Chris Brown blasts gay rumors

Chris Brown has responded to R&B singer Raz B's assertion that he is gay.

Vibe reports that the claims were leaked from Raz B's upcoming memoir This Boys Life.

Best known as a member of the group B2K, Raz B 'outs' several hip-hop and R&B stars in the book, including Bow Wow, Lil Wayne, Ray J and Omarion.

He apparently wrote of Brown: "I've never had issues with substances; even when I was at my lowest. I always thank God I never had a serious addiction like the Weezy's [Lil Wayne] and the Breezy's [Chris Brown]."

The former singer added: "What type of man hits a woman? A man that does not honor womanhood or the fragility of it. I also read that most men who beat women have latent homosexual tendencies. So there you go."

Brown later took to his Twitter account to refute Raz B's claims, saying: "Lying about somebody in a book is called defamation of character. Keep feeding people bulls**t and ima end up owning you and that book! RAZ B! God bless... My lawyers are handling it! Lol ima chill!"

Brown later deleted the tweets, but they had already been retweeted and screencapped by fans

John Travolta's Six Year Gay Affair With Pilot Revealed

Further revelations about John Travolta’s homosexual past have been made public in the US, with allegations from his former secretary that he had a six-year relationship with pilot Doug Gotterba.

Joan Edwards, who worked for the ‘Grease’ star from 1978 to 1994 told the National Enquirer that not only was John definitely gay but that he had a sexual relationship with Doug. Travolta is currently facing two counts of sexual assault from male massage therapists who claim he made advances to both of them.

“I did everything for him, including taking care of his personal and professional schedules. Of course I knew he was gay. It never bothered me,” she revealed.

"That's how I met Doug. We both worked for John at the same time. Doug is a wonderful guy and we are still good friends. He told me that John was gay and they had a sexual relationship," she added.

The relationship with Travolta, who has denied all claims of assault and doubts over his sexuality was also confirmed by another former boyfriend of Gotterba’s Robert Britz who said he even saw a video made by the couple when they were together.

"Doug told me right at the beginning of our relationship that he'd had a homosexual relationship with John Travolta in the 1980s,“ he told the National Enquirer.

“Doug said John was constantly grabbing at his genital area, but he put up with John's sexual advances because working for him was 'lucrative.’”

He went on: "I personally saw about two minutes of Doug's home video showing John Travolta sitting at the end of a bed with his shirt off.

“There were plates of food in front of him. The video appeared to be shot in a hotel room. Doug made it clear that it was very lucrative for him to be what he called John's 'personal right hand man' and homosexual partner.”

Gotterba was supposedly less than complimentary about the actor and said he had a “hairy body”.

"After a few years, Doug grew apart from John sexually, and John's advances eventually started to repulse him.”

"The relationship ended shortly thereafter." he added.

The relationship reportedly took place before Travolta married Kelly Preston in 1991.

The couple are said to be separated following the revelations about the actor’s personal life, though his legal team deny all of the allegations.

Adam Carolla Explains 'Anti-Gay' Jokes On 'The Talk,' But Perez Hilton Cries Foul

 Adam Carolla is no stranger to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) hot seat, having cracked a number of jokes some have deemed either anti-gay or transphobic.

Now, the comedian is hoping to set the record straight on his behavior, saying the so-called "homophobic" rants are merely part of his stage persona. "I'm on stage," he told "The Talk" co-host Sara Gilbert. "'Nice' doesn't get laughs, especially on stage. That is what I am saying."

Carolla then went on to note that he didn't understand why comedians were being held to the same standards as politicians when it came to making proclamations about a minority group.

Still, one prominent pro-LGBT voice quickly cried foul. "I think Adam Carolla's attempt at explaining his history of homophobia was B.S.," noted celebrity blogger and media personality Perez Hilton.

GOProud, Conservative Gay Group, Endorses Mitt Romney

On Tuesday night, the board of directors of GOProud, a group of gay conservatives and their allies, endorsed former Gov. Mitt Romney for president, despite his opposition to same-sex marriage and civil unions.

The endorsement does not surprise political observers as GOProud has previously said that it would back any Republican presidential candidate. GOProud's executive director, Jimmy LaSalvia, told The Huffington Post that Romney's opposition to same-sex marriage did not affect his group's endorsement. While he does not agree with Romney's stance on marriage, he concurs with many other of his positions, on Social Security reform and health care, for example.

LaSalvia is more concerned about the debt ceiling than marriage, he said: "We're on the brink" of a debt crisis, "and that will affect everything in our lives."

"Every issue is a gay issue," LaSalvia continued. "We know what we need to know: Governor Romney's record and President [Barack] Obama's record."

On gay rights, that record is clear. This year's election presents the sharpest contrast between presidential candidates' views on gay rights since 1992 when Bill Clinton pledged to lift the ban on gays serving in the military and George H.W. Bush opposed such a move.

Since Obama told ABC's Robin Roberts last month that he believed same-sex couples "should be able to get married," some gay Republicans have reconsidered their support for Romney. A day after Obama's statement, Romney affirmed his opposition to same-sex marriages and civil unions.

Romney's position on marriage is not new, but his stance against civil unions has shifted somewhat from his views while governor of Massachusetts. It also makes him more opposed to gay rights than George W. Bush or Dick Cheney; Bush supported civil unions while Cheney has backed same-sex marriage.

The other prominent gay Republican group, Log Cabin Republicans, thus far has not made a presidential endorsement. The group does not always support the Republican candidate and did not back Bush in 2004 because of his support for a federal marriage amendment. In an email, the group's deputy executive director, Christian Berle, said he "looks forward to seeing Republicans in the White House," but he believes the party needs to "promote a vision that keeps the focus on the economy, not by alienating moderates, women and younger voters with static on social issues."

For same-sex marriage advocates, a Romney win would be a blow, particularly as a lawsuit on the marriage issue could be heard by the Supreme Court next year.

Last summer, Romney signed a pledge issued by the leading group advocating against same-sex marriage, the National Organization for Marriage: He committed to support a federal marriage amendment defining marriage as being only between a man and a woman. The pledge also commits him to nominating judges to the Supreme Court who are opposed to same-sex marriage and to "vigorously" defending the Defense of Marriage Act in court. (Obama has said he will not defend the act's constitutionality.)

"The urgency of creating the right climate and having the right justices has never been higher," said Evan Wolfson, the president of Freedom to Marry, a national organization advocating for same-sex marriage. Freedom to Marry does not endorse candidates and has frequently worked with Republicans to pass legislation.

Still, Wolfson does not think that a Romney win would benefit gay people, he said. "On the one hand you have a president that's taken strong and courageous steps to begin dismantling discrimination," Wolfson said. "And on the other you have Mitt Romney, now on record as favoring inserting legal discrimination into our Constitution and using a litmus test of hostility to gay people when he makes appointments to the Supreme Court."

"You want to vote for a candidate that has the most things that you like, but I can't do that if that candidate sees me as less of a citizen," Chris England, a gay republican from Las Vegas, told the Huffington Post last month after Romney and Obama's statements. England said he can't bring himself to vote for either candidate.

Login with Facebook to see what your friends are reading Enable Social Reading i Benetton 'Unhate' Campaign, Featuring World Leaders Kissing, Wins Cannes Ad Festival Award

It may not have done much for international diplomacy, but Benetton's "Unhate" campaign, which featured images of world leaders in passionate lip-locks with some of their biggest adversaries, has nonetheless been declared a winner.

With shots depicting President Barack Obama kissing his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Abbas embracing Benjamin Netanyahu, the controversial (albeit heavily manipulated) ad series nabbed the Press Grand Prix at the Cannes Ad Festival, AdWeek is reporting.

It's not the first time the campaign has been honored; as Advertising Age reported, Benetton's internal agency Fabrica Treviso and MDC Partners' 72andSunny were also recognized at One Show last month. But the Press Grand Prix nod is perhaps the most prestigious of the awards.

"The reason we chose this is because it stood out on the wall," Steve Jones, a U.K.-based member of the press jury, told AdAge. "It's not like traditional advertising. It's not making a point about the clothes, its brand history. It doesn't obey the rules. You can like it, you can dislike it, you can't ignore it."

Added jury president Tham Khai Meng: "It cuts through all cultures, nationalities, faith even. It has heart impact and gut impact and promotes a global debate."

The Italian clothing retailer has long been known for its provocative advertising, but the adverse reaction to "Unhate" was unprecedented, if not surprising given its subject matter. One image, which depicted Pope Benedict XVI kissing a top Egyptian imam on the lips, was quickly withdrawn from the campaign after being condemned by the Vatican.

"It is a serious lack of respect for the pope, an affront to the feelings of the faithful and an evident demonstration of how, in the field of advertising, the most elemental rules of respect for others can be broken in order to attract attention by provocation," Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said in a statement cited by The Guardian, after slamming the image as "entirely unacceptable."

Perhaps less stinging, though no less clear, its distaste for the campaign was the White House. As spokesman Eric Schultz told the HuffPost World in November, "The White House has a longstanding policy disapproving of the use of the president's name and likeness for commercial purposes."

Still, Benetton officials argued that they intended the images to portray the concept of "unhate," fostering tolerance rather than making a political or possibly even gay-supporting statement. "The images are very strong, but we have to send a strong message," Alessandro Benetton, Benetton's executive deputy chairman said while presenting the ads in Paris last fall, according to The Times of India. "We are not wanting to be disrespectful of the leaders ... we consider them "conception figures" making a statement of brotherhood with a kiss."