Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
■ Katy Perry said she “prayed the gay away” during her “unconscious adolescence.” The 32-year-old singer opened up about her sexuality and praised the gay community while receiving an award from the Human Rights Campaign on Saturday in Los Angeles. Perry was born into a fundamentalist Christian family but said she was curious about sexuality and knew it wasn’t a black-and-white issue. She referred to one of her biggest hits in telling the group “I kissed a girl and I liked it.” She added that she also “did more than that.” She said she “prayed the gay away” at Christian camps but later met people outside of her “bubble.” She said that without people in her life from the gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community, she’d be “half of the person I am today.”
■ She’s a wide-eyed little Muppet with a big smile, blazing red hair and bright green eyes who has made it to Sesame Street. Her name is Julia and she has autism. Julia was first introduced in 2015, playing alongside Elmo and Abby Cadabby, as part of an online-only Digital Storybook story called “Sesame Street and Autism: See the Amazing in All Children.” Come April, young viewers will be seeing more of Julia when she makes her transition to the live-action fold of the long-running children’s show, as revealed in a segment Sunday on 60 Minutes. Julia will make her debut. Her old friends Elmo and Abby will introduce Julia to Big Bird. At first, Julia is reluctant to shake the big yellow bird’s hand, but the episode ends with the four Muppets learning to get along and playing tag.
■ Kim Kardashian West said she “mentally prepped” herself to be raped while being held at gunpoint during a Paris jewelry heist last year. Kardashian West discussed the robbery on Sunday night’s episode of the E! channel’s Keeping Up with the Kardashians. She said two robbers wearing police uniforms entered her hotel room last October. One of the robbers duct-taped her mouth while she was in bed, grabbed her legs and pulled her toward him. She said she wasn’t raped but had a gun held to her head. Kardashian West said the men picked her up and put her in a bathtub before taking jewelry.