Alexander McQueen, Laura Ingraham, David Beckham, Charlie Dent, Taron Egerton, West Hollywood: HOT LINKS

MCQUEEN. New trailer for the documentary about the late fashion designer is set to hit theaters on June 8. ‘With words such as “rebellion” flashing across the screen, it’s clear the documentary’s focus will be on how McQueen “discovered himself” and broke every constrictive fashion industry cliche throughout his relatively short career: From spray painting white couture, to creating and projecting a hologram of Kate Moss on the catwalk.’

THAT’S A PROBLEM. Laura Ingraham on Rudy Giuliani’s statement. “I love Rudy, but they better have an explanation for that. That’s a problem.”

GINA RODRIGUEZ. Stormy Daniels’ former manager cooperating with the FBI: Gina Rodriguez responded to a subpoena by handing over records to the FBI. Some of those documents pertain to the 2016 hush money agreement signed by Daniels and Michael Cohen, President Trump’s personal attorney. Cohen signed the agreement on behalf of a shell company he owned known as Essential Consultants LLC, according to the source.”

CHARLIE DENT. GOP Rep. wonders how Sarah Huckabee Sanders goes to work every day. “I guess at some point you have to ask the question, how does Sarah Huckabee Sanders go to work every day if she was sent out there to mislead the American people?”

.@RepCharlieDent on contradiction between what Trump and @PressSec have said about the Daniels payment: “I guess at some point you have to ask the question, how does Sarah Huckabee Sanders go to work every day if she was sent out there to mislead the American people?” pic.twitter.com/l3X5sOVWdP

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 3, 2018

OKLAHOMA.  Bill that would give adoption agencies license to discriminate against gay couples passes House: ‘The bill, which was introduced by Republican state Sen. Greg Treat, reads, “No private child-placing agency shall be required to perform, assist … or participate in any placement of a child for foster care or adoption when the proposed placement would violate the agency’s written religious or moral convictions or policies.”

RECLAIMING MY APOLOGY. Miley Cyrus explains why she took back her 2008 apology for the risque Vanity Fair photo.

DAVID BECKHAM. That moment when your son surprises you on your birthday.

GEORGE MICHAEL. Singers family asks fans to remove memorial tributes. “We’ve been touched by your many tributes celebrating and remembering Yog, reminding us how very much he is missed and loved. However, we feel we cannot expect our Highgate and Goring neighbours to continue to accept as normality, the memorials so personal to you all, to remain as and where they are any longer although, we do appreciate your recent efforts to minimise their impact.”

WEST HOLLYWOOD. More than 800 apartments could collapse in big quake: “About 90% of the 821 buildings on the list are thought to be wood-frame structures, such as apartments with carports on the ground floor. The rest are believed to be concrete or steel. Officials emphasized that properties on the list are not necessarily unsafe, and that further study will be required to determine whether retrofitting is needed.”

NEW YORK. Gay Yonkers basketball coach running for state assembly: “A local basketball coach and social studies teacher, who is believed to be the first openly gay coach in the New York Metro area, is running for Shelly Mayer’s vacated state Assembly seat. Anthony Nicodemo, who’s been Saunders Trades and Technical High School’s head boys basketball coach for the last nine years and a social studies teacher for the last 13 years, is going after the open seat in the 90th District, which includes most of Yonkers.”



OCULAR MELANOMA. Clusters of rare eye cancer cases around two Alabama cities, Auburn University puzzle experts. “The cancer, which normally occurs in about six in every 1 million individuals, has been identified in more than 50 individuals around two locations: Huntersville, North Carolina, and Auburn, Alabama. At least 38 of these individuals attended Auburn University between 1983 and 2001, according to a Facebook page for the group of patients.”

KENYA. Writer Kenneth Binyavanga Wainaina set to marry Nigerian partner: “Wainaina, an acclaimed African literary giant and founder of the Nairobi-based journal Kwani, is set to wed early next year after he proposed to his lover whom he has dated for over 6 years.”

DANCE VIDEO OF THE DAY. Calvin Harris feat. Dua Lipa “One Kiss”.

TRAILER OF THE DAY. Taron Egerton in Robin Hood.

KIDS THESE DAYS OF THE DAY. Telling time.

THIRSTY THURSDAY. Bowen Xiong

The post Alexander McQueen, Laura Ingraham, David Beckham, Charlie Dent, Taron Egerton, West Hollywood: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad.

Alexander McQueen, Laura Ingraham, David Beckham, Charlie Dent, Taron Egerton, West Hollywood: HOT LINKS

Urge lawmakers to protect LGBTQI New Yorkers on Advocacy Day

www.glaad.org/blog/urge-lawmakers-protect-lgbtqi-new-yorkers-advocacy-day

101 Pics of Fly-Fishing for Bearracuda in the Great Northwest

www.advocate.com/photography/2018/5/03/101-pics-fly-fishing-bearracuda-great-northwest

Trump Does Damage Control on Twitter After Rudy Giuliani Exposes a Whopper of a Lie About Stormy Daniels

Donald Trump fired off tweets Thursday morning trying to explain his way out of a situation created by his newly-hired lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, in an interview with Sean Hannity on Monday night (above).

In a discussion about the $130,000 hush money paid by Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to silence porn star Stormy Daniels over her affair with Trump, Giuliani stated that Trump paid the money back to Cohen in installments.

Giuliani’s statement contradicted statements by Trump aboard Air Force One on April 5, when he told reporters that he had no knowledge of the payment.

The NYT reports: “In an interview with The New York Times shortly after his Fox News appearance, Mr. Giuliani, the former New York mayor and longtime Trump confidant who recently joined the president’s legal team, said that he had documentation showing that Mr. Trump had personally made the payment. Mr. Giuliani indicated that the goal was to conclusively demonstrate that there was no campaign finance violation involved.”

The paper adds:

“That removes the campaign finance violation, and we have all the documentary proof for it,” he said. Mr. Giuliani added that when the initial payment was made, Mr. Cohen did it “on his own authority.”

“Some time after the campaign is over, they set up a reimbursement, $35,000 a month, out of his personal family account,” Mr. Giuliani said. He added that over all, Mr. Cohen was paid $460,000 or $470,000 from Mr. Trump through those payments, which also included money for “incidental expenses” that he had incurred on Mr. Trump’s behalf.

Trump addressed the developments first thing Thursday morning, on Twitter.

Tweeted Trump: “Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA. These agreements are……..very common among celebrities and people of wealth. In this case it is in full force and effect and will be used in Arbitration for damages against Ms. Clifford (Daniels). The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair,………despite already having signed a detailed letter admitting that there was no affair. Prior to its violation by Ms. Clifford and her attorney, this was a private agreement. Money from the campaign, or campaign contributions, played no roll in this transaction.”

Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA. These agreements are…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2018

…very common among celebrities and people of wealth. In this case it is in full force and effect and will be used in Arbitration for damages against Ms. Clifford (Daniels). The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair,……

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2018

…despite already having signed a detailed letter admitting that there was no affair. Prior to its violation by Ms. Clifford and her attorney, this was a private agreement. Money from the campaign, or campaign contributions, played no roll in this transaction.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2018

But these tweets don’t sound like Trump, do they….

Trump’s new lawyer Flood is writing his tweets to clean up the mess of his other new lawyer, Giuliani .We’ll see how long that works.

“Ms. Clifford.” t.co/x1J10Py8jI

— Mike Signorile (@MSignorile) May 3, 2018

Stormy Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti reacted to Giuliani’s statement:

“It’s an absolute disgrace,” said Avenatti to Don Lemon late Wednesday night. “And I am disgusted by it. And every American regardless of their political persusasion, you should be disgusted by what has happened in connection with the lies you have been told over the last three months about this payment. You should be disgusted by the fact that the President of the United States stood on Air Force One on video and audio and stated lies to you relating to this $130,000 payment.”

Avenatti also called in to MSNBC:

The post Trump Does Damage Control on Twitter After Rudy Giuliani Exposes a Whopper of a Lie About Stormy Daniels appeared first on Towleroad.

Trump Does Damage Control on Twitter After Rudy Giuliani Exposes a Whopper of a Lie About Stormy Daniels