Arts & Entertainment
Lita Ford says she left The Runaways because her bandmates were lesbians
guitarist left band after noticing Joan Jett and Cherie Curry were involved
(Screenshot courtesy of YouTube)
Guitarist Lita Ford says she left teen girl rock band The Runaways after discovering her fellow bandmates, such as Joan Jett and Cherie Curry, liked girls.
In her new memoir “Living Like a Runaway” Ford says she noticed the girls in her band always talked about girls and never boys. Of all her band members, Jett, Currie, Jackie Fox, Cherie and Sandy West, Ford discovered only Fox wasn’t interested in girls.
“First I found out that Sandy, the one I had bonded with the most, was a lesbian,” Ford recounted in her memoir. “Then I found out that Cherie was messing around with Joan. I was so freaked out that I quit the band.”
In an interview with Huffington Post, Ford says as a teenager in the mid ’70s she wasn’t familiar with homosexuality and that affected her reactions towards the band.
“I didn’t know anything about [homosexuality], and it was still in the closet. Nobody [back then] came out and said, ‘I’m gay,'” Ford told Huffington Post. “When I found out that the girls were all gay in the band, I wasn’t sure how to take it. I didn’t know what it was.”
Ford says that she told her parents the reason for her departure from the band was because The Runaways’s manager Kim Fowley was “too weird.” Eventually the band called her back and Ford decided to rejoin the band. She doesn’t believe her bandmates knew the real reason she quit.
“We just carried on, you know, because it was no big deal,” Ford says. “But to me it was, back then, and it just really threw me for a loop. I didn’t know that people do that.”
The Freddie’s Follies drag show was held at Freddie’s Beach Bar in Arlington, Va. on Saturday, Jan. 3. Performers included Monet Dupree, Michelle Livigne, Shirley Naytch, Gigi Paris Couture and Shenandoah.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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Queer highlights of the 2026 Critics Choice Awards: Aunt Gladys, that ‘Heated Rivalry’ shoutout and more
Amy Madigan’s win in the supporting actress category puts her in serious contention to win the Oscar for ‘Weapons’
From Chelsea Handler shouting out Heated Rivalry in her opening monologue to Amy Madigan proving that horror performances can (and should) be taken seriously, the Critics Choice Awards provided plenty of iconic moments for queer movie fans to celebrate on the long road to Oscar night.
Handler kicked off the ceremony by recapping the biggest moments in pop culture last year, from Wicked: For Good to Sinners. She also made room to joke about the surprise hit TV sensation on everyone’s minds: “Shoutout to Heated Rivalry. Everyone loves it! Gay men love it, women love it, straight men who say they aren’t gay but work out at Equinox love it!”
The back-to-back wins for Jacob Elordi in Frankenstein and Amy Madigan in Weapons are notable, given the horror bias that awards voters typically have. Aunt Gladys instantly became a pop culture phenomenon within the LGBTQ+ community when Zach Cregger’s hit horror comedy released in August, but the thought that Madigan could be a serious awards contender for such a fun, out-there performance seemed improbable to most months ago. Now, considering the sheer amount of critics’ attention she’s received over the past month, there’s no denying she’s in the running for the Oscar.
“I really wasn’t expecting all of this because I thought people would like the movie, and I thought people would dig Gladys, but you love Gladys! I mean, it’s crazy,” Madigan said during her acceptance speech. “I get [sent] makeup tutorials and paintings. I even got one weird thing about how she’s a sex icon also, which I didn’t go too deep into that one.”
Over on the TV side, Rhea Seehorn won in the incredibly competitive best actress in a drama series category for her acclaimed performance as Carol in Pluribus, beating out the likes of Emmy winner Britt Lower for Severance, Carrie Coon for The White Lotus, and Bella Ramsey for The Last of Us. Pluribus, which was created by Breaking Bad’s showrunner Vince Gilligan, has been celebrated by audiences for its rich exploration of queer trauma and conversion therapy.
Jean Smart was Hack’s only win of the night, as Hannah Einbinder couldn’t repeat her Emmy victory in the supporting actress in a comedy series category against Janelle James, who nabbed a trophy for Abbott Elementary. Hacks lost the best comedy series award to The Studio, as it did at the Emmys in September. And in the limited series category, Erin Doherty repeated her Emmy success in supporting actress, joining in yet another Adolescence awards sweep.
As Oscar fans speculate on what these Critics Choice wins mean for future ceremonies, we have next week’s Golden Globes ceremony to look forward to on Jan. 11.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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