Arts & Entertainment
Director Banks confirms Stewart’s “Charlie’s Angels” character is gay
Director Elizabeth Banks is generating buzz ahead of the opening weekend for her new film, the latest reboot of “Charlie’s Angels,” with her comments clarifying the sexuality of the character played by out star Kristen Stewart’s character.
In the new film based on the now-iconic 1970s TV series about three female private detectives, Stewart portrays Sabrina Wilson, the group’s leader, who was originally played by actress Kate Jackson – though in the latest version the character is described as a “party girl” while Jackson’s incarnation was more no-nonsense.
According to Banks, Stewart, who is queer in real life, lobbied to for her character to be gay. Speaking to Pride Source, the actress-turned-director said, “I mean, [Kristen] wanted to be gay in the movie and I’m like, ‘Yeah.’ I just wanted to make sure that she was able to present a character that she was fully behind.”
To be sure the point was getting across, Banks added a scene into the film in which Sabrina flirts with another woman.
The opening-day-eve remarks represent a bit of a surprise reversal for Banks, who in an earlier interview with Digital Spy had previously dismissed the idea that Sabrina was being portrayed as a lesbian and claimed that the character’s sexuality would be “open to interpretation.
“I don’t feel there is a label that fits her,” Banks had said. “The only thing that was important to me was to not label it as anything. It’s fine if the media wants to label it, I think that’s OK, but I didn’t do that.”
Banks, best known to most movie audiences for her roles in the “Hunger Games” and “Pitch Perfect” movie franchises, is a veteran actress who has successfully expanded her career to include writing, producing and directing. Her feature directing debut, “Pitch Perfect 2,” earned $69 million its opening weekend, a record gross for a first-time director. She wrote, directed, and produced the new “Charlie’s Angels,” and also appears in the film as Bosley, a character that was originally male.
The revelation of Stewart’s character as a gay woman has particular resonance in the wake of GLAAD’s recent report finding the number of LGBTQ characters on television at an all-time high.
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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