Madonna has pushed one of her fans over the borderline.
Known for sometimes starting concerts late – by up to a couple of hours on recent occasions – a fan has launched a class-action lawsuit against her for postponing the start time of a show. And it’s for one that hasn’t even taken place yet.
NBC reports that Florida’s Nate Hollander purchased three tickets (worth $1,024.95) for the December, 17th, date of her Madame X tour in Miami Beach.
However, after he’d purchased the tickets, promoter Live Nation announced the original 8.30 pm start time had been pushed back to 10.30 pm. This means the concert now won’t end until nearly 1 am: too late for Hollander’s liking.
He filed a lawsuit in federal court in Miami-Dade County last week stating Live Nation had declined to refund him his money.
When a refund was turned down, he tried to re-sell the tickets. However, because the concert ends so late, his lawsuit claims fewer people are interested in buying them. This effectively reduces their worth and his ability to recoup his costs.
“Ticketholders had to work and go to school the next day, which prevented them from attending a concert that would end at around 1:00 am …Hollander attempted, without success, to obtain a refund for the three tickers purchased for the Madonna concert,” states his lawsuit.
Hollander claims Madonna and Live Nation “knew or should have known that said concerts would not start at 8:30 pm,” due to her showing up late to previous shows.
Last Thursday, Madonna was due to hit the stage at 10.30 pm at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. However, she didn’t hit the stage till nearly 12.30 am – leaving some fans booing and demanding a refund.
It’s far from being the first time the singer has started concerts late in recent years. A date in Chicago last month was advertised for 8.30 pm but she didn’t hit the stage till 11 pm.
Hollander is suing for breach of contract and negligent misrepresentation and is seeking damages. He is now asking other disgruntled fans to join his class-action lawsuit.
Madonna has not made an official response to the legal action. However, on Friday night in Vegas – perhaps in response to the controversy over her previous night’s lateness – she told the audience: “Here’s something you all need to understand … and that is, that the queen is never late.”
She posted a video clip to her Twitter and captioned it “F.A.C.T.S”
‘RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’ Gives Us a B*Witching Ode to Girl Groups [RECAP and RANKINGS]
Another week, another enjoyable trip across the pond for RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. At this point, I’m ready to declare myself a Drag Race ex pat.
Entering the half-way point of the competition, I’ve really come to appreciate just how prepared these queens are. Something we’ve seen contestants consistently dinged for is showing up to the workroom unprepared for the season’s standard challenges.
Last week, the entire cast came correct for Snatch Game. Every single queen had a POV, practiced their look and mannerisms and came with at least a few ha-has in their pockets. Of course, some folks will just never be comedians or impressionists, but no one was starting from scratch.
Similarly, it feels like the ladies were locked and loaded for this week’s reading mini-challenge. Granted, I’m not sure I exactly followed everyone’s jokes, but they all seemed like they were having a GREAT time. Even the struggling queens, like Blu, Cheryl and surprise winner Crystal were armed with some weapons-grade shade.
This was a strong week for Blu overall. She even echoed my sentiment about being unfairly robbed of a third-place spot last week. It doesn’t matter, because Blu is clearly more confident now. (She didn’t even hesitate to tell Viv and Baga they didn’t deserve a double win.) She had an ambitious, but ultimately dysfunctional prop gag during the mini-challenge involving a paper bag that she sold through pure charm.
Crystal’s win came with maybe the most powerful mini-challenge prize yet: The ability to pick the teams for this week’s maxi-challenge. That’s a pretty big advantage. She snatches up The Vivienne, a noted singer, and Cheryl, a dancer and, as we’re reminded over and over, a HUGE fan of girl groups.
Cheryl’s knowledge will come in handy as the queens pay homage to the likes of Little Mix, Fifth Harmony, Girls Aloud and others. They’ll be recording verses and lip-syncing the track for the judges.
The edit this week leaves very little to the imagination, and it becomes pretty clear Crystal underestimated Divina, Baga and Blu (collectively calling themselves The Frock Destroyers). The ideas are just pouring out of them, and you can see the creative sparks fly.
Meanwhile, Crystal reveals she can’t really sing nor dance, which is not great news. Vivienne seems annoyed to be stuck with the middling Crystal and Cheryl.
But in rehearsals, it’s Cheryl that shines. She smartly uses her Essex accent to add lots of color to her verse, and she leads the choreo for their performance. Vivienne has a strong vocal, and Crystal, as she warned, can’t seem to really do either.
The other group is clearly coming out ahead. Divina steps out to the forefront, choreographing a killer routine even novice dancers could nail and revealing her secret weapon: she can pull off straight-up Mariah Carey whistle notes.
This is a game changer.
OK, the whistle notes might just be kind of a cool gimmick, but Divina’s choreo skills alone deserve praise. So many experienced dancing queens get overly ambitious with their steps, setting up their two-left-footed friends to fail. Baga and Blu are both pulling their weight, keeping up with the steps and dazzling with their verses (Baga for her vocal talent, and Blu for her always just a little too filthy phrasing).
Before these groups’ debut/farewell performances, the conversation around the makeup mirror turns to growing up gay and bullying. Divina reveals her difficult childhood facing discrimination and violence from her peers. At the time, a law prohibited teachers from “promoting” homosexuality, so many were reticent to even step in. It’s heartbreaking for Divina, and also heartbreaking for so many of us who can relate.
The most emotionally evocative moment comes via a story Divina recounts about working with today’s youth. One of the kids called her a slur, and instead of piling on, the other kids were mad and knew it wasn’t right. It still sort of sounds like a sad story on the surface, but compared to Divina’s growing up, this is progress.
On the mainstage, it’s Crystal’s team (Filth Harmony) up first. Cheryl is clearly in her element, and you can’t be blamed for mistaking her for an actual girl group member. Vivienne just sort of fades into the background, mumbling the lip-sync and phoning in the steps. Crystal is playing the bad girl, but comes off more like the girl you know that’s, like, TOO into wolves?
When the Frock Destroyers take the stage, I can’t help reaching for my wallet to throw my credit cards at the screen in an attempt to buy tickets to see the act live. It’s that good. All three ladies are totally in sync and their personalities come blasting through. It’s a total slam dunk in every way. (It helps that the actual track is one of the best the show has ever made for this kind of challenge.)
The runway theme is horse races, and the ladies have a few interesting interpretations. We’ll pick ’em apart in our rankings below.
As expected, Divina’s team takes top honors, and Ru awards all three a RuPeter badge. Cheryl is spared from her team, leaving Crystal to lip-sync against former frontrunner The Vivienne.
I know Viv would disagree, but thank god she’s down there. Finally, we see a true Drag Race caliber lip-sync! Performing to a track from Little Mix, Vivienne gives us attitude, face, competent dance moves. It’s all fully realized and polished.
Crystal … I don’t know what Crystal is doing. It’s a little character-y, it’s a little comedy, it’s not really fully anything. Vivienne basically mops the floor with her.
Where does that leave the remaining queens? Let’s break it down in our rankings below.
She’s been nipping at the heels of The Vivienne for weeks, but, finally, Baga has surpassed her bosom buddy. She’s never looked better than she did on tonight’s runway. The yellow floral headpiece was just the right touch to elevate the whole ensemble, and she surprised everyone with her singing voice. This is the second week she scored a RuPeter badge that may not have been wholly earned. Could the producers be pushing her to the top?
Watch out, because Divina is on the rise. She was a sleeper the first few weeks, but, now, she has arrived. She was the star among stars in her group, and her jockey-inspired runway was a singular moment. Plus, she’s getting lots of opportunities to show her personality and tell her story. She’s a top-three lock, for sure.
The Vivienne took a spill this week. She’ll be able to bounce back, but she can’t afford to give Baga and DDC opportunities to surge. Maybe her performance brain-fart was a fluke, and this was one of her more disappointing outfits. The lip-sync gives me hope, though.
Another strong showing from Blu. Not only on the runway, but even in confessionals, Blu’s personality is blossoming. She looked great in the performance and in her horse-headed runway. Between her adorable little face and her connection to the struggles in Northern Ireland, I want to see more of her. I think she could surprise us with a “surprise! we’re doing a top FOUR!” moment in the season’s penultimate episode.
Don’t get me wrong, Cheryl was the fourth best performer in the maxi-challenge, but her cumulative run has been pretty mediocre. Her runway was very off-the-track; less day at the races, more day at the dogfights, if that makes sense? I’m glad she got this chance to excel at her dream challenge, but I don’t see her being able to top (or even meet) this moment.
I guess we fully tapped Crystal‘s weirdness last week, and now there’s nothing left. It was all very awkward. I don’t think there was ever a question who needed to be sent home this week. She dropped the ball every step of the way. She’s got some cool, got some edge, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of versatility.
This early morning i thought i would take a moment and explain my name and my interest in Russia, something apparent perhaps when viewing many of my ‘favorites’ here in Flickrland.
I’m sure a lot of people wonder why i chose the name i did as a Transgender person a long time ago now and i figured i’d solve this mystery today for you all with a nice post of a photomanipulation of mine i had not yet included here, done in 2018.
Before ‘Anya’, i was known as ‘Squirrel’ to everyone, not legally but for a very long time and even to coworkers, employers and everyone who knew me… I was known by a Nickname i’ve had since i was a teenager.
When i chose my name after becoming open about my gender, beginning the process of transition by changing it as well as laser facial hair removal long ago now i chose a name i’ve always loved but it also has some meaning behind it.
My Mother’s middle name was ‘Ann’, a name that in some form appeared on the Polish side of my family for a few generations. I wanted to take a name that connected somehow to the women in my family.
I’ve had a lifelong interest in Russia, Russian history and culture and i chose the Russian ‘Anya’ (Аня) which is related to the Polish ‘Ania’ or the English ‘Anne’. I always thought Anya was a beautiful name and it fit nicely given my interests as well.
Some wonder if i am Russian having this name which to my knowledge i am not but there’s always a possibility given i don’t fully know the story of my family like many here in the USA where our ancestors came from elsewhere. Here in the USA it’s common for people to name their children anything they like and you’ll find people of all sorts of ethnic backgrounds bearing names that aren’t part of their genealogy which may be confusing to some elsewhere where this is not as common.
As far as i’m aware, i’m 1/2 French, 1/4 Polish and 1/4 Irish.
I still went by ‘Squirrel’ largely until i began hormones 3 years ago now and some still know me by that name. Anyone i knew decades ago when i see them again still calls me Squirrel which is fine but it’s not how i introduce myself and given where i am at in life in transition on hormones Anya is much more fitting.
So, there you have it… Mystery solved. 😉
*I’m unsure if in a ‘former life’ i was Russian, i believe in reincarnation but i thought it was funny one day when a Russian friend told me ‘I must have been Russian in a former life’ after she had known me for awhile. Who knows, maybe she’s right… Or, maybe i just appreciate Russia for the history, beauty and what i continue to learn from people there. Either way, i’m happy it’s my name.
I’m unable to travel lacking the resources to do so but if i could go anywhere in the world, travel and photograph it extensively… Russia absolutely would be my choice.
Actor Anthony Rapp has announced his engagement. Rapp took to social media yesterday to reveal he’d popped the question to his partner, Ken Ithiphol. The two men have been together since January 2016.
“So something happened tonight. I asked Ken if he would marry me and he said yes. I am so very happy and I’m so very thrilled to share this news.”
So something happened tonight. I asked Ken if he would marry me and he said yes. I am so very happy and I’m so very thrilled to share this news. pic.twitter.com/2T65DLhSmd
Rapp and Ithiphol, a leadership coach, social researcher and advocate, both re-posted Instagram stories from others showing the actor getting down on one knee in front of friends at a party in Toronto to make his proposal.
Rapp, 48, has been acting since childhood. He is best known for originating the role of Mark Cohen in the Broadway production of Rent, which he reprised on TV.
He reached a whole new audience playing Lieutenant Commander Paul Stamets on the television series Star Trek: Discovery.
Alongside costar Wilson Cruz, Rapp plays one half of the first gaycouple in the Star Trek universe.
He came out as queer in the mid-90s, telling Oasis magazine: “I don’t want to get into labels, but I’ve never labeled myself except to say I’m queer. The thing that’s been most important to me to be out about is that I have been in loving relationships with men … I haven’t said, “I am gay.” Because the truth is that I’ve also been in love with women, although the truth is I do think I’m primarily homosexual.”
Following the rise of the #MeToo movement, Rapp hit the headlines in 2017 when he went public with accusations against Kevin Spacey.
He says that when he was 14 and acting in a play, he’d attended a party thrown by the then 26-year-old Spacey. He says Spacey made unwanted sexual advances toward him.
Spacey responded on Twitter, saying he did not remember the encounter, was “beyond horrified to hear his story” and offered Rapp the “sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.”
Other men subsequently came forward to make similar accusations against the House of Cards star.
