SHOWBIZ Susan Powter, Mika, ‘Heated Rivalry,’ Yungblud and Aerosmith, new ‘Knives Out’ movie
A Second Act for Pop Culture Icons and Rising Stars
The entertainment landscape is brimming with stories of reinvention, resilience, and representation, as evidenced by a wave of recent releases and announcements. From a documentary revisiting the tumultuous career of 90s wellness guru Susan Powter to the burgeoning success of queer artists across multiple genres, the industry is showcasing a diverse range of narratives.
From Wellness Icon to Reclusive Life
A new documentary, Stop the Insanity: Finding Susan Powter, is shedding light on the dramatic fall from grace of the fitness personality who captivated audiences in the 1990s with her signature buzz cut and no-nonsense approach to health. The film details how crippling lawsuits led to Powter’s bankruptcy and subsequent life in near-total seclusion in Las Vegas. The documentary, now playing in Los Angeles and New York City, features appearances by Ross Mathews and Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis, who also served as an executive producer. Powter, who now identifies as a lesbian, represents a complex story of ambition, loss, and the challenges of navigating public life.
The story serves as a stark reminder of the precariousness of fame and the potential for financial ruin, even for those who appear to be at the height of success. It also highlights the importance of mental health support, particularly for individuals facing public scrutiny and hardship. Note: This week’s column mentions suicide. If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text, or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit 988lifeline.org for 24/7 access to free and confidential services.
Queer Voices Take Center Stage
Beyond Powter’s story, a vibrant wave of LGBTQ+ artists are achieving significant milestones. Queer Grammy-nominated musician Mika is embarking on a North American tour next spring, kicking off in Boston on April 29, 2026, and culminating in Mexico City on May 16. Tickets are available here. This tour underscores the growing visibility and commercial success of queer musicians in the mainstream.
Similarly, an adaptation of Rachel Reid’s gay hockey romance novel, Heated Rivalry, has been acquired by HBO Max for release in the U.S. and Australia. The six-episode series, which premiered in Canada on November 28, explores a secret romance between rival hockey players. This acquisition signals a growing demand for LGBTQ+ representation in mainstream television and a willingness by major streaming platforms to invest in queer storytelling.
Collaborations and Creative Partnerships
The spirit of collaboration is also evident in the music world. Queer British singer Yungblud has teamed up with rock legends Aerosmith on the EP One More Time, marking Aerosmith’s first new music in over a decade. The EP, featuring original songs co-written by both artists, demonstrates a willingness to bridge generational gaps and embrace diverse musical styles.
Meanwhile, Daniel Craig returns as the iconic detective Benoit Blanc in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, the third installment in Rian Johnson’s popular whodunit series. The film, now in theaters and coming to Netflix on December 12, features a diverse ensemble cast including out actor Andrew Scott. Craig’s portrayal of Blanc has been lauded for its nuanced performance and subtle exploration of identity, with some critics noting the character’s queer subtext.
Box Office Records and Personal Struggles
The highly anticipated film adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked: For Good has shattered box office records, demonstrating the enduring appeal of musical theater and the star power of Cynthia Erivo. The film scored the biggest first day at the domestic box office for a movie based on a Broadway musical at $68.9M. The film’s success underscores the continued importance of theatrical releases in a streaming-dominated landscape.
However, the entertainment industry is not without its challenges. Actor Kevin Spacey, facing a career derailed by allegations of sexual misconduct, recently spoke about his struggles to rebuild his life and career. His story highlights the complexities of accountability and redemption in the wake of the #MeToo movement. According to a 2023 report by the United Nations, approximately 1 in 3 women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual violence, often perpetrated by someone known to them, demonstrating the pervasive nature of the issue.
Similarly, Darren Hayes, formerly of Savage Garden, has publicly shared his harrowing experience with a serious medical emergency and the personal losses he has endured in recent years. His openness about his struggles serves as a reminder of the importance of vulnerability and seeking support during difficult times.
These stories, spanning a range of genres and experiences, collectively paint a picture of an entertainment industry in flux – one that is grappling with issues of representation, accountability, and the enduring power of storytelling.
ARTICOL ORIGINAL:
NOTE: This week’s column mentions suicide. If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text, or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit 988lifeline.org for 24/7 access to free and confidential services.
The documentary Stop the Insanity: Finding Susan Powter has been released in theaters in LA and NYC, per a press release. A description stated, “In the ’90s, pop culture icon Susan Powter burst onto the scene with her signature bleach-blonde buzz cut and bold message of health and wellness. … Crippling lawsuits with her business partners left her bankrupt, and she has since lived as a total recluse below the poverty line in Las Vegas, where the filmmaker ultimately finds her.” The film features Powter (who now calls herself “a huge lesbian”), Ross Mathews and Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis (who’s also an executive producer).
Queer Grammy-nominated musician Mika is touring North America next spring. According to a press release, the Spinning Out Tour North America will launch April 29, 2026 in Boston before making its way through major cities including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco before wrapping up May 16 at Mexico City’s Tecate Emblema. Tickets are available here.
An adaptation of Rachel Reid’s gay hockey romance novel, Heated Rivalry, has sold to HBO Max in the U.S. and Australia, The Hollywood Reporter noted. The six-episode series centers around two rival professional hockey players—Canadian-born Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) of the fictitious Montreal Metros and Russian-born Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) of the fictitious Boston Raiders—as they navigate a years-long secret fling. HBO Max acquired the series to air parallel to its Crave release in Canada following the Nov. 28 premiere on Nov. 28. The show will also air on Sky in New Zealand and Moviestar Plus+ in Spain.
Queer British singer Yungblud has collaborated with the iconic band Aerosmith on the EP One More Time, out now via Capitol Records, per a press release. Marking Aerosmith’s first new music in more than 12 years, the five-track collection features four original songs co-written by the acts and a remix of “Back in the Saddle.” They introduced the EP with the lead single “My Only Angel,” released in September alongside an accompanying visual.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery marks the third installment in director Rian Johnson’s whodunit film series starring Daniel Craig as LGBTQ+ detective Benoit Blanc, Instinct noted. In theaters now and coming to Netflix on Dec. 12, the trailer is also currently out.
The movie co-stars Glenn Close, Kerry Washington, out actor Andrew Scott, Jeremy Renner, Mila Kunis, Josh Brolin and Josh O’Connor, among others.
As expected, the film Wicked: For Good broke a slew of box-office records. According to Deadline, For example, the movie scored the biggest first day at the domestic box office for a movie based on a Broadway musical at $68.9M, beating Wicked‘s $46.2M. In addition, it was the biggest domestic and global opening for star Cynthia Erivo and biggest opening ever at a November domestic box office for a movie musical, ahead of Disney’s Moana 2. And it was the fifth highest global opening of a musical of all time behind The Lion King (2019), Moana 2, Frozen 2 and Beauty and the Beast.
SPOILER: And speaking of Wicked: For Good, out gay actor Jonathan Bailey, who plays Fiyero in the Wicked films, explained how he pulled off his character’s painstaking transformation into the Scarecrow in the sequel, EW noted. “It was all prosthetics,” the Bridgerton star told UK’s Esquire, noting that his final look was always on his mind. “The first thing that I started thinking about, even before the ‘Dancing Through Life’ choreography, was exactly what the Scarecrow would look like,” adding, “Without the straw hair, I just looked like a big wheat penis.”
Udo Kier—an LGBTQ+ German actor and cult icon who collaborated with Andy Warhol, Madonna (e.g., the video for “Deeper and Deeper”) and many others—has died at age 81, according to Variety. Kier’s partner, artist Delbert McBride, broke the news. Kier starred in the titular roles in 1973’s Flesh for Frankenstein and 1974’s Blood for Dracula; Warhol produced both films. In 1991, gay director Gus Van Sant widely introduced Kier to U.S. audiences with his coming-of-age drama My Own Private Idaho, alongside stars River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves. Kier credited Van Sant with securing him a U.S. work permit and a SAG card.
And speaking of Kier, the black comedy My Neighbor Adolf—one of his last films—will be released Jan. 9 in NYC and LA via Cohen Media Group and Bright Iris Film Co., per a press release. The plot is described as follows: “Somewhere in South America, May 1960, just after Israel’s abduction of Adolf Eichmann in Argentina. Polsky (portrayed by David Hayman), a lonely and grumpy Holocaust survivor, lives in the remote Colombian countryside. He spends his days playing chess and tending his beloved rose bushes. One day, when a mysterious old German man (played by Kier) moves in next-door, he suspects that his new neighbor is … Adolf Hitler.”
In the world of women’s pro soccer, for the second time, Gotham FC are the NWSL champions, defeating the Washington Spirit 1-0 at PayPal Park in San Jose, California, the league noted. Gotham is now two-for-two in the championship match. Rose Lavelle’s goal earned her MVP honors—and her first NWSL championship.
Paramount Pictures will release Billie Eilish’s 3-D concert documentary of her Hit Me Hard and Soft tour, Variety noted. The film, co-directed by Eilish and James Cameron, will hit theaters on March 20, 2026, courtesy of Paramount and in partnership with Darkroom Records, Interscope Films and Lightstorm Entertainment. Her previous films include the 2021 documentary Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry and concert film Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles.
“About Damn Time” singer Lizzo recalled her mental health declining amid a lawsuit filed by her former dancers, and how it inspired her health and fitness journeys, according to E! “I started losing weight in the fall of 2023,” Lizzo, 37, wrote on a Substack post. “I was severely depressed. I had been the subject of a vicious scandal, and it felt like the whole world turned its back on me. I became deeply suicidal.” As a result of the pushback she got during the time of the lawsuit—which was dismissed in 2024—she was in a period of “extreme isolation” and anger that resulted in her indulging in unhealthful eating habits until she decided to actively take a different approach.
Infinite Icon: A Visual Memoir—about the life of Paris Hilton—will be in theaters on Jan. 30, per a press release. The film “brings audiences an intimate, emotional, and deeply human portrait of Paris Hilton—one of the most famous figures of 21st-century pop culture, and one of its most misunderstood,” the release stated. Infinite Icon picks up where This Is Paris left off, following Hilton as she returned to music in 2024 with her first-ever concert at the Hollywood Palladium. Nicole Richie, Meghan Trainor and Sia are among those appearing in the film.
Gay Australian singer Darren Hayes (formerly of Savage Garden) detailed to People about a horrific fall he suffered earlier this year. “In March, I went to get out of bed one day, and I collapsed three times in a period of seven minutes,” he said. “I was in so much pain. What I didn’t realize was that I’d snapped my jaw in half. I had broken 17 teeth.” The last few years have been difficult for Hayes. Less than a year after the release of his album Homosexual in October 2022, the singer-songwriter filed for divorce from his husband of 17 years, Richard Cullen. Hayes’ mother, Judy, then died in January 2025—during the same week that his abusive and estranged father, Robert, also died.
Harry Lighton’s Pillion (a gay film about a sub-dom relationship) and Die My Love, the latest feature from Scottish director Lynne Ramsay, were among the productions announced in London as winners in the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) craft categories, Deadline noted. Pillion won two awards—Best Costume Design, for Grace Snell; and Best Make-Up & Hair Design, for Diandra Ferreira. The winners of all remaining categories will be announced at the BIFA ceremony at the Roundhouse on Nov. 30.
The U.S. ended its ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating season, wrapping the six-event series with four medals at the 2025 Finlandia Trophy, bringing the overall 2025 series medal count to 15 and tying for the most U.S. medals since 2022, U.S. Figure Skating noted. Queer skater Amber Glenn’s 213.41-point silver-medal performance in Helsinki was the fifth consecutive Grand Prix medal for her; she also clinched gold last season at the Grand Prix Final. The U.S. has now officially qualified five entries for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2025 in Nagoya, Japan, on Dec. 4-7.
Embattled gay actor Kevin Spacey said that he is biding time in hopes of overcoming a sex scandal that’s sidelined him from Hollywood for nearly a decade, NBC News noted. In a lengthy interview with the British outlet The Telegraph, Spacey—who’s working as a singer in Cyprus—stopped just short of calling himself homeless (as he’s living in hotels and Airbnb units), but said his financial situation is “not great.” The Oscar winner has been persona non grata in Tinseltown since actor Anthony Rapp told Buzzfeed in 2017 that Spacey made a sexual advance on him at a party in 1986, when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. In 2023, a London criminal court found Spacey not guilty of allegedly sexually assaulting four men.
Concerts 4 A Cause is offering autographed guitars to raise money for charity, per a press release. Country stars Wynonna, Vince Gill, Zach Top, Travis Tritt, Tanya Tucker, LeeAnn Womack, Jamey Johnson, Mark Chesnutt, Ronnie Dunn, Tracy Lawrence, Aaron Lewis, and more have all joined in the fundraising efforts by signing guitars to help the organization raise money.
Actor/musician Donald Glover discussed the serious health issue that forced him to cancel last year’s Childish Gambino tour, EW noted. During his return to stage at Tyler, the Creator’s Camp Flog Knaw Carnival, Glover revealed that he suffered a stroke in the middle of his New World Tour, which ended up including only 18 shows. Glover then joked, “And the first thing I thought was like, ‘Oh, here I am still copying Jamie Foxx’ [who suffered a stroke in 2023].” Then he admitted, “That’s really like the second thing. The first thing was like, ‘I’m letting everybody down.’”
ABC and Dick Clark Productions (DCP) announced the co-hosts for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2026, starting at 7 p.m. CT, a press release noted. Returning to the heart of Times Square, Seacrest will again be joined by artist and global entertainer Rita Ora. Chance the Rapper (in Chicago), former NFL great Rob Gronkowski (in Las Vegas) and Julianna Hough will also co-host.
Real Housewives of Atlanta alum Kandi Burruss (who left the show after 14 seasons last year) and Todd Tucker are divorcing after 11 years of marriage, per Page Six. “After deep thought and a lot of prayer, I’ve made the decision to move forward with a divorce,” Burress announced. Fans speculated that the couple had split when she removed Tucker’s last name from her Instagram handle.