(POP NEWS) Hudson Weeps; Rancic Pregnant; Starbucks; Hutcherson, Evans Support!

• TELL IT: Jennifer Hudson Weeps on Witness Stand! 

• GLOWING: Giuliana Rancic Pregnant Via Surrogate!

• STAYIN' ALIVE: Robin Gibb's Own Music Woke Him From Coma!

• INVADED: Starbucks Is Coming to Disneyland!

• ELITE: Working at Microsoft Is Hell?

• PROPER: NYT Profiles White House Social Secretary Jeremy Bernard!

• PASSE': Josh Hutcherson is Sick of Saying the Words Gay and Lesbian!

• MOVING FORWARD: Chris Evans: 'We'll Be Ashamed' Gay Marriage Was an Issue!

(POP NEWS): LITTLE MONSTERS; Inside Rosie's 'Hellhole'; Starbucks; CAT FIGHT; KATE; CLASSIC:Newsweek!

• LITTLE MONSTERS: Lady Gaga Wants a Soccer Team of Kids!

• DIVA ALERT: Inside Rosie's 'Hellhole' OWN Show!

• FRUITY: Starbucks Launches Juice Bar Chain!

• CAT FIGHT: Weatherman Sues CBS for Sex Discrimination!

• OFFICIAL: Kate Gives First Public Speech!

• 

  CLASSIC: Newsweek' Drops 1960's-styled issue for 'Mad Men' Return!

(LIST): 23 Celebs Looking to Make It Big in Tech!

Celebrities are increasingly getting their fingers in tech companies, including such well-known ones as Facebook and Foursquare. Huffington Post rounds up 23 Hollywood VIPs who dabble in tech on the side:

• Leonardo DiCaprio: He invested $4 million in Mobli, a real-time visual media platform, last October.
• Selena Gomez: The singer/actress contributed $750,000 to mobile app Postcard on the Run last November.
• Justin Bieber: Gomez's boyfriend is also trying to do good with his investment: He contributed money to mobile app PhoneGuard, and also warned about the dangers of texting while driving for the company.

• Kim Kardashian: She co-founded shoe-sharing site Shoedazzle in 2009, and it's gotten $60 million in funding since then.
• Ellen DeGeneres: The talk show host backs Sojo Studios, a social gaming company whose Facebook game allows users to contribute to good causes while playing.
• will.i.am: The Black Eyed Peas singer is Intel's director of creative innovation, focusing on "new technologies, music, and tech advocacy."

Click for the complete list, which includes a look at what MC Hammer is doing these days.

LIST: 10 Celebs Who Burst Into Business!

Celebs are excellent at promoting themselves, so why not move into other products? Here are 10 stars who were bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, courtesy of the Street.

• Jessica Alba: The actress's company The Honest Co. sells health-oriented and environmentally conscious baby products such as diapers, shampoo, and household cleaners.
• Ashton Kutcher: He's a creative director for Ooma, a VoIP service, and has contributed seed money to an array of tech start-ups.
• Sammy Hagar: The former Van Halen singer launched a successful chain of mountain bike stores, bought a night club, and earned $80 million after selling a stake in his tequila company.
• Clint Eastwood: Dirty Harry owns a ranch resort and golf club in California.

Check out the rest of the list here.

(POP NEWS): Rosie weighs; Hughes' New Republic; Black's Take; Klum Wish; Evita!

• TAKE 2: Rosie weighs in on Kirk Cameron’s comments!

• PROJECT: Gay Facebook Founder Chris Hughes Buys 'The New Republic'!

• TAKE 3: Dustin Lance Black on Rick Santorum, Kirk Cameron and his hopes for his Prop. 8 play!

• WAR: Heidi Klum Wishes Seal Would Keep His Trap Shut!

• ADOPTING: Dick Van Dyke, 86, Weds Girlfriend, 40!

• DRAMA: Spoiler Emerges During Desperate Housewives Trial!

• MIXED: Game Change Is Divisive!

• INVASION: John Carter Bloated but Fun!

• BOUNDED: Ricky Martin's Che!

 

 

Air Freshener Campaign Offers a Whiff of BEEFCAKE!

APPROVED: Starbucks Endorses Marriage Equality in Washington State!

Starbucks has joined a list of company's publicly supporting Washington state's marriage equality bill. The company released a statement yesterday:

Starbucks is proud to join other leading Northwest employers in support of Washington State legislation recognizing marriage equality for same-sex couples. Starbucks strives to create a company culture that puts our partners first, and our company has a lengthy history of leading and supporting policies that promote equality and inclusion.

This important legislation is aligned with Starbucks business practices and upholds our belief in the equal treatment of partners. It is core to who we are and what we value as a company. We are proud of our Pride Alliance Partner Network group, which is one of the largest Employer Resource Groups for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) employees in the U.S., helping to raise awareness about issues in the communities where we live and work.

GO: Should Barbie Go Bald?

A Facebook campaign asking Mattel to consider a bald Barbie to inspire hope in girls with cancer has taken off in a big way this week, and that's a wonderful thing, writes Mary Elizabeth Williams at Salon. This would be bold new territory for the icon, and Mattel has been non-committal in its responses so far. Go for it, writes Williams, who thinks the doll would be a "runaway hit" with older women losing their hair, too. Barbie, after all, is happy and hopeful, and girls look up to that more than her fab accessories and impossible proportions. "A doll that represents possibility, to both children and adults facing the pain of disease and the day-to-day ordeal of looking different, would be so much more than beautiful," writes Williams. "She’d be a beacon of joy. She’d be perfect." Read the full column here.

POSH: Scotch in a Can!

You'll soon be able to crack open and swig down a can of… Scotch whisky? Liquor company Scottish Spirits Imports plans to introduce aluminum cans filled with Scotch to the US by February 1. Each can will contain 12 ounces of the 80-proof liquor, or about eight shots' worth, reports the Huffington Post.

The retail price: $5 a can. The managing editor of Whisky Advocate says cans have come a long way. "They are completely airtight, and the liners are pretty good," he says. "It is not going to be affecting the flavor." But cans, of course, can't be resealed. "The problem you run into is who is going to bang out 12 ounces in an evening?" Click for more.

GONE: Amazon Pulls Joe King's Calendar!

Now Amazon, too, has pulled cartoonist Joe King's 2012 calendar, I'm Not Gay, I'm Just a Sissy from its online store. Amazon is the second online retailer to do so, after Barnes & Noble pulled the item early this week in response to criticism from LGBT advocacy groups and blogs.

Mr. King has taken to Facebook to express his anger ...Hoo-we! Hell hath no fury like a he/she scorned... The telephone tree of tantrums is lit up like a Las Vegas marquee for "Boy-Lesque" today with hate mail, threats of boycott and even the risk of Jesus spitting on me for my "Sissy" calendar. I SAID I WAS A SISSY UP FRONT. Ironic who the real bullies are isn't it? Let's see if I get a call from Oprah's people or even Anderson Cooper... The "truth" is that AIDS is an "elective" disease. It STOPS the day guys quit sticking it to each other. And for the tragedy of women and children infected... THAT stops the day their gay husbands and fathers stop cheating on them. Anyone need MORE education, science or funding to understand THAT?"

REVOLTED: CEO of LGBT Asian Website Fridae.com Departs, Shuts Down Domain!

Stuart Koe, the founder of Fridae.com, one of the largest Asian websites for LGBTs, in existence since 2003, has shut its domain after conflicts with its board, he reports, in a blog post: Leaving Fridae has been one of the most difficult decisions I’ve had to make. Having already devoted more than 10 years of my life to Fridae and the community, steering the company through several business cycles, and on the cusp of another phase of innovation and growth, I was prepared to commit another 20.

Unfortunately, the biggest obstacle I was faced with was an unsupportive Board, namely Joan Foo Mahony, Peter O’Connor, and Guillaume Levy-Lambert, who did not share the vision I had for Fridae. This made it difficult, if not impossible for me to continue in my role. The last few months of my time at Fridae has left me disappointed and very disillusioned.

For the past 6 months since my departure, I have tried but failed to resolve outstanding disputes with the existing management. Meanwhile, the Directors have exercised a clause to forfeit all the equity that was supposed to be allocated to the management as sweat equity. As it now stands, I no longer own a single share in the company I have invested most of my working life to build.

Koe says that the old site has been redirected to the domain Fridae.asia.

PENNED: Sorkin Writing Steve Jobs Movie?

Sony is making a Steve Jobs movie based on the biography by Walter Isaacson, and none other than (Closeted) Social Network scribe Aaron Sorkin is being courted to write it, the Los Angeles Times reports. A source says Sorkin is considering the idea, but neither Sorkin nor Sony gave an official comment. Still, it seems like a good fit:

• LA Times: “Sorkin is known for penning stories about the lives of fiercely smart, if difficult, figures, of which Jobs certainly was one. Isaacson's take on the late executive as someone whose penchant for ‘magical thinking’ was both a great advantage and a fatal liability seems particularly suited to a Sorkin script.”

• New York: “If you're going to turn a non-idiotic book into a non-idiotic movie, and the central character is some kind of against-the-grain man, then you can only turn to one person for help with this script: Aaron Sorkin. It worked great for Social Network, it worked OK enough for Moneyball.”
• Huffington Post: “Aaron Sorkin's last two films have been adaptations of books about a game changing tech mogul and a dynamic personality who wasn't afraid to think differently to achieve success. Which makes him a very logical choice to take on the upcoming Steve Jobs biopic.”

Plus, Sorkin was a longtime Apple fan, and Steve Jobs himself once asked him to write a Pixar movie—a request Sorkin declined.

A-LIST: Gays Now More Popular Than Bankers, Says Barney Frank!

The NYT caught up with Barney Frank before a fundraiser held for him at the intersection of gay and Wall Street:

Mr. Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, said he had seen a new reality in recent years: the gay community is more popular than Wall Street.

“For years, those of us who are gay” were pilloried just for “being gay,” he said.

In June, Mr. Frank caught flack for holding a fund-raiser at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, one of Wall Street’s most vocal lobbying groups and a frequent critic of Dodd-Frank. JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley all dispatched officials to the event.

Thursday’s event was held at the home of Charles Myers, a senior managing director at Evercore, an independent investment bank. But, as Mr. Frank put it, Mr. Myers is also “a leader in the gay and lesbian community.” Mr. Frank met Mr. Myers at an event for Terrence McNally, the prominent playwright, who also attended Mr. Frank’s fund-raiser.

“The fact that the host is in the financial industry is incidental,” he said.

FAUX PAS: Gap Closing Scores of Stores!

Gap, once the king of clothing chains, rapidly expanded before the recession; afterward, it found itself with more stores than shoppers. Now it plans to close 189 of its North American locations—more than a fifth of the total—by 2013, leaving some 700 remaining, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Gap didn't reveal which stores would be shuttered, but a rep explained that leases of tired stores won't be renewed, a move that will inject 2 million square feet of empty retail space into the market. Gap also had some fashion trouble: The chain has struggled to launch appealing styles and was behind the times on trends like high-end jeans, the Journal notes. Its profits in the first half of 2011 were at $422 million, down 21% from a year before. Gap's departure is more bad news for struggling malls; the chain is the top non-department store tenant for the country's biggest mall landlords. But the chain isn't shrinking everywhere—it's planning to keep growing in China, for example. Meanwhile, 50 new Gap outlet stores are on their way.

BOYCOTT: Anheuser-Busch Urged to Drop Sponsorship of Homophobic UFC!

Longtime gay activist Cleve Jones, Stonewall Democratic Club of Southern Nevada Chair Derek Washington, Culinary Workers Union President Geoconda Arguello-Kline,  Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network of Southern Nevada Co-Chair Howard Watts III, and Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada activist Laura Martin have written a letter to Anheuser-Busch urging them to drop sponsorship of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) over the organization's failure to address homophobic behavior by its leaders and athletes.

They write, in part: "Bud Light has been a major sponsor of recent gay pride celebrations in Houston, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, among other cities, as well as last year’s Gay Days celebration in Orlando, Fla.  However, we believe it is hypocritical of Anheuser-Busch to advertise Bud Light during gay pride events that celebrate diversity and tolerance, while sponsoring a professional sports organization that tolerates hateful language and anti-gay bigotry."

OFFENSIVE: Urban Outfitters' 'Vulgar' Navajo Collection Attacked!

Urban Outfitters might have thought it was getting all back to the land with its "Navajo" collection of kitschy clothing and accessories. But a Native American woman is angry about the campaign, which she say disrespects her heritage. Sasha Houston Brown, 24, of Minneapolis, has fired off a letter to the CEO calling the "inauthentic" offerings "cheap, vulgar, and culturally offensive." Some of the products the trendy retailer sells include the "Navajo Hipster Panty" and the "Navajo Print Fabric Wrapped Flask," notes ABC News.

The chachkas "make a mockery of our identity and unique cultures," Brown writes. Urban Outfitters hasn't responded to Brown. But a spokesman told ABC that the company is sticking to its guns. "The Native American-inspired trend and specifically the term 'Navajo' have been cycling thru fashion, fine art, and design for the last few years," he said. "We currently have no plans to modify or discontinue any of these products." Brown claims the products are not only offensive, but may be illegal under the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act. "It's illegal to sell any art or craft product in a manner that falsely suggests it is Indian produced, an Indian product, or the product of a particular Indian or Indian tribe," she said.

The WHIZ: How Edison Differed From Steve Jobs?

The death of Steve Jobs brought no end of Thomas Edison comparisons, but given that Randall Stross has written books on both men, he's probably in a better position than most to weigh in. The two inventors had much in common—less formal schooling than their peers, incredible vision, nasty tempers—but they differed in key ways, Stross writes in the New York Times.

One of them: Edison seemed to get caught up in the myth of himself as "wizard" later in life and felt the need to weigh in on all kinds of subjects ("rice-eating nations never progress") he probably should have left alone. Jobs, on the other hand, stayed grounded and focused on what he knew, the better to take full advantage of a life he knew would be cut short. The tributes to both men after their deaths "were similar, but only superficially," writes Stross. "With Edison, the public thought of the Wizard, an outsize persona, through which it was impossible to see an actual person. But with Mr. Jobs, the tributes were to a fellow mortal, exactly our own height, just as vulnerable as we all are to the random strike of a life-ending catastrophe." Read the full piece here.

HOT ITEM: Jobs' Death Boosts Mock Turtleneck Sales!

In an odd, somewhat bittersweet tribute to Steve Jobs' influence, sales of mock turtlenecks surged yesterday. No, this isn't an Onion headline, although it is a TMZ headline. A rep for clothing line St. Croix, which apparently makes the black mock turtlenecks Jobs was famous for wearing, tells the gossip site the tops started flying off shelves as soon as news of Jobs' death broke, resulting in an "almost 100% increase in sales."

The turtlenecks sell for a cool $175, notes the Minneapolis Business Journal, which reports that Jobs bought about two dozen of them each year

DISRESPECTFUL: Westboro Announces Steve Jobs Protest— Via iPhone!

Westboro Baptist Church says it will picket Steve Jobs' funeral, but apparently God also hates irony: Leader Margie Phelps announced the protest via a Twitter announcement made on an iPhone. "The irony here is almost unbelievable," notes Josh Wolford on Web Pro News. Jobs' sin? Phelps tweeted that he "had a huge platform; gave God no glory & taught sin." And just under her tweet is the clear statement, "via Twitter for iPhone."

RIP, Steve Jobs Dead at 56!

Steve Jobs is dead at 56 from pancreatic cancer. "Apple has lost a creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being," says the company, which is collecting remembrances here. A sense of how the early coverage is going:

• Wall Street Journal: "Steven P. Jobs, the Apple Inc. chairman and co-founder who pioneered the personal computer industry and changed the way people think about technology, died Wednesday."
• New York Times: "... the visionary co-founder of Apple who helped usher in the era of personal computers and then did nothing less than lead a cultural transformation in the way music, movies and mobile communications were experienced in the digital age ..."
• Ars Technica: "... Jobs, father of the Macintosh and the brains behind the wild success of the iPod, iPhone, and iPad, has passed away ..."
• Huffington Post: A huge "RIP Steve" banner links to background and statements coming in from around the world.