Marc Malkin
EXCLUSIVE: Read it here first...
Exclusive
Milk Writer: Private Photo Drama on the Internet
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
Dustin Lance Black has a lot to look forward to this month. Not only is the Oscar-winning writer of Milk being honored tomorrow in L.A. by gay youth mentoring group LifeWorks, but in a couple of weeks he will be one of three grand marshals of New York City's Pride March.
There's so much more, but it's too much to list here.
Sadly, earlier today, Black was confronted with the ugly side of being a public figure…
Charlize Theron: Rallies With Mom for Gay Marriage
Charlize Theron may not have spoken at Saturday's Meet in the Middle gay marriage rally, but she certainly didn't go unnoticed.
The Academy Award winner was more than happy to pose for pics, chat and give out plenty of hugs as she listened to speeches with her mom and a small crew of friends.
Theron was an early supporter of the Fresno, Calif., rally, which was organized by the grassroots Courage Campaign.
She wasn't the only boldfaced name in the crowd. Find out who else was there and what they said…
Exclusive
Milk Writer Glad Miss California Wasn't Fired
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, Denise Truscello/ Getty Images
The Oscar-winning screenwriter of Milk is grateful that Miss California Carrie Prejean was not stripped of her crown.
While Dustin Lance Black doesn't think the beauty-pageant controversy should be "leading the conversation" about gay issues in America, he believes Prejean could be helping the fight for equal rights.
How so? Read on...
Zac Efron: Getting Dirty After High School Musical
Interview Magazine
Bye-bye, High School Musical.
Zac Efron is more than ready to walk away from the Disney bubble.
"You know, everything I've done in the past has felt very safe, and it was great for a while, but now I'm looking for a place to take chances," Efron tells Milk director Gus Van Sant in the new issue of Interview magazine. "I want to play with things."
But he realizes the important people in this town may not be ready to play with him.
Sean Penn to Schwarzenegger: Got Milk Day?
Focus Features
Sean Penn hasn't stopped championing Harvey Milk just because the actor won an Oscar for his portrayal of the late openly gay politician and activist.
Penn was at a press conference at San Francisco's Tosca Cafe today, asking for the passage of a California bill that calls on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to declare Milk's birthday, May 22, as Harvey Milk Day.
"Harvey taught us the importance of standing up for what you believe in," Penn said, according to People. "He showed us the value of never giving up, and he proved that action creates change."
Robert Pattinson: Getting Ready for Oscar
Robert Pattinson has landed!
Our favorite Brit boy is here in Hollywood. As you must know by now, the Twilight star is going to be presenting at the Academy Awards on Sunday. (Nope, his costar Kristen Stewart is not expected to join him.)
So what's he been up to since he got here?
Exclusive
Penélope Cruz & Milk: Go Inside the Star-Studded Soirees
COURTESY: ERIC CHARBONNEAU/LE STUDIO
The stars aligned for Penélope Cruz last night at best friend Salma Hayek's L.A.-area home.
Hayek and the Weinstein Company threw a party to toast Cruz and her Oscar nomination for her work in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
The guest list was pretty impressive...
SAG Scoop: The Office, Dexter, Mickey & Milk
Jason Merritt/Getty Images, Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
Copy machines and cats...just another day at The Office. Actually, it's more like Super Bowl night.
Jenna Fischer says expect utter lunacy on the Office episode airing Sunday immediately after the big game this Sunday. "Pam gets some family news that she and Jim have to deal with," Fischer told me yesterday on the SAG Awards red carpet, before she took off to shoot some photos she was planning to post on her MySpace page.
"The entire office goes berserk and there's complete mayhem," she said. "I can say that Jim and Andy do something insane with a copy machine, and Angela does something crazy with a cat."
And while you're waiting for that, here's what else I learned on the carpet:
Got Milk? The Oscars Do!
Danny Nicoletta/Focus Features
Somewhere up there in the pink clouds of heaven, Harvey Milk is poppin' open a bottle of champagne.
Gus Van Sant's Milk snagged eight Oscar nominations this morning.
"I think Harvey would be so happy," Bruce Cohen, who produced the biopic with Dan Jinks, told me earlier today. "Stuart Milk—Harvey's nephew, who is very active politically in San Francisco and openly gay—emailed us this morning to say he thinks that Harvey and all the Milk family members up there are just beaming."
The nominations should help the cast and crew of Milk forget about this year's Golden Globes.
Milk Director Talks Prop 8 and Rick Warren
ABC/ DONNA SVENNEVIK, AP Photo/Charles Sykes, Frank Micelotta/Getty Images for VH1
Gus Van Sant didn't know he was sitting on a political firestorm when he made Milk.
The director says that California's antigay marriage ballot initative, Prop 8, wasn't even a blip on the radar during the making of the Harvey Milk biopic. The movie, starring Sean Penn, features the 1970s fight against California's Prop 6, which unsuccessfully tried to ban gay teachers in public schools.