XPOSED: Angry Farmer to Topless Rihanna: Cover Up!

A farmer in Northern Ireland may have given Rihanna permission to shoot her music video in his wheat field—but he most certainly did not give her permission to do so while topless. Alan Graham, 61, was forced to order the singer to cover up during yesterday’s “We Found Love” shoot, Fox News reports. The best part: He drove over to her on a tractor to deliver the command. Rihanna’s outfits included a mesh top, a red bra, an American flag bikini, and unbuttoned jeans ... and the Huffington Post notes that at one point she did go sans top. (Graham seems to confirm this to the BBC, saying in an interview that he wasn't bothered by her bikini top but by "a more state of undress.")

“If someone wants to borrow my field and things become inappropriate, then I say, ‘Enough is enough. You are not entitled to do that,’” says Graham, who adds that he was not previously familiar with Rihanna’s work. “I requested that they stop filming and they did. I had a conversation with Rihanna and I hope she understands where I'm coming from. We shook hands.” She continued filming at another location.

SINNER: Gay London Man Targeted by Vandals!

Anthony Rivers, a gay youth support worker living in Thamesmead, London, woke up one morning to find the word "sinner" tagged across his front door.

The graffiti, Rivers said, followed weeks of hate mail, This is London reports: One letter told the 30-year-old to “burn in hell” for being homosexual while another said “men should only lay with women”.

Waking up to the graffiti on September 8, Mr Rivers said: “I was horrified someone could do this.  Loads of questions went through my head and then I realised people would walk past my door and see it. I was embarrassed more than anything else.”

Mr Rivers, who works as a youth support worker, called Gallions and asked the housing association to clean his door. He said: “I was told someone would be round to clean the door in 24 hours but no-one came. It should have been done straight away. Instead I had to come home to see the door in that state. I was stuck with the haunting of what happened.”

Rivers says the door still hasn't been fully repainted. He wants to move.

POSH in TRAINING: Kate Goes to Princess School!

Some people are born into royalty. Others have to learn what to do at princess school. Such is the fate of the Duchess of Cambridge, née Kate Middleton, who is learning her Ps and Qs from a series of private tutors. In recent weeks, experts on various aspects of British life have been visiting St. James Palace to instruct the woman who might one day be queen on just about everything. “The duchess is being briefed on how the state works, getting to know our national institutions better and learning more about organizations such as the arts, the media, and the government," a royal source tells the Telegraph.

NOT OUT: Tom Hardy, Not Gay?

Warrior star Tom Hardy graphically denies the gay rumors, but would rather they exist than nobody talks about him.

From an interview in UK Marie Claire: This much candour makes you wonder whether Hardy ever regrets being, well, quite frank. 'I don't regret anything I've ever said It's just a shame things are misconstrued and I don't get the opportunity to explain.' Not even the time he said he'd enjoyed relationships with men in his twenties?

With-GOD: Spartacus Star Andy Whitfield Dead at 39!

Eighteen months after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Spartacus TV star Andy Whitfiled has died. He was 39. Spartacus: Blood and Sand was the Starz network's first big hit, thanks in large part to the program's plentiful violence and nudity. Whitfield was almost unknown when he was cast in the series, and starred in the first season's 13-episode run before being diagnosed with cancer, notes TMZ. 

"He passed peacefully surrounded by love," said his wife in a statement. "Thank you to all his fans whose love and support have help carry him to this point. He will be remembered as the inspiring, courageous, and gentle man, father, and husband he was." Click for more.

POSING: Gareth Thomas' CLASSIC Photo shoot!

APPROVED: Lifetime Ban on Gay Blood Donation to Be Lifted in Parts of UK!

A lifetime ban on blood donation by gay men, put in place during the AIDS crisis 25 years ago is set to be lifted in England, Scotland, and Wales, though restrictions will still remain, the BBC reports:

Ministers have agreed to let men who have not had sex with another man in the past 12 months to donate from November. The restrictions were put in place in the 1980s to prevent the risk of HIV contamination. However, the latest medical evidence presented to a government panel argued the ban could no longer be justified. Ministers in the three countries accepted the argument and said they would be relaxing the rules. Northern Ireland is expected to make a decision soon.

In the U.S., men are banned by the FDA from giving blood if they have had sexual intercourse with another man at any time since 1977.

BEEFCAKE: Merlin Goes Armor-less for UK Gay Times!

POSH: Will London elect a Gay Mayor?

Brian Paddick is a married gay man, a former high-ranking officer in Britain's police force, and a crusading victim of News of the World's phone-hacking scheme. And now the Liberal Democrats have nominated him as their mayoral candidate for London in the 2012 elections.

An ex-cop who was spied on by Murdoch's minions - could Paddick be more perfect? In the looks department, at least, this British Anderson-Cooper-impersonator certainly beats out current mayor Boris Johnson, who resembles an emo Donald Trump caught in a wind storm.

NOT OUT: Jedward Twins, Not Gay?

The Jedward twins, former X-Factor contestants seen earlier this summer meeting President Obama, are not gay according to their manager. Their manager issued a statement after Big Brother UK contestant Darryn Lyons suggested they were.

Metro UK reports: The twins were defended by tour manager Liam McKenna as they took the Channel 5 reality show to an infantile low on Monday, lapping up their punishment of being dressed as babies...‘Darryn was just stirring s***. They’re not gay,’ insisted McKenna.

McKenna said the twins are celibate because they follow their idols The Jonas Brothers: (So the Jonas Brothers are NOT Gay too?)  ‘I don’t know if they’re overly religious, I think it’s just a conscious decision they made. They said they didn’t want sex before marriage. I think the boys live their life by these guys. They are really shy. I’m sure they do fancy girls but don’t like talking about sex as they’re probably aware that their granny is watching!’ 

HACKED: NotW Reporter's Letter Blows Lid Off of Top-Level Cover Up!

A 4-year-old letter by News of the World's disgraced royal reporter—who went to jail and was fired for his admitted role in the phone hacking scandal—contends that senior figures at the newspaper and at News International knew phone hacking was widespread and sanctioned, reports the Guardian. The letter by Clive Goodman, just published today, is '"absolutely devastating," said one MP.

"It completely removes News International's defense. This is one of the largest cover-ups I have seen in my lifetime." Goodman wrote a letter on March 2, 2007, protesting his "perverse" dismissal from News of the World, saying "the actions leading to this criminal charge were carried out with the full knowledge and support of" senior journalists at the paper. Further, phone hacking "was widely discussed in the daily editorial conference, until explicit reference to it was banned by the editor." Goodman also claims that he was promised he would not be fired from NotW, even after pleading guilty, if he "did not implicate the paper or any of its staff." Goodman wrote the letter to NotW brass in hopes of getting his job back; you can see the original here.

BEEFCAKE:Gerard Butler Sets Tongues Wagging in the Locker Room!

Gerard Butler set his own tongue wagging in the locker room at a charity football match.

BULLIED: Stop Picking On Sinead O'Connor!

Catch those new photos of Sinead O'Connor performing in Ireland? She is, gasp, no longer the slim, bald 20-something who captivated fans, and the Internet has not been kind in pointing this out. Lay off, write Mimi Turner at the Hollywood Reporter and Mary Elizabeth Williams at Salon.

UPRISE: London Calms, But New Riots Splinter England!

Looting and arson spread to several cities in central and northern England today but calm prevailed in London, where thousands of extra police officers patrolled the streets. The most serious unrest was in Manchester, which had sent 100 officers to assist in London, the Guardian reports. 

Hundreds of young people went on the rampage in the city center, looting stores and hurling missiles at police. Birmingham saw a second night of unrest and rioters in Nottingham hurled firebombs through a police station window. Prime Minister David Cameron, who cut his vacation short to deal with the crisis, described the violence as "sickening" but stopped short of calling for tougher measures like calling in the military to restore order, AP reports. Other lawmakers who visited riot sites in London yesterday were heckled by angry crowds.

ICONIC: Andy Warhol Grows Old in New Sculpture!

Had Andy Warhol survived gallbladder surgery, he would have turned 83 on Saturday—a very, very old 83. At least that's how artist Edgar Askelovic imagines him: with bloated legs, lots of wrinkles, and toothless, but still with a shock of white hair. Askelovic, 23, used silicone and clay to recreate the pop legend in a strange squat that he based on an old photo of Warhol. "He is a huge inspiration to me and I wanted to make sure that I did him justice with my work," he said. The work is on display at the McDermott Galleries in England.

UPRISE: London Neighborhood Burned As Vigil Turns To Riot!

Hundreds of protesters gathered in London's Tottenham neighborhood Saturday night to protest the Metropolitan Police's fatal shooting  of a 29-year old father of four named Mark Duggan last week.

But what began as a peaceful vigil for Duggan, whom cops say was killed in an exchange of gun fire, soon devolved into a riot, resulting in 42 arrests, at least 26 police injuries and the torching of two police cars, a double-decker bus and a building. There was also looting of local stores and merchants, according to reports.

Police are calling the incident "distressing" and described the scene as a "war zone," while protesters insist Scotland Yard got what they deserve. "[We're] here to tell the police they can't abuse us, harass us. We won't put up with it, this is just the beginning, this is war, and this is what you get — fire," said one participant during the late night demonstration.

Tottenham is one of London's most economically depressed neighborhoods, and has some wondering whether last night's incident isn't the prologue to more protests ahead of the city's 2012 Olympic Games next summer. 

DANGER: Mr. Bean Crashes $2M Supercar, Cheats Death!

The comic know around the world as nerdy Mr. Bean is recovering in a British hospital after crashing his McLaren F1 supercar and striking a tree and lamppost before the vehicle burst into flames. Rowan Atkinson is "lucky to be alive considering the state of the car," said a witness. The actor suffered only a minor shoulder injury in the wreck some 85 miles north of London, reports AP. Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash, but some media reported that Atkinson spun out on a portion of rain-slicked highway. 

Atkinson also crashed the car in 1999, rear-ending a Land Rover. He bought the sports car, which can reach speeds of 230 mph, to celebrate the success of Mr. Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie. It's only one of 65 street versions ever made and is valued at more than $2 million, reports the Mirror. While his character Mr. Bean putts along in a Mini-Cooper, Atkinson is a fan of luxury sports cars, and has also owned Aston Martins, Mercedes, and Rolls Royces.

THAWED: Polar Bear Kills Tourist in Norway!

A British tourist is dead and four people are seriously injured after a polar bear attacked them today in Norway. The five were part of a group of campers in the Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard, according to a district governor's spokesperson. The group reported the mauling via satellite phone at 7:30am, and "there are no roads in the area of the Von Postbreen glacier where the incident happened so we scrambled a helicopter," the spokesperson says. The bear has been killed and the four victims are at a hospital, the Telegraph reports. 

The Guardian notes that the group was visiting a "beauty spot" on Spitsbergen, a remote island. "It's not been the first time," says a local of the attack. "Last summer a man was attacked by a polar bear and there have also been attacks on a man from Austria and a girl. ... The problem is when the ice goes the bears lose their way and cannot catch food. People don't really how dangerous they are; one came down to the sea recently and people were running down to take pictures."

BONDED: Another Former NOTW Editor Arrested!

British police have arrested yet another former News of the World employee in connection with its phone hacking investigation. This time it’s ex-managing editor Stuart Kuttner, who for 22 years served as the public face and perennial defender of the tabloid, the Guardian reports. The 71-year-old went in for a police interview today, apparently unaware that he wouldn’t be coming out. He recently returned from the US where he underwent treatment for some serious health issues. 

Kuttner is reportedly a suspect both in the phone hacking investigation and the police bribery probe. During last month's hearing, Rebekah Brooks explained that "payments to private investigators would have gone through the managing editor's office," notes the Guardian. Kuttner left the paper in 2009 without explanation, though at the time he said he would continue to work on “specialized projects” like the Sarah’s Law campaign. In one 2008 interview he vigorously denounced phone hacking, saying, “It happened once at the News of the World. The reporter was fired; he went to prison. The editor resigned.”

POSH: The Clash's 'London Calling' Now an Olympics Jingle!

It was probably only a matter of time before the establishment appropriated the ultimate anti-establishment anthem. Olympic organizers are using "London Calling" by The Clash in ads to draw tourists to the 2012 summer games in England, reports NPR. It's a little bit of an odd choice, considering the lyrical subject matter of the title track from The Clash's 1979 album.