be inevitable, given those who oppose gay marriage or who might see the segment as trivializing a serious matter.

Tomorrow's sadz will be thunderous. The biggest question I have is whether Queen Latifah will use the occasion to finally come out.

Dolly Parton Raps For Queen Latifah

Queen Latifah: I'm Still Not Coming Out

"I don't feel the need to discuss my private life on this show or any other show. There's the part of my life that the public and I share together. And there's the part that's mine to keep for myself. And that's mine. For me." - Queen Latifah, telling the Hollywood Reporter that only one topic will be off-limits on her coming syndicated chat show, which debuts on September 16th.  An executive at the Sony Pictures-produced show says he supports Latifah's position, adding, "It doesn't feel relevant to me because we're just making a big, entertaining show." 

RELATED: After Anderson Cooper finally officially came out last summer, some named Queen Latifah as the next most-prominent hold out. Personally, I'd give that title to Matt Drudge. 

TRAILER: Steel Magnolias Remake

Lifetime's all-black version appears to be an almost line-for-line remake of the original. The producers seem to be expecting big viewership from the gays:

"We believe the movie is about community ... and it's a community of all types who fit together by a commonality of family. Very much like the gay community. We think that there are a lot of elements that gay viewers can relate to, with these ladies hanging together, growing together and dealing with the eccentricities of life and the strength they must face when there is a death among them at such an early age."

Queen Latifah plays the scenery-chewing M'Lynn.

iTunes Outs Queen Latifah

She may say NO but iTunes says YES. See her album listed on the lower right of their gay pride page, along with out artists Clay Aiken, Adam Lambert, and Scissor Sisters. (Tipped by JMG reader Brian)

Queen Latifah: I Didn't Come Out

Queen Latifah says that despite the way some in the audience received her words, she definitely did not come out during her performance at Long Beach Pride.

“That definitely wasn’t the case,” she tells EW. “I’ve never dealt with the question of my personal life in public. It’s just not gonna happen.” That said, the 42-year old was thrilled to participate in the event and even recalled an earlier performance for gay audiences. “To me, doing a gay pride show is one of the most fun things,” she says. “My first show that paid more than $10,000 was in a gay club on New Year’s Eve in San Francisco. Tupac happened to be in town, so he came to kick it with me. This was the early ’90s. And the boys were like, ‘Take your shirt off, Tupac!’ He wasn’t doing that. But we had a blast in there.”

Queen Latifah At Long Beach Pride

Queen Latifah headlined Long Beach Pride yesterday where she seemed to officially come out. You decide.

Queen Latifah took the stage at this year's Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Festival in the Southern California city Saturday (May 19), and her highness was happy to be in the presence of “her people,” according to EUR Web. Inquiries into her sexual preference have long followed Latifah, and headlining the event— now in its 29th year—may have marked a coming-out of sorts for the mogul. “I've been waiting to do this for a long time,” she told the crowd.

Movie Synopsis Of The Day

From the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival:

Leave it on the Floor - Directed by Sheldon Larry

Sheldon Larry’s audacious, raunchy and big-hearted musical—with songs by Beyoncé’s music director Kim Burse and her choreographer Frank Gatson Jr. —takes us into the fabulously funky world of voguing. The setting is contemporary downtown L.A., where our hunky, homeless hero Brad is discarded by his homophobic mom. Out on the streets, Brad falls in with the members of The House of Eminence, ruled by the stern aging diva Queef Latina.

Queef Latina. ::dead::

UPDATE: Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears confirms that Queef Latina was the name his band used to announce their secret performances.

All-Black Steel Magnolias Announced

Lifetime has announced that they will remake Steel Magnolias with an all-black cast. Queen Latifah will take the lead role.

Queen Latifah has just been added to the star-studded cast of Lifetime’s all-black remake of “Steel Magnolias.” She’ll play M’Lynn, the character portrayed by Sally Field in the 1989 feature film of the same name. Condola Rashad will play her diabetes-stricken daughter, Shelby, played previously by Julia Roberts, and Rashad’s mother Phylicia will take on the role of Clairee, portrayed by Olympia Dukakis. Alfre Woodard will portray the irascible Ouiser, in Shirley MacLaine’s former role, Jill Scott will fill Dolly Parton’s shoes as understanding hairdresser Truvy, and “Pariah” breakout Adepero Oduye will play insecure newcomer Annelle, made famous by Daryl Hannah.

I suppose we shouldn't miss the opportunity to ask for your favorite lines from Steel Magnolias.

New Talk Show For Queen Latifah

With the backing of producers Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah will launch a daytime talk show in the fall of 2013. Ellen, Anderson, Rosie, Queen Latifah. Daytime TV is getting quite homo-heavy.

Gossip Equality?

I suppose it's some kind of progress when the tabloids breathlessly gossip about the love lives of gay celebs, yeah?

HomoQuotable - Queen Latifah

"I just like ladies who have class. Period. And if it’s 'T and A' you’re sellin’, that’s fine, as long as that’s what you’re selling. But you don’t have to show everything, you know? You can hold some back and just be yourself and let your personality shine and let your individuality show. To me, that’s sexier. A confident woman is a sexy woman, in my opinion." - Queen Latifah, in what some gossip sites are heralding as her first official acknowledgement of being gay.

HomoQuotable - Queen Latifah

"I don’t have to explain anything. I don’t have to confirm anything. Look, I need my time. I need my life. You know, I was looking at something the other day. A magazine with Jennifer Aniston on the cover. That’s a strong woman right there. All of these people in her business-who is she dating? Angie this. Brad that. They come up with so much stuff. That’s a tough situation to be in.

"My situation is small compared to that. But still, I don’t feel like I need to explain. I’m the one living it. You write about it. You go ahead and speculate. I’ll just live it. I don’t feel like I need to explain things to a perfect stranger. The people who matter know. And they love me for Dana. I don’t have to tell Joe Blow. Joe, you worry about who YOU sleeping with." - Queen Latifah, speaking to Upscale Magazine.

(Tipped by JMG reader Suzanne)

Queen Latifah Sings At The Super Bowl

It was kind of interesting that a semi-out lesbian was chosen to open the nation's largest sporting event by singing America The Beautiful. No reaction from the right so far, as far as I can find.

Queen Latifah Still Won't Say It

“I don’t have a problem discussing the topic of somebody being gay, but I do have a problem discussing my personal life. You don’t get that part of me. Sorry. We’re not discussing it in our meetings, we’re not discussing it at Cover Girl. They don’t get it, nobody gets that. I don’t feel like I need to share my personal life, and I don’t care if people think I’m gay or not. Assume whatever you want. You do it anyway.” - Queen Latifah, speaking to New York Times Magazine in one of the most fawning profiles I've ever read.

I've been a fan of Queen Latifah for many years, ever since Come Into My House in 1990. Even my rap-loathing mother likes her (but probably mostly because they went both went to Newark's Irvington High School). But I wish Latifah would drop the Luther Vandross routine and just say it. Yes, a closeted but otherwise gay-friendly star has the right to choose the time of their coming out. But in situations where it's such common knowledge, something about refusing to acknowledge it just feels....wrong. It's so Anderson Cooperish.