Siwa comes out on social media
JoJo Siwa, the 17-yearold singer, dancer, actor and YouTube personality, has come out as gay after alluding to it on social media over the past couple of days.
Siwa first hinted at her coming out in a TikTok video posted to her more than 31 million followers on Thursday. In the video, she dances to “Born This Way,” the 2011 smash hit by Lady Gaga widely regarded as an LGBTQ anthem.
On Friday, Siwa posted a a photo of herself wearing a shirt that reads “Best. Gay. Cousin. Ever.” and saying her cousin got it for her.
Siwa also posted a photo of herself wearing a rainbow Gucci track jacket Thursday on Instagram, with thousands of comments from fans, including musician Luke Eisner, Paris Hilton and other celebrities, congratulating her.
In an Instagram livestream posted Saturday, Siwa thanked her fans for the outpouring of support and love that she said flooded her social media following her coming out. Siwa appeared visibly ecstatic in the video, emphasizing that she has never been as happy in her career as after her announcement. She said she is thrilled to share her life with her fans but is not ready to assign a label to herself.
“Right now, what matters is that you guys know that no matter who you love, that it’s OK, that it’s awesome and that the world is there for you” Siwa said. “There’s so many people that are there for you.”
“Barney Miller” star dies:
Gregory Sierra, who had memorable roles in the 1970s sitcoms “Barney Miller” and “Sanford and Son,” has died after battling cancer. He was 83.
Sierra’s widow, Helene, said Saturday that the actor died Jan. 4 in Laguna Woods, California.
Sierra’s breakthrough came in 1972, when he played the role of Fred G. Sanford’s neighbor, Julio Fuentes, on “Sanford and Son.” He also earned major attention for playing Sgt. Miguel “Chano” Amanguale on “Barney Miller,“which launched in 1975.
Other TV credits include “All in the Family,” “Soap,” “Miami Vice,” “Zorro and Son,” “Hawaii Five-O,” “Hill Street Blues” and more. He also appeared in films such as “Beneath the Planet of the Apes,” “Papillon” and “The Towering Inferno.”
“The Front” screenwriter dies:
Walter Bernstein, among the last survivors of Hollywood’s anti-Communist blacklist whose Oscar-nominated script for “The Front” drew upon his years of being unable to work under his own name, died Saturday. He was 101.
The cause was pneumonia, according to his wife, the literary agent Gloria Loomis.
Bernstein was at the start of what seemed a promising film career when the Cold War and anti-Communist paranoia led to his being blacklisted in 1950. Job offers to Bernstein were rescinded and onetime friends stopped speaking to him.
Bernstein found employment through the use of “fronts,” people willing to lend their names (and receive part of the proceeds) for scripts he had written.
The blacklist began to weaken in the late 1950s and ended for Bernstein in 1959 with “That Kind of Woman,” starring Sophia Loren. He was soon working on “The Magnificent Seven” and “Something’s Gotta Give.”
In the 1970s, Bernstein was able to use his own story for what became his most acclaimed project, “The Front,” starring Woody Allen. Bernstein received an Academy Award nomination in 1977 and a Writers Guild of America prize for best screen drama.
Jan. 25 birthdays:
Country singer Claude Gray is 89. Actor Leigh Taylor Young is 76. Actor Jenifer Lewis is 64. Actor Ana Ortiz is 50. Singer Alicia Keys is 41. Actor Michael Trevino is 36. Bassist Calum Hood is 25.