Arts & Entertainment
Derek Dillard blasts Nate Berkus’ family, Berkus fires back
TLC fired Jill Duggar’s husband for making transphobic comments last year
Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent with their daughter Poppy (Photo courtesy of Instagram)
Nate Berkus defended his family and upcoming reality series “Nate and Jeremiah By Design” after former TLC star Derick Dillard slammed the family of four.
Dillard responded to a tweet from TLC promoting Berkus’ new show which follows him and his husband Jeremiah Brent as they teach “how to turn a money pit into a masterpiece. In each episode we learn from the mistakes of their clients as these designer husbands rescue them from renovation nightmares,” according to the show’s description.
The tweet reportedly showed a family photo of Berkus and Brent who have two children Oskar, one month, and Poppy, 3.
“What a travesty of family,” Dillard tweeted. “It’s sad how blatant the liberal agenda is, such that it both highlights and celebrates a lifestyle so degrading to children on public television as if it should be normal.”
One Twitter user replied to Dillard “Do their lifestyles affect yours ? …. Errrrm No. Plus this child looks mightily happy to me not, Poor’ as you describe.”
“They affect this poor child, as well as what perversions are celebrated. If it were adultery, I doubt a network would be so quick to focus on the reality of it as if it were ok. And that’s a good standard for well-being? …how they look?” Dillard responded.
“I’m not bashing the people, I’m just calling out the public agenda at play and how a network chooses what they highlight,” the former “Counting On”star continued. “Christians should love all as Christ loved all. Take advantage of capitalism: boycott what you don’t believe in, but don’t boycott relationships.”
However, when someone asked Dillard what he would do “when one of your children grows up to be a member of the LGBTQ community??” he replied, “We’d love them just the same.”
Berkus responded to Dillard by saying he hopes the show “can start to break down barriers.”
“My hope with having a show like #NandJByDesign on @TLC, where we go into people’s homes and welcome viewers into ours, is that we can start to break down barriers & normalize the way our family looks & the way our family loves,” Berkus tweeted.
My hope with having a show like #NandJByDesign on @TLC, where we go into people’s homes and welcome viewers into ours, is that we can start to break down barriers & normalize the way our family looks & the way our family loves. @JeremiahBrent pic.twitter.com/NsCAeh1nxb
— Nate Berkus (@NateBerkus) April 27, 2018
TLC fired Dillard, who is married to Jill Duggar, from its reality series “Counting On” after he posted transphobic tweets about fellow TLC star Jazz Jennings.
Celebrity News
Madonna announces release date for new album
‘Confessions II’ marks return to the dance floor
Pop icon Madonna on Wednesday announced that her 15th studio album will be released on July 3.
Titled “Confessions II,” the new album is a sequel to 2005’s “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” an Abba and disco-infused hit.
The new album reunites Madonna with producer Stuart Price, who also helmed the original “Confessions” album. It’s her first album of new material since 2019’s “Madame X.”
“We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies,” Madonna said in a press release. “These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years — they really are spiritual practices. After all, the dance floor is a ritualistic space. It’s a place where you connect — with your wounds, with your fragility. To rave is an art. It’s about pushing your limits and connecting to a community of like-minded people,” continued the statement. “Sound, light, and vibration reshape our perceptions. Pulling us into a trance-like state. The repetition of the bass, we don’t just hear it but we feel it. Altering our consciousness and dissolving ego and time.”
Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI
‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’
By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.
Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.
“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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