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the hot sheet

August Alsina opens up about his sexuality, the daddy comedy you might’ve missed & all the new LGBTQ+ releases this week

By Cameron Scheetz August 21, 2024 at 12:00pm
Image Credits: ‘West 40s,’ YOuTube (left) | August Alsina via Getty Images (center) | Jools Lebron on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live,’ ABC (right)

Need a boost to get over Hump Day? The Hot Sheet is Queerty’s midweek pop culture catch-up, highlighting the entertainment stories everyone’s talking about, the ones you might’ve missed, and the notable LGBTQ+ film & TV releases in the days ahead. Here’s everything you need to stay in-the-know:

What To Watch This Week

  • Interview With The Vampire, Season 1 — Now Streaming (Netflix): TV’s sexiest—and gayest—show’s new streaming home is the perfect chance to see what everyone’s been raving about!
  • Stress Positions — Now Streaming (Hulu): John Early is hilarious in this sharp millennial farce, written, directed by, and co-starring Nymphowars podcaster Theda Hammel.
  • You Say Hello — Now Streaming (Directors Notes): A depressed young man meets a male escort who helps turn his life around in this emotional yet beautiful indie drama.
  • The Supremes At Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat — Aug. 23 (Hulu): Queer Oscar nominee Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor stars alongside Uzo Aduba and Sanaa Lathan in this story of lifelong sisterhood.

Culture Catch-Up

GOOD LUCK BABE: As “midwest princess” Chappell Roan‘s career continues to skyrocket, some of the fandom is getting out of hand, so the “Pink Pony Club” singer took to TikTok to speak her piece, setting some (if you ask us) very fair boundaries with people who think she owes them anything. [INTO]

UNTANGLED: Singer August Alsina‘s love life has been tabloid fodder ever since his “entanglement” with Jada Pinkett Smith, and now he’s opening up about his sexuality, pushing back against labels, and saying, “I’m fluent in love when it speaks to me.” [BET]

AWARD-WORTHY: This Jonathan Bailey press tour just might be the end of us. First there were those short-short pics from his Fellow Travelers costume fittings—in support of his Emmy-nominated work on the series—and now he’s a V Magazine cover star, swinging from rings in a sheer top. Please, sir, let us breathe! [Queerty]

AND SCENE: Recently, Saturday Night Live announced that queer cast member Punkie Johnson was one of the names who would not be returning for the upcoming 50th season, and now the comic is sharing why the departure was “mutual,” citing she never felt like she “fit” in on the sketch series. [The Daily Beast]

TV TRAILBLAZER: After the passing of influential news broadcaster and talk show host Phil Donahue, the gays are reflecting on his steadfast allyship and his pioneering, humanist coverage of the gay rights movement, the AIDS epidemic, and beyond. [LGBTQNation]

EXCUSE US?: Queerty fave Tommy DiDario sat down with the stars of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and things got X-rated fast when he asked Catherine O’Hara about her mysterious new role in The Last Of Us, but she heard… something else entirely!

DENIAL WITH A CAPITAL D: Reality superfan Julian Hagins has reminded us that, almost 10 years ago, TLC had a wild TV special about Mormon men who experience “sam-sex attraction” called My Husband’s Not Gay, and this show has to be seen to be believed! [Queerty]

CUTESY NEWS: In a matter of days, TikToker Jools Lebron has changed the way the world speaks with her viral “very demure, very mindful” trend. But, more than just 15 minutes of fame, the success of the moment has enabled her to finance the rest of her transition, too. [AP News]

EAR CANDY: Gays? Hosting a pop culture podcast? Groundbreaking. In the cheeky new pod Miss Thing, hosts Greg Trimmer & Tim Zientek combine their gift for gab and their tendency to make everything about themselves to hilariously sing the praises of a different iconic woman each week, from Tina Fey to Charli XCX.

SCREAM TEAM: Dragula‘s demonic divas supreme The Boulet Brothers are in their gaymer era, teaming up with popular multiplayer horror game Dead By Daylight for some themed, in-game charms & costumes and a special tie-in episode of the upcoming season of their drag competition series. [INTO]

GOING FOR GOLD: Team LGBTQ will still be going strong at this summer’s Paralympics, including out Icelandic swimmer Mar Gunnarsson—who also happens to be an acclaimed singer-songwriter!—and the multi-hyphenate could not be more optimistic about the games, which start next week. [Outsports]

FLYING THE COOP: The upcoming indie Chuck Chuck Baby is a queer musical drama set in the unlikeliest of places: a chicken factory in North Wales! But filmmaker Janis Pugh’s winning feature (coming to VOD on Aug. 27) has a big beating heart, especially in the slow-burn romance between Helen (Louise Brealey) and her coworker Joanne (Annabel Scholey), which is on full display in this Queerty exclusive clip:

The Final Hump

Recently, a hilarious clip went viral on Instagram, featuring a mustachioed man (Mark Sam Rosenthal) making eyes at a younger gay (Cooper Koch) on the subway, only to discover the polite twink just wanted to offer this older “sir” his seat on the train. Ouch.

But there’s more where that came from! This is just a taste of West 40s, a 2018 digital comedy from Rosenthal and filmmaker Brian Sloan (I Think I Do) about a group gay friends in their 40s living in New York City, which also co-stars Somebody Somewhere‘s Jeff Hiller. Though it screened at festivals and found many, many fans, the show was sadly never picked up to series. But in light of the upcoming Golden Girls-esque comedy Mid-Century Modern (with Matt Bomer & Nathan Lane), it feels like middle-aged gays are finally having their moment, so maybe West 40s was just ahead of its time?

We’ll be patiently waiting for West 40s to finally get the TV treatment it deserves, but in the meantime we highly recommend you check out its original pilot, which is streaming in full on YouTube:

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3 Comments*

  • Kangol2

    August Alsina has been with his boo Zu for at least a year or more now, right?

  • Donston

    Kangol, it’s definitely been more than a year. What’s irritating about August is that h e’s indirectly trying to claim this is the first g u y they’ve dated. August’s cousin said h e was dating g u ys before the fame. Still not being legit.

  • Kangol2

    Donston, you’re right about what his cousin has said. I read it as this is August’s first time being open, or mostly so, about dating a man. His actions are speaking pretty loudly. But I do think the backstory and history are more complex as you suggest.

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