Ethan Says

OUT - The Making of Macklemore

How a straight white rapper from Seattle wrote hip-hop’s first gay anthem.

After 15 years in the game -- a stretch that included popular Seattle club gigs, a self-released record titled The Language of My World in 2005, and bouts with substance abuse -- Macklemore is suddenly on the verge of bona fide success. The artist, now sober, is in the midst of transitioning from a YouTube sensation to a legitimate rapper and entertainer. People are catching on.

The rapper sat and chatted with OUT magazine for its summer June/July issue. Here are a few select quotes; full interview at OUT.com.

On his inspiration for “Same Love”:
“I knew I wanted to write a song about gay rights, about marriage equality, and about homophobia in hip-hop, but I didn’t know how to do it. I tried, at first, writing from the perspective of a gay, bullied kid. That’s what sparked the song in the first place: reading the story of a 13-year-old who committed suicide.”

On the gay influences in his life while growing up:
“Where I grew up, there were huge gay pride parades less than a mile away from me. My dad’s best friend was gay. My barber was gay. My uncles owned this restaurant that was a huge magnet for the gay community. My whole upbringing was around gay people.”

On the response to “Same Love” at various shows:
“Of course, we play it regardless of what we think the response is going to be. There’s been such ground made in terms of acceptance in the hip-hop community. What Barack Obama did, and what Frank Ocean did, and what, hopefully, ‘Same Love’ did is start a conversation.”

OUT - The Long Education of Daniel Radcliffe

The young actor puts his decade-long stint as the world’s most famous schoolboy behind him with a career-defining turn as Allen Ginsberg.

February 11, 2013 (NEW YORK) — The world watched Daniel Radcliffe, or at least a version him, grow up before our eyes. But, although he sounds a lot like him, Daniel Radcliffe is not Harry Potter. Since leaving Hogwarts behind, Radcliffe has tackled the stage in the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, the big screen in The Woman in Black, and television with the British miniseries A Young Doctor’s Notebook. Now, Radcliffe talks to OUT editor in chief Aaron Hicklin about growing up on movie sets, breaking free from his most famous role, and what it was like to play gay as Allen Ginsberg his most recent film project, Kill Your Darlings.

Read the full Daniel Radcliffe interview (and see a few more exclusive photos) now at OUT.com.

Chris Kluwe Means War - Out Nov 2012

In an exclusive cover story for OUT, the NFL athlete describes how he became the unlikely face of Marriage Equality.

October 2, 2012 (NEW YORK) — On September 7, the Internet began buzzing with the name Chris Kluwe. That’s when the Minnesota Vikings punter’s letter to Maryland state delegate Emmett C. Burns Jr. was published on line and quickly went viral. A week earlier Burns had told the Baltimore Ravens to “order” linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo to cease advocating for marriage equality in Maryland. With that letter, Kluwe became the latest of 28 current NFL players who have expressed support for gay rights. For OUT’s November cover story, Kluwe talked with OUT contributor Cyd Zeigler about stereotypes, and his video game obsession, and how he came to fight for equality.

“I’ve always relished breaking that stereotype of the dumb jock athlete because while I enjoyed athletics growing up, I also enjoyed reading and video games, and athletic sport is not what defines me as a person,” Kluwe tells OUT. “I think as more and more generations start rising through the NFL, a lot of these kids see that it’s OK to be something other than an athlete.”

For Kluwe, taking a stand on gay rights is as instinctual as planting his foot into the ball. “It’s all about the Golden Rule,” he says. “Treat other people as you want to be treated. It’s that simple. It’s something that needs to be spoken about, and it’s something I can do while fulfilling my job as a football player.”

Read the full OUT November 2012 cover story now at OUT.com.

OUT - Channing Tatum - From Stripper to Superstar

Smart, funny, versatile–why you should be crushing on Channing Tatum.

He’s done it all. He’s framed houses, worked at a puppy nursery, and sold credit cards to students. But it was his job as a stripper in Tampa, Fla., that led to Channing Tatum’s latest acting gig. Directed by Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh, Magic Mike is loosely inspired by Tatum’s formative experience stripping at the age of 19. For OUT’s June/July 2012 cover story, Tatum spent the day with OUT editor in chief Aaron Hicklin to chat about his latest film, honing his craft, and, of course, those days he worked taking off his clothes.

Read the full Channing Tatum cover story now at OUT.com.

Chris Hemsworth in OUT - Of Gods & Men

A year after arriving in America, Australia-born Chris Hemsworth contemplated leaving his dream behind and returning home. The actor, who appeared briefly in as Captain Kirk’s father in the 2009 Star Trek reboot, paid his rent by babysitting his manager’s kids. Then, across a casting crowd, he was spotted by Joss Whedon and his whole world changed. The May 2012 OUT cover boy spoke with writer Paul Flynn about leading a new Hollywood Frat Pack, growing up the middle child of three uber-masculine brothers, and now sharing the Hollywood spotlight with his younger brother, Liam.

[ CONTINUE READING, SEE FULL COVER ]

Out / Lisa Kudrow - Head Case

How did Lisa Kudrow turn a wacky three-minute web series about a delusional therapist into a full-fledged TV show? Out’s Ari Karpel talks to the Emmy winner about her path from being a Biology PhD to becoming a comedian, her Real Housewives obsession, and being recognized as Phoebe Buffay.

Read Out’s full Lisa Kudrow feature at OUT.com. Plus: Watch an exclusive behind-the-scenes video of her Out photo shoot.

Kudrow on her career path:
“It was weird! I had a plan, I was doing headache research with my father, I was going to get published, get into a great program, but I was compelled to do comedy. I don’t know how else to explain it.”

On being recognized as her Friends character:
“If you just talk about it, then that’s done and you can move on to something else. It’s nothing to run and hide from, that’s for sure. [Fans] haven’t seen The Opposite of Sex, and of course they haven’t seen The Comeback, and there’s nothing bad about that. Had I not done Friends I wouldn’t be able to afford to do [her new Internet and Showtime series] Web Therapy. I’d be busy trying to do a sitcom so I could have a steady check.”

On how the Real Housewives remind her of The Comeback:
“It is as close to making a deal with the devil as you can get now. At first, you think, Why are they doing this on TV? Then you realize, she’s in an unhappy marriage, and she’s figuring out what her next step is after her divorce. As a viewer, you have to figure out what their agenda is, their game plan. It’s what they’re willing to sell to secure their future.”

Michael Irvin & Ben Cohen Cover OUT

Michael Irvin, Ben Cohen, Hudson Taylor, Mike Chabala, and Nick Youngquest star in OUT magazine's salute to the small band of straight sports stars who have stood up for fairness and tolerance, shoulder to shoulder with their LGBT peers.

In the magazine's dual cover August issue, NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin talks to OUT writer Cyd Zeigler about the day he saw his gay brother walking down the street in a dress, addresses the rumors around Troy Aikman’s sexuality, and explains why every African-American should support gay marriage.

Also in OUT’s Sports Issue, British rugby player Ben Cohen talks about his mission to tackle bullying and homophobia in sports, inspired in part by the death of his father, killed after he intervened in a bar fight. Plus Major League Soccer’s Mike Chabala explains why he posed for the powerful NOH8 campaign.

Click here to read the full feature story, and here for the full sports ally slide show.

The magazine, on sale July 19, 2011, also ranks the Biggest Dickheads in Sport, supported by an online poll launching Thursday in which readers are invited to vote.

Margaret Cho Talks Politics & Eating Lance Bass

The comedian and actress reflects on her prolific career, growing up in 1970s San Fransisco, how Rue McClanahan once saved her life, and what she imagines Lance Bass tastes like.

Read the complete Margaret Cho interview at OUT.com.

What Margaret has to say:

On who she would eat if on an island with Lance Bass and Kathy Griffin:
I’m sure Lance would not survive. He’s so tender and delicious looking. I would eat most of him. Kathy is much smaller than me. I could put away a lot of Lance.

On her Dancing With the Stars rainbow flag dress:
That was weird. To me, it was very important to make a statement about the gay teen suicides. That show is so conservative, so it was hard to find a way to inject my own views and values. I decided to wear this rainbow pride flag. Yeah, we were probably voted off because we were talking about something a lot of people couldn’t handle. But I don’t care about a dance competition -- I care about helping a kid get through it.

Her position on celebs saying “my gays:”
I am gay. I agree with Penny Arcade because I would never say it like that. It’s not about “my gays,” because I’m gay. It’s like when you have straight celebrities at a gay political function, and they say, “Well, I’m not gay, but…” -- I’m always offended. Why do you have to separate yourself from the community? What is so threatening about being in the community? So, I think Penny Arcade meant someone else. She’s thinking of Lucy Liu.

Robyn Talks About Being Mistaken for a Boy and Her Affinity with LGBT People

While other singers are busy playing fame games to court fans, Robyn is taking over the world the old fashioned way -- with her music. The singer sat with Out magazine for an up-close interview.

On being mistaken for a lesbian and her affinity with LGBT people:

“I get mistaken for a lesbian all the time—but I guess I do have the most lesbian haircut of any of the girls in my field,” she laughs, referring to her signature blonde bowl cut. “And when I was growing up and I introduced myself to people I’d say, ‘Hi, my name is Robyn and I’m a girl,’ because in Sweden, Robyn is a boy’s name and I had such short hair. My handicrafts teacher thought I was a boy for three years. I tried to tell her I was a girl, but she’d just say, ‘My little boy wanted to be a girl when he was a kid, too.’ Finally my mom had to write her a note that said, ‘Please don’t assume that Robyn is a boy anymore because she’s a girl.’ Having that experience where I was confronted by people’s reactions to what I looked like or what I was supposed to look like made me identify with queerness. It still happens to me all the time, and a lot of the time it happens to me in America because even though what I consider butch is still very feminine in Europe, here you can shock people very easily just by looking a little queer.”

On her hit "Dancing On My Own" being considered a gay anthem:

Unlike some straight artists whose jockeying to be the voice of the gay community has left many feeling patronized and pandered to, Robyn doesn’t presume to speak for anyone but herself. “I have never thought of ‘Dancing on My Own’ as a gay anthem, but hearing it put that way doesn’t surprise me,” she says. “Gay culture has always had to embody outsidership. I think we’re all just scared to be lonely. We all want to be loved and we all want to be seen. When you’re different on a very basic level, that feeling is going to be with you more often than someone who doesn’t have to face what being an outsider is really like. I think it’s a song about being on the outside—very physically—and if it feels like a gay anthem then I take that as a super compliment.”

Read the full Robyn interview at Out magazine.

Out Celebrates the Red Hot and Blue Summer of Adele

The 23-year-old singer’s new album, 21, has become shorthand for heartbreak. As she prepares for her summer tour, the Grammy winner shows she’s much more than a pretty face with a killer set of pipes.

Musical phenomenon Adele graces the cover of Out's Pride issue, and she tells the magazine why she's uncomfortable being treated like an idol. "I would hate it if my fans were, like, 'I wish I was you,' because I'm as insecure about myself as the next person... [just feeling] that I'm not good enough in my music, in my relationships, and that I'm never going to be brave enough to tell anyone how I feel." The singer, whose best-selling album, 21, was inspired by a break-up, also revealed that she had been prepared to give up singing if it would have saved her relationship. "I would still be singing in the shower, of course, but, yeah--my career, my friendships, my hobbies... I would have given up trying to be the best."

“Of the songs that immortalize the summer of 2011, I’ll wager that Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep’ is chief among them,” notes Out Editor in Chief Aaron Hicklin. He continues, “A song is just a story, but we project so many expectations on the storyteller that it’s easy for them to get lost under the weight of their own legend. So far, at least, Adele has avoided that fate by letting her personality do all the heavy lifting. Off stage she is just the same – gratifyingly human, wonderfully grounded.”

Adele admits she evolved between her first album, 19, and her second, 21. It’s her soulful tortured style – amidst all the glitz and flash of today’s pop – the make her acoustic sets all the more striking. “It would be fucking awful if my third album was about being happily settled down, and maybe on my way to being a mom, and all the critics were, like, ‘Yeah, it’s fucking shit. Can you be miserable, please?’”

She’s not quite there yet, and until she gets to that happily-ever-after point, Adele says, “I think that’s rare when you find the full circle in one person, and I think that’s what I’ll always be looking for in other men.” Until then, she’ll follow the advice from an assistant. “You will hurt until you stop hurting,” she laughs. “I’m trying to make that my new motto – it will hurt until it stops hurting.” It just hasn’t stopped yet.

Read the full story, Adele: Lady Sings the Blues, at OUT.com.