Kathy Griffin Quits 'Fashion Police'

Kathy Griffin Quits 'Fashion Police'
On Thursday, Kathy Griffin announced in a statement via Twitter that she’s leaving E!’s “Fashion Police.”

The 54-year-old comedian, who joined the show following the death of Joan Rivers, wrote:

“After 7 episodes of ‘Fashion Police,’ I have discovered my style does not fit with the creative direction of the show and now it’s time to move on.”

Reps for E! confirmed Griffin’s departure from the show to HuffPost Entertainment in a statement:

We can confirm that Kathy Griffin is leaving E!’s “Fashion Police.” We wish her all the best and are grateful for her time on the show, as well as the many laughs that she gave us all. “Fashion Police” will return, as scheduled, on Monday, March 30 at 9pm with our talented Co-Hosts Giuliana Rancic and Brad Goreski and Executive Producer Melissa Rivers. No further information is available at this time.

Griffin’s exit comes just weeks after fellow co-host Kelly Osbourne left the show in the midst of drama surrounding Giuliana Rancic’s offensive remarks about actress Zendaya’s dreadlocks during a post-Oscars episode of “Fashion Police.” On the show, Rancic said Zendaya’s dreadlocks made her look as if she smelled “like patchouli oil” or “weed.”

On Tuesday, Griffin finally addressed the controversy, telling the Chicago Sun Times’ Splash magazine that, while she doubted there would have been as much backlash had the joke come from her instead of Rancic, she wouldn’t have said it to begin with.

“I wouldn’t have said the joke in the first place. Some dude wrote it for her,” she told the magazine.

Read Griffin’s full statement below:

pic.twitter.com/XL12skIPK4

— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) March 13, 2015

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/12/kathy-griffin-quits-fashion-police_n_6860280.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Rep. Aaron Schock Under Fire for Not Disclosing Companion on Official Trip to India

Rep. Aaron Schock Under Fire for Not Disclosing Companion on Official Trip to India

Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) has come under scrutiny again for bringing Jonathon Link, a photographer and videographer, on an official trip to India paid for by The Global Poverty Project, a private advocacy organization, the National Journal reports.

LinkUnder House rules, according to the NJ, a member of Congress can “accept private money for a companion’s travel expenses only if the companion is a staffer, spouse or child. Link was none of those; he didn’t appear on Schock’s official or campaign payroll until September 2014.”

The NJ adds:

The organization offered to pay for the costs of one staffer to accompany Schock as long as the staffer flew economy class, according to the spokesman. Another aide was originally going to come, but the organization noted they were looking for a photographer, and Schock suggested Link, with whom he has worked in the past, the spokesman said. The photos Link took were made available to both Schock and the Global Poverty Project.

Schock never disclosed that Link went on the trip, which is required by law.

The Blue Nation Review reported on Link and the India trip last week.

It also reported on unusual fees paid late in 2014, some of which went to Schock’s ‘personal photographer’:

After voting to freeze salaries for federal workers all the way through 2015 and opposing any minimum wage increases, Congressman Aaron Schock quietly gave huge pay raises and/or bonuses to most of the staff members in his taxpayer-funded office during the last three months of 2014, according to Congressional expenditure reports examined by Blue Nation Review….

…Jonathon Link, Schock’s full time personal photographer, started September 1 and was paid $4,166 for that month, which translates to an annual salary of about $50,000. In the final three months of the year, he was paid $17,500, which translates to an annual salary of about $70,000. In addition to his congressional salary, Link’s photography studio was paid more than $29,000 during the final three months of the year for “Web Dev Hst, Email and Rltd Serv.” Schock’s office also paid “Web Dev Hst, Email and Rltd Serv” through Fireside21—a company that charges just a few hundred dollars per month and actually specializes in web development, hosting, email, and related services for Congressional offices. Was Link double-dipping?

Schock on Wednesday shook off a CNN reporter asking him to explain his “lavish lifestyle.”

Watch the video HERE.

Cnn


Andy Towle

www.towleroad.com/2015/03/rep-aaron-schock-under-fire-for-not-disclosing-companion-on-official-trip-to-india.html

Oklahoma Rep. Emily Virgin Suggests Businesses Post Notice Before Discriminating Against Patrons

Oklahoma Rep. Emily Virgin Suggests Businesses Post Notice Before Discriminating Against Patrons
A Democratic state representative in Oklahoma has offered up an unusual amendment to the state’s Religious Freedom Act that would reportedly give businesses the option to discriminate based on their religious beliefs, but would require those establishments to be upfront about it.

In the amendment, Oklahoma Rep. Emily Virgin suggests that wedding-related companies “not wanting to participate” in a business exchange based on the “sexual orientation, gender identity or race of either party” shall “shall post notice of such refusal in a manner clearly visible to the public in all places of business, including websites,” according to The Gayly Oklahoman.

The amendment continues that the notice “may refer to the person’s religious beliefs, but shall state specifically which couples the business does not serve by referring to a refusal based upon sexual orientation, gender identity or race.”

The proposed amendment has received some praise. Freedom Oklahoma Executive Director Troy Stevenson told Raw Story in a statement, “If the state of Oklahoma is going to protect discrimination, then at the very least, businesses should be required to own their bias, and post it publicly for the world to see.”

The Dallas Voice’s David Taffet wrote that the proposal also had an unintended benefit for heterosexual customers, too: “That way, a straight couple that wouldn’t have been turned away would be notified that they’re doing business with bigots and might want to find an alternate vendor as well.”

As KFOR points out, the legislation was proposed at a time when a number of bakers, florists and other wedding-related businesses have been feeling the heat after their respective owners turned away customers seeking cakes and other services related to same-sex weddings.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/12/oklahoma-discrimination-businesses-amendment_n_6859256.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Sean Penn warns that anti-gay parents will leave a terrible legacy for generations

Sean Penn warns that anti-gay parents will leave a terrible legacy for generations

‘Children in this generation are going to have children and they’re going to look back at them and say, “My parents are responsible for the suicides of 13 and 14 year old boys and girls”‘

read more

gregh

www.gaystarnews.com/article/sean-penn-warns-anti-gay-parents-will-leave-terrible-legacy-generations120315