Seriously? OMG! WTF?

Despite his request, Red Buttons was indeed remembered Monday night with a "celebration of life and laughter" at Mark Fleischman’s Century Club. Arthur Kassel orchestrated the SRO event which included a reel of Red’s remarkable performances, ranging from laughs to tears. He could do it all. The list of those there, many of whom spoke included: Steve Martin, Rob Reiner (demonstrating Red’s genius on stage), Charles Durning, who told two of Buttons’ classic jokes. Also sharing in the laughs were Joe Bologna and Renee Tayor, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, Dick Benjamin and Paula Prentiss, Monty Hall, and Arthur Hiller Button, who all told Buttons’ stories. Also on hand: William Morris’ Lou Weiss and Norman Brokaw, Jayne Meadows, Rhonda Fleming, Sally Kellerman, Sally Kirkland, Michelle Philips, Elliot Gould,  Harry Dean Stanton,  Rose Marie, Valerie Harper, Michele Lee, Eric Roberts, Stella Stevens, Nanette Fabray,  Dabney Colman, Byron Allen,  Kevin Nealon, Mickey Rooney,  Connie Stevens and daughters Joely and Tricia, Doris Roberts, Pia Zadora, Lou Ferrigno, Warren Cowan, A.C.Lyles,  Gary Owens, Rabbi Jerry Cutler, former Calif. Governors, Gray Davis and Pete Wilson, Hollywood Mayor  Johnny Grant who declared Monday and Tuesday "Red Buttons Days,"  Sheriff Lee Baca, for whose organizations Red was an always-ready star, said, "I wish I had been the guy who arrested Mel Gibson." Bill Maher said "Mel Gibson had made a three-picture deal with Hezbollah." Chuck Ashman emceed. Ed Lozzi and Norby Walters assisted Kassel with the "Celebration." Adam Buttons paid a touching tribute to his dad, his sister, Amy was unable to attend. She told me (on the phone) she wanted to be there, but a sinus infection felled her. 

Army Archerd 

It is nice to see when some of Hollywood’s newer names remember one the best of the older ones. 

KYLIE MINOGUE received a personal call from fellow cancer sufferer ANASTACIA offering her support while the pop star battled the illness. Anastacia, 37, who discovered she had breast cancer in January 2003, was eager to share her own experiences with the singer who is now in remission. After overcoming cancer the American star established a campaign through the Breast Cancer Research Fund to promote awareness of breast cancer among younger women and returned to the studio to record her self-titled album. Anastacia says, "I put a call into Kylie’s people. I made sure that I said the things I needed to say to her, the way that I needed to say them to her, so I could give her support. "So I think she knows my comments and I’d rather them be personal instead of letting everybody know what I have said. But I did, and I have reached out to Kylie. We are all fighters."

Contact Music

Bass no longer feels compelled to hide his private life to protect his bandmates, since the band has been on hiatus for four years. When ‘NSYNC were in full swing, he worried that coming out would hurt the band. "I didn’t know: Could that be the end of ‘NSYNC?" he told People. "So I had that weight on me of, like, ‘Wow, if I ever let anyone know, it’s bad.’ So I just never did … I had four other guys’ careers in my hand, and I knew that if I ever acted on it or even said [that I was gay], it would overpower everything."Bass said he’s known that he’s gay for his "whole life … from childhood on," but struggled because he knew it would be "something that I would have to hide my whole life." Bass hid it from his bandmates — who suspected anyway "because we were like brothers," he said, and they wondered, " ‘Why aren’t you hitting on women all the time and acting like a rock star?’ Because I was a good Christian boy, that’s why."Their suspicions were also complicated by the fact that Bass was dating women until he was 22 (he’s now 27). "I’ve definitely, you know, been with women," Bass said. "And I’ve had great relationships with them where I was definitely in love. It’s just I grew to a point where deep inside I knew that I could never truly have a relationship with a woman. I don’t know if they ever suspected. It was never brought up.""He took years to really think about how he was going to tell everyone," Joey Fatone told People. "I back him up 100 percent.""I’ve know Lance for more than 10 years," JC Chasez told MTV News. "We have been through so much together. He is family and I support him unconditionally."Fatone was the first ‘NSYNC bandmate Bass told about being gay, after Fatone walked in on Bass and a male date at his house in Orlando, Florida. Fatone’s response at the time? "Dude, I don’t care," Bass recalled him saying. Chris Kirkpatrick found out last summer and JC Chasez three months ago. "Very few people have the guts to come up to you and say, ‘Hey, are you gay?’ " Bass said. "I’m pretty sure they all knew and they probably all talked to each other, but they had the respect to let me tell them. I haven’t had the conversation with Justin [Timberlake] yet. I know he knows, but I’ve never really sat him down and said it." I will be calling him.""Lance is one of my great friends," Timberlake told MTV News Wednesday (July 26). "I support him and wish him all the happiness in the world."Telling his bandmates has been easy, but telling his family was another matter. His sister became pale and started crying when he told her, while his mother "broke down." "The worst part about it was my mom found out not from me," Bass said. "She found out on the Internet, and that’s what just killed me. … It destroyed her for a little bit." His father, in the meantime, was concerned about diseases, telling Lance that "It’s much easier for gay people to get AIDS," and "Statistics show that these relationships don’t last. You know it’s not going to last." "I was like, ‘Dad, wow!’ "In Bass’ hometown of Clinton, Mississippi, where his mother is a middle-school teacher and his father works in real estate, being gay is "not looked at very highly," he said. But as worried as he was that his grandparents would take it even worse, his maternal grandmother, who was told last week, handled it "so well," he says. "She was like, ‘You know what? I may not agree with it, but I love you just the same and you’re welcome in my house anytime.’ "For now, Bass and Lehmkuhl are "taking it one day at a time," since the relationship is only a few months old. They met because Lehmkuhl was Bass’ real-estate agent, and the two became friends, then lovers. "This is a huge turning point in my life and also in his life too," Bass said. Eventually, Bass would like to have a family and hopes to have his own kids as well as adopt. "I want people to take away from this that being gay is a norm," Bass said. "That the stereotypes are out the window … I’ve met so many people like me that it’s really encouraged me. I call them the SAGs — the straight-acting gays. We’re just normal, typical guys. I love to watch football and drink beer." And if people ask him now if he’s gay, Bass said he plans to respond, "No, I’m also gay." Meaning that it won’t define him — just the part of himself that he doesn’t have to hide anymore.

VH1 

Lance Bass, the former ‘N Sync heartthrob, reveals that he is gay, in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE. "I knew that I was in this popular band and I had four other guys’ careers in my hand, and I knew that if I ever acted on it or even said (that I was gay), it would overpower everything," says Bass, referring to bandmates Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez and Justin Timberlake. "I didn’t know: Could that be the end of ’N Sync? So I had that weight on me of like, ‘Wow, if I ever let anyone know, it’s bad.’ So I just never did," he says speaking about his sexual orientation for the first time with PEOPLE. Now, after years of keeping his personal life private, the Mississippi-bred, Southern Baptist-reared Bass, 27, is publicly revealing what he first shared with his friends, then his shocked family. "He took years to really think about how he was going to tell everyone," says his close buddy Fatone, 29, who was the first ‘N Sync bandmate to find out Bass is gay. "I back him up 100 percent." Adds Bass’s longtime pal, actress Christina Applegate: "I’ve always accepted him as who he is. It’s about his own serenity at this point." Having pursued acting, producing and – most memorably – space flight after ’N Sync went on hiatus in 2002, Bass now is looking ahead to new beginnings. He is in a "very stable" relationship with model-actor-Amazing Race winner Reichen Lehmkuhl, 32, and is developing an Odd Couple-inspired sitcom pilot with Fatone in which his character will be gay. Mostly, though, he’s just enjoying the relief that comes with the culmination of a long, at times emotionally fraught journey. "The thing is, I’m not ashamed – that’s the one thing I want to say," he explains of his decision to come out. "I don’t think it’s wrong, I’m not devastated going through this. I’m more liberated and happy than I’ve been my whole life. I’m just happy." As for why he’s talking about this now Bass says, "The main reason I wanted to speak my mind was that (the rumors) really were starting to affect my daily life. Now it feels like it’s on my terms. I’m at peace with my family, my friends, myself and God so there’s really nothing else that I worry about."

People

Good for him! 

Want to have a walk on role in a Broadway musical? Or what about an “acting Shakespeare” lesson with Lynn Redgrave? Or wouldn’t you just love to have dinner with Kathy Griffin? (Trust us, she won’t bite … much.) Well, all these fantastic dream prizes can be yours … for a price.
How much? Depends on you. Starting today, these and many other incredible prizes are being auctioned to benefit the Actor’s Fund. The Actor’s fund is an organization that helps performing artists in crisis. (As if there was any other kind? Yeesh.) Seriously, the Fund is a terrific organization that provides a broad range of services for actors in TV, film and theater. Besides the wonderful prizes listed above, people will have two weeks to bid on tons of autographed memorabilia and other collectibles, tickets, and celebrity-encrusted things like dinner with Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson. Hmm? Dinner with Liam and Tascha? What would we have to talk about? “Uh, hey, Liam …uh … you’re Irish, right?” (Uncomfortable silence.) “Natasha … uh … Could you pass the bangers and mash?” I think we’ll stick to bidding on dinner with Kathy Griffin. At least we won’t have to do any of the talking — that’s for sure! To find out what else is being auctioned off or to place a bid, go here. And if you do bid on the dinner with Kathy, please don’t be chintzy or we’ll never hear the end of it. Ms. G doesn’t like to be treated cheaply … except in very special circumstances. And now that she’s single, who knows what might happen!

 Bravo’s The Dish

 I do not know about you, but just the concept of having dinner with Kathy Griffin makes me want to lose my dinner. Now the other items are cool.

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