News Round-Up: November 16, 2018

InstaHunk Max Emerson (r) snowboarding in Quebec

Some news items you might have missed:

• What to do when a November storm dumps lots of snow on you? Go snowboarding! Someone might have told Max Emerson to take a few bits of clothing with him, but then - when you've got a Porsche, you don't keep it in the garage.

• Tanzania just lost $10 million in aid from its second biggest donor, Denmark, thanks to the recent homophobic crackdown in the East African country.

• Hat tip to Kenneth-in-the-212 who found the ultimate 'Hunk' of House Hunters - Liev Schreiber - who, along with SNL's Leslie Jones, totally spoof every cliche you've ever seen on the show. This is pretty funny.

• Gubernatorial hopeful Stacey Abrams has acknowledged she will not be able to close the gap between herself and her Republican opponent, former Secretary of State Brian Kemp. But, she did not concede the race saying Kemp had spent years working to suppress voters in Georgia in order to tilt the contest his way.

• A gay man in Miami says a Lyft driver spewed homophobic slurs at him during his ride before pulling a gun on him. The driver allegedly stopped the car and forcibly removed the man from the car, kicking him in the process and saying he wanted to "kill everyone who is gay."

• I'll be interviewing the oh-so-dashing and talented Mr. Norm Lewis about this his new holiday album soon, but for now ... :)

View this post on Instagram

My Christmas Album will be available on November 27, 2018! #TheNORMLEWISChristmasAlbum #parumpumpumpum #NormLewis @playbill https://buff.ly/2RYsQA3

A post shared by Norm Lewis (@thenormlewis) on Nov 16, 2018 at 9:18am PST

Gay Trump-Supporting Lyft Passenger Apologizes For Racist Rant

Robert Ortiz (via PIX11 News)

Last week, I reported on a racist tirade by a gay New Yorker aimed at his Lyft driver.

Robert Ortiz, a gay Trump-supporter, saw his 16 minute racist rant go viral after he called Brooklyn Lyft driver Shawn Pepas Lettman the n-word because Lettman wouldn’t play the music Ortiz wanted to hear.

In the video, Ortiz is seen calling the police and announcing he won’t leave the car until he receives a refund for his $8.01 ride.

Ortiz’s new internet fame led to his dismissal from his job at a local health care clinic.

Now, he’s speaking to the local press saying he’s not a racist and he was just really, really drunk when he went off on Lettman.

(screen capture)

“At the end of the day, my actions were unjustifiable,” Ortiz tells PIX11 News. “There’s nothing that I can say behind that to say ‘But this.’ I was drinking. A lot of the stuff that I said I didn’t even remember until the next day.”

“That’s not how I was raised to treat people.,” he continues. “I grew up in the projects, so I just wanna make sure that people understand that I’m not racist - I’m Puerto Rican, I’m from the Bronx, I’m gay.”

But he does still believe he and his friends were “treated differently” by Lettman.

“Like, we know discrimination, you smell it in the air,” he says. “You just know when someone’s uncomfortable with you.”

Ortiz says that since the video went viral he’s received countless threats and hate messages.

At this point Ortiz says he wants to move on from the sad debacle. “I just want to go on with my life. I’m not racist, my actions were completely wrong. I wouldn’t want anyone to speak to the way that I spoke to him.”

He concludes with a straight up apology: “The only thing that I can say is that I’m sorry.”

Watch the report from PIX11 News below.

News Round-Up: January 29, 2017

Some news items you may have missed:

• Ignacio Pérez Rey (above) says this is what a hangover looks like. Looks good to me #morewine #grrrr

• Sir Elton John and Paul Rudnick are working on a stage musical adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada.

• North Carolina state Senate Leader says anti-LGBT "bathroom bill" HB2 isn't going anywhere any time soon.

• Congressional Republicans will reintroduce the anti-LGBT legislation the First Amendment Defense Act. The bill, which President Trump has promised to sign into law, would allow anyone with "deeply held religious beliefs" to legally discriminate against LGBTs.

• In light of Uber's CEO willingness to work with President Trump, and ridesharing rival Lyft's announcement to donate $1 million to the ACLU, folks are dumping and deleting their Uber accounts in massive numbers.

• In case you haven't been paying attention, folks in the "pro-life" movement not only want to outlaw safe abortions, they think "the pill" and IUDs should be illegal as well.

That moment when the face that @JoyAnnReid makes says 1,000 words! That side eye! #AMJoy #ProChoice pic.twitter.com/2fn7iHLrKD

— Khary Penebaker (@kharyp) January 28, 2017