Joe Jonas: "Nothing Wrong With Being Gay"

Pop star Joe Jonas isn't gay but doesn't seem to mind the gay rumors that have dogged him in recent months, according to a new profile in Details magazine.

"There's nothing wrong with being gay," Jonas says, "but I'm not." The middle Jonas brother, 21, was bluntly asked if he's gay by paparazzi last January. Details speculates that part of the reason for the rumors may have been Jonas's playful video homage to Beyoncé's "Single Ladies," in which he dressed in a leotard and heels and danced to make good on a sports bet with some friends. The video of his performance was watched by more than 25 million viewers on YouTube.

Here is the complete Details magazine interview:

Joe Jonas is going grocery shopping, walking along a busy commercial section of Hollywood. No one notices him, no tween girls shriek, as he weaves through the sidewalk traffic. Joe doesn't much look like a Jonas Brother anymore. Gone is his telltale luxurious sweep of black hair. Now it's cropped in a look one of his handlers likes to call "Top Gun-Tom Cruise," and he's wearing a rakish beard and mustache, along with skinny jeans that hang low enough to reveal the pattern on his boxers. These signs of testosterone seem to defy the boy band's squeaky-clean image—the three brothers wore "purity rings," pledging chastity until marriage. Joe, 21, looks all grown up. And there isn't a purity ring in sight.

"'Does anyone ever tell you you look like Joe Jonas?' I get that a lot," Joe says in his mild, soft-spoken way. "Or they'll say, 'You're so much cuter in person.' Or 'Where are your brothers?'" He laughs. "It's not like we wake up in the same bed."

Joe moved out of the home he shared with his parents and his brothers, Kevin, 23, and Nick, 18, a year and a half ago, to rent a house with some buddies in Los Feliz. But it was haunted, he says—"We'd hear footsteps"—and he often thought about getting his own place. Then, about nine months ago, he started dating Twilight star Ashley Greene, and the idea of a little privacy became more appealing. So last November, he found a bachelor pad in this part of town, which he likes because "it's like my mini New York. I got my gym a few blocks away"—where he's been working out five days a week with his trainer.

"I like to watch all the crazy characters in the neighborhood," he says. "I saw this gay homeless guy that got arrested. When the cops said, 'Spread 'em,' he was like, 'You'd like that, wouldn't you?'" Joe grins; he likes a good comeback.

In addition to hitting the gym regularly, Joe is also a fan of bars in the area, like the Bowery on Sunset, because it's "really laid-back." Wait a minute—didn't the Jonas Brothers, who provided the voices of cherubs in 2009's Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, swear off alcoholic beverages?

Yes, but that was back when Joe was living with his mom, Denise, and his dad, Kevin Sr., a former evangelical preacher who now comanages the band. It was also before Joe decided to do a solo album, the first single from which will be released next month.

"I'm growing up, the fans are growing up," Joe says. "I've gone through a lot of stuff in my life so far. There are stories I haven't really been able to tell. When you're writing with three people, you wind up with a sound that might be—not average—but, you know, expected."

The moment he walks into Trader Joe's, the sound system starts playing "Year 3000," a Jonas Brothers hit from their first album, 2006's It's About Time. The boys' cheerful guitar riffs and boisterous voices fill the giant store. "I didn't call and arrange this," Joe says, amused, as he grabs a cart.

Joe's apartment, a loft studio in a brand-new high-rise, is sizable, but it's modest for a young man who, with his brothers, made $35.5 million last year, putting them at No. 40 on the Forbes "Celebrity 100." There's a stunning 180-degree view of Los Angeles. There's a vintage Pac Man game, a Batman pinball machine, a Baldwin piano, and an 8-month-old English-bulldog puppy named Winston. There's a Warholesque painting of Mick Jagger by a local artist. Joe—who is known for his on-stage brio, his jumps and kicks and orgasmic facial contortions—has said that he idolizes the performance styles of Jagger and Freddie Mercury, "the big frontmen."

There's also a framed photograph of Joe and his brothers at the White House with President Obama and Paul McCartney—on the wall right by the front door, so you can't miss it. "I didn't know who to be more excited about," Joe says of the meeting, which took place last year when McCartney received the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The Jonas Brothers performed a cover of "Drive My Car" at the event.

"I heard [McCartney] told somebody, 'I want the new Beatles to come and play for me,'" Joe says, his chocolate-brown eyes growing wider.

Joe will tell you stories about famous rockers giving props to a band that the New York Times has called "among the most culturally important American rock bands of the last decade."

"Pat [Patrick Carney], the drummer for the Black Keys, I met him at a Kings of Leon concert in London"—coincidentally, it was at that same concert that Joe met Greene—"and he was like, 'I used to shit on you guys, but then I actually listened to your stuff, and you're so rad.'"

A Black Keys record is playing on Joe's turntable as he makes taco filling, simmering chicken in olive oil and lemonade. He's into cooking. After he got his own place, he says, "I fell in love with it. I became friends with a lot of chefs. I was a judge on Top Chef last year. It was a dream come true."

Then he pauses a moment; his thick, dark eyebrows knit together. He looks like a teenager again. "You know what? I forgot to get tortillas."

The taco filling winds up being wrapped into big pieces of lettuce—a fine, healthy, Asian-inspired solution. Joe stands at the counter as he tucks into his new culinary invention and starts talking excitedly about his solo album (which is as yet unnamed). He has been recording in L.A. for the past couple of months but says the idea came to him in the summer of 2009 when the JoBros were in Rome. "We were sitting in this beautiful Colosseum-looking hotel. And I was starting to think, 'I really wanna do a solo project.' My brother Nick did one. It wasn't really as big as..." Here he catches himself. Nick's solo album, Who I Am, released last year, received mixed reviews and sold fewer than 200,000 copies in the U.S.

"He wasn't really hoping for it to be huge," says Joe, who calls Nick "my best friend." "It was more for himself. He wanted to do a record that he really believed in. And so I was like, 'I would really like to make music that inspires me,' 'cause with the Jonas Brothers stuff, we can be constricted in what we can and cannot do.

"I wanted to do something you could hear in a club or something you could dance to, something that's fun—something that's me. I think it was definitely because I was getting older. But it was also a kind of a scary thought. 'Cause you go, 'I don't want to offend my brothers.' You know?"

But when he approached Nick and Kevin, they were all for it. He also got the blessing of Hollywood Records, the Jonas Brothers' label, which is owned by Disney and which sold 8.5 million copies of the band's last three albums—Jonas Brothers, A Little Bit Longer, and Lines, Vines and Trying Times.

But the boys in the band aren't really boys anymore, and the sales of their recent albums have slipped slightly. Their 2009 Disney Channel sitcom, Jonas L.A., didn't catch on with viewers and was canceled after two seasons. Their debut film, Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience, was a disappointment, earning just over $19 million.

The thinking at Disney HQ seems to be that a solo turn by Joe might be a way for the Brothers to recapture their maturing fan base and possibly develop a new one. "We're not breaking up, we're just taking a break," Joe says. "I really have a hope for the fans that got older and went, 'You know what, I'm really not into the Jonas Brothers anymore,' that I'm able to catch their ear again with my project and they're able to go, like, 'Hey, this is cool stuff, I'm happy listening to this, I'm not embarrassed listening to this.'"

"I'm wildly supportive," says Rich Ross, chairman of Walt Disney Studios. "Going solo is a very good idea for Joe at this age. It's like graduating from college."

But will Joe Jonas be believable as a real rock star? Can the fans ever forget that they loved him in fourth grade?

"I look at Joe's scenario as kind of like when Justin Timberlake broke out of 'N Sync," says Rob Knox, a producer working on Joe's solo project who previously teamed up with Rihanna and Jamie Foxx. "Justin was 21 when he came out as a solo artist. Joe is coming to producers who know how to create that edgier pop feeling. We're not doing any boy-band songs."

What they are doing, Joe says, is an eclectic mixture of "electro indie pop rock." "It's Joe's album, it's not just something put together for him," says Danja, another veteran producer on the project, whose past work includes Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds. "He's collaborating with the writing. He's very different from what you'd expect. All I can say is he's an adult man. He has a rock-star edge about him."

If Nick was always the cute Jonas, and Kevin the other Jonas, then Joe was the sexy one. The shrieks of the Brothers' 10,000-plus crowds are usually induced by his hip-swiveling-and-mic-twirling routine.

"Being on stage makes me come to life," Joe says. "When all eyes are on you, they're watching every move you make."

His gyrations have apparently caught the eyes of a number of fetching young female entertainers. He's dated the troubled Disney star Demi Lovato ("I wish her the best") and the actress Camilla Belle. Taylor Swift was so bitter after their breakup that she wrote a song about it ("Forever & Always") and went on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, in 2008, to complain that Joe had dumped her in a phone call that lasted 27 seconds.

Joe countered by saying that it was Swift who had hung up on him. Now he says, "I think all artists have a right to write about what happens to them. But," he adds with a smile, "I have a right to write about things too."

He won't say whether his album will contain a Swift rebuttal—just that there will be songs about "different love scenarios that I've been through, breakups, hurts. Me hurting somebody and feeling bad about it. I think there's a lot of scenarios where people might wanna hear my side of the story."

But who would break up with Joe?

"Some guy," he says with a laugh.

It's a nod to the gay rumors he's been fending off ever since he got into a verbal altercation with some taunting paparazzi earlier this year. "There's nothing wrong with being gay," he says now, "but I'm not." Adding to the buzz, he dressed up in a leotard and heels and danced to "Single Ladies"—to comic effect—to square a sports bet with some buddies. He got the idea from his fans. The video of his performance got more than 25 million hits on YouTube.

But he really did have his heart broken; it was about two years ago, and the young woman was someone in the entertainment world. "I won't say her name," Joe says. "But I was in a relationship, and we tried to work things out, and she, you know—I was really upset because she—she broke up with me." A sadness lingers in his voice.

By contrast, his relationship with Ashley Greene, who's 24, "feels good," he says. "I think what works about it is she really puts my feelings first. She understands my busy schedule. She'll fly out to my shows—she's been to places in South America that I can't even pronounce." And in January, he visited her in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, while she was shooting the next two installments of the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn: Part I and Part II (Greene plays the psychic vampire Alice Cullen). He also flew to Jacksonville, Florida, to meet her parents. "Her dad can drink me to shame," Joe says. "He's awesome."

Times are changing for the Jonas Brothers, with Joe going solo (for now) and Kevin marrying Danielle Deleasa, a former hairdresser, in 2009. "Actually, I hit on her first," Joe says of meeting his future sister-in-law when the band of brothers were on vacation in the Bahamas. "And after that she and Kevin hit it off, of course. Now we have a fourth person traveling with us everywhere, so that's a different thing completely."

It's afternoon. Joe's driving his big black Mercedes G-Class down Sunset to the studio to work on his album. He's thinking about the days when he and his brothers and his dad toured the country with a trailer full of instruments, performing wherever they could. Success did not come easily, he says, and it got to the point where "we were about to say, 'This sucks—we don't want to do this anymore,' but then it all sort of started to happen for us."

And happen it did. "We've seen every state in America besides Alaska and Hawaii, been all over Europe. It's been so much fun." Sure, there have been times when it's gotten a little weird, rocking out for little girls. "We did some things that were like, 'Really? We're gonna do this? Like, go and play for an elementary school, are you serious?' At the time I was like, 'I'm 17, I wanna go meet girls at high schools.'

"And now I'm 21," Joe adds. "I wanna go play my music in a club."

Joe draws inspiration from one of his heroes—Bono—in moving forward with his dream: "I just want to believe that people are gonna really accept me for who I am and the music that I'm making now."

Joe went to see U2 play in Toronto last year. "After the show we got an e-mail saying Bono wants to invite you to the after-party. He comes waltzing in with his jean jacket buttoned down to here, pointing his finger at everybody. We hung out with him till three in the morning. He told me, 'The songs you write, really be honest, don't hold anything back. The reason for being an artist is you gotta be honest.' And I was like, 'Wow.'

"He said, 'I have countries that hate me, but I don't care. I have dictators that wanna put my head on a stick. So the next time you write a song, write from the heart, and really be honest, and don't be afraid of it.'"

Joe arrives at Henson Recording Studios—Charlie Chaplin's old studio. He parks the car. "When I was younger," he says, getting out, "I was always trying to make people satisfied with the way they thought I was supposed to be. And finally understanding that, in music, you can really be yourself and people accept you for who you are, that was a big thing to me." Work awaits, and as he heads inside, he adds: "I'm really excited to get the ball rolling and write some more stories in the book of craziness."

Kevin Spacey Still Isn’t Talking

In a new interview to promote his Golden Globe–nominated performance in the film Casino Jack, Kevin Spacey tells The Daily Beast he’s still won't talk about his sexuality — and continuing to ask him if he is gay is the same as bullying.

“I think what we have seen in terms of gay teenagers committing suicide because of bullying is anguishing,” he says. “I think young people, if they are feeling like they are confused, need to know that there are people to talk to and that there are places they can go and not feel alone. But I feel that they have just as many rights as I do to not be bullied. And I don't understand people who say, 'Well, this is a terrible thing that is happening to this young person whose life is being exposed,' and then turn around and do it to another person. People have different reasons for the way they live their lives. You cannot put everyone's reasons in the same box. It's just a line I've never crossed and never will.”

The actor, who has repeatedly refused to talk about his sexuality, promises writer Kevin Sessums he’ll make an “It Gets Better” video. He also says that refusing to discuss your personal life and living a lie are two different things.

John Travolta Enraged by Gay Sex Claims

John Travolta is said to be furious after a gossip website published claims that he had sex with men in saunas.

Gawker.com published claims made by Robert Randolph, who plans to release a tell-all book about the star – and other celebrities – having alleged gay affairs.

According to Gossipcop, Travolta’s lawyer Marty Singer has demanded that the story be removed immediately and a prominent retraction issued.

In a letter sent to Gawker, Singer accused the site of publishing “blatant defamatory lies” from a “patently unreliable source” and said Randolph had admitted suffering “permanent brain damage” in 2003.

Singer said that Randolph’s claims “go back fifteen years, yet inexplicably, he has waited until now to peddle these phony tall tales”.

He added that the idea of Travolta committing adultery in public repeatedly was “absolutely ridiculous”.

Gawker, which is known for refusing to budge on contentious stories, listed Randolph’s claims in detail and said: “Most media outlets. . . were too shy to delve into the steamy details. We’re not quite as timid.”

Singer wrote that this claim was “significantly compounding the damages” incurred by Travolta. At the time of publication, the website had not removed the story.

The letter was sent shortly before Travolta’s wife of 20 years, Kelly Preston, gave birth to their third child.

The Secret Sex Life of John Travolta

[Editor's Note: This story appeared on Gawker.com a while back and was written before John Travolta's wife, Kelly Preston, gave birth to their third child, Benjamin.]

Author Robert Randolph has been talking to the tabloids about John Travolta's habit of hooking up with men at Los Angeles saunas. Most media outlets, however, were too shy to delve into the steamy details. We're not quite as timid.

Randolph, an interior designer by trade, says he first started visiting LA's City Spa in 1995. It wasn't long, he claims, before he encountered fellow member and notorious closet case John Travolta, who frequented the spa to hook up with other men. He's publishing an account of his run-ins with Travolta—and a number of other celebrities—on the spa scene in a self-published book entitled You'll Never Spa in This Town Again, which you can pre-order on his website. In recent weeks, Randolph has been busy talking with tabloids such as the National Enquirer and Star, about what he witnessed. (He says the Enquirer even subjected him to a lie detector test, which he says he passed with flying (rainbow) colors.) But mainstream tabloids have generally been skittish about printing some of the more explicit details from Randolph's days on the spa circuit.

Randolph says his first encounter with Travolta, who was then in his early 40s, took place in one of the spa's steam rooms.

"I walked in and the guy was giving John a blowjob and, like guys do, he pulled his head up when I walked in. Then they left the room," Randolph described Travolta's mate as a "very handsome, very hung" Middle-Eastern man. "I decided to follow them. There was an empty massage room upstairs where guys could go and have sex. I followed them up there and I went in the next room where I normally got my massages, and I watched them have sex. Full-blown sex. Anal." In case you're wondering, Travolta is a bottom.

It was after he'd seen Travolta getting it on with numerous men at the spa that Randolph had a run-in of his own.

"We were both next to each other in the steam room and he started stroking his dick. It was hard," Randolph says. "He undid my towel and said, 'Let's have some fun.' I said no. I told him I wasn't comfortable."

There's nothing wrong with hooking up with guys in bathhouses; we firmly believe that consenting adults should have as much sex as humanly possible. But Travolta's salacious trips to steam rooms are a little unusual considering the circumstances. Not only has he been married to Kelly Preston since 1991 (and fathered three children with her, including one that died and one that's about to be born any day now), he's also a prominent member of the Church of Scientology, which believes in "curing" people of their homosexuality. Critics of the church claim that information culled during "auditing sessions"—a process in which members clear themselves of "negative influences" and occasionally brings up details of sexual liaisons—is used to keep celebrities in the closet and in the church. Scientology's position on homosexuality, needless to say, is controversial. Indeed the church's hard-line stance has lost them a number of prominent members in recent years.

But Scientology's position of the issue hasn't stopped Travolta from leading a rather active gay sex life, according to Randolph. Travolta, he says, visited gay spas several times a week, and was always on the lookout for some man-on-man action. And Randolph claims he's seen Travolta in any number of compromising positions over the years.

"I've seen people sucking his dick. I've seen him sucking other guys' dicks. Anal wasn't always involved. But there was always action of some kind," he says. "It was often sucking, masturbating, and jerking off in front of everyone." Not the sort of behavior, in other words, that one would be expect from a member of an anti-gay group that many call a cult.

According to Randolph, Travolta definitely has a type. "His preference is Middle Eastern or guys with dark features," he explains. "His taste has changed over the 15 years that I've seen him visiting spas. First he strictly liked black guys. For the longest time if you weren't black, he didn't want you. Then he was into Middle Eastern men. Then it was Mexicans and other Hispanic guys. Then he moved on to Koreans. I guess he doesn't have much of a preference any more."

If there's one thing he likes, though, it's guys with big dicks, Randolph claims. Especially if the men in question are straight. "He does do more masculine gay guys, but his thing is straight guys," Randolph says. "He pulls them in because they're shocked and impressed that it's Travolta and that they're hooking up with him."

How on earth does the actor seduce all these straight guys? The lure of celebrity plays a big part. "In the beginning, he would come in and people would recognize him and he would let people approach him," Randolph says of Travolta's seduction technique. "He's very personable, and he would use the fact he's a star to reel guys in." Eventually, he took that for granted. "It got to the point where he wouldn't even look at a person's eyes, he'd just stare at their cock and then follow them off to a more secluded space. That's how he operates now. For the last couple of years, he's had no discretion."

While Randolph isn't afraid to get into some of the dirty details, there are a few things he didn't want to get into, like the size of Travolta's endowment or some of the more outrageous things he's seen him do over the years. "That's in the book. But he's over-the-top kinky," Randolph says. "Dirty, dirty, kinky, kinky. Stuff no one in their right mind would want to come out."

Speaking of never coming out, it's doubtful Travolta ever will—especially considering he has a pregnant wife and is devoted to an anti-gay "religious" group. According to Randolph, though, it's hardly a secret. "Everyone in LA knows."

Catching Up With Maroon 5's Adam Levine & His Friendship with Jake Gyllenhaal...Nope! They're not Gay!

Last year, Maroon 5 escaped to Switzerland with legendary producer Mutt Lange in tow to record their new album, Hands All Over. OUT magazine caught up with the band’s pretty boy frontman Adam Levine to chat about their particular brand of pop music, Lady Gaga, and buddy Jake Gyllenhaal’s sexuality.

Out: Critics have likened the band’s sound to everyone from Huey Lewis and the News to Journey. How would you describe Maroon 5’s sound?

Adam Levine: We’ve been a band for so long. You know Maroon 5’s sound has always been changing because I think we’re not necessarily interested in fitting into a category. We love pop music. I grew up listening to rock 'n' roll music. My parents raised me on the Beatles and the Stones and folk music -- Simon and Garfunkel and Dylan and all this stuff. I was a teenager in the '90s so I got into the Nirvanas and the Pearl Jams and the Soundgardens and all these bands and rebelled against pop music and hated it. Then when I was 19 or 20, I started getting into Stevie Wonder and Al Green and Bill Withers and all this other stuff so I treat music the way I treat everything in life, which is there’s so much variety in music, it’s silly to belong to a specific club and try to sound a certain way. Hence, our sound has changed because we just like everything. It’s maybe a little poppier than when we started. It was more R&B in the beginning. I don’t know what we are. Journey is funny, though. That’s a weird one.

Out: I read your first record was heavily influenced by Stevie Wonder and on the second one you invoked the Police and Prince. Who were you channeling for Hands All Over?

Adam: Sometimes you wear your influences on your sleeve and you think Man, I want to be Sting right now, or I want to be Prince, or you want to be something and so you emulate it to a point where you can totally tell what you’re doing. And I’ve done that in the past, especially with Stevie Wonder on that first record, but it’s kind of better to try -- it’s almost like in the beginning you do that and then you figure out a way to meld what you do into something new and unique. First of all, we’re a band, which is really weird that we played R&B-infused music in the beginning. There wasn’t really anyone doing that. For this record, I had nothing on my mind that was specifically that. I didn’t want to be anyone other than myself on this record, so that came through. I feel like this record -- I mean, I said this about the second record, but I was wrong -- I think that this album is free of any hyper-emulization. And also, I was in Switzerland, so geographically I was really isolated from everything, so I was letting it all go, and I just wanted to see what happened.

Out: Earlier this year you said “Maroon 5 is the most Mutt Lange-friendly band out there.” How did you end up working with him and were you looking for more Shania Twain-style Mutt Lange or more Def Leppard-style Mutt Lange?

Adam: Mutt Lange is one of those guys who’s done everything. He’s produced AC/DC records, Def Leppard records, Shania Twain records, wrote songs you never would have imagined he had ever written -- he did a lot of stuff with Bryan Adams -- and his thing is that, like us, he’s neither here nor there. He doesn’t really care what something is or where it comes from. He cares much more about the quality of the music he’s making, and that’s how we felt too. We’ve never been genre snobs or anything like that, so it’s kind of the best possible idea for collaboration. Because when you think about his track record and our track record, it’s kind of similar in that no one really knows where to place us or put us. And he was really good at helping us figure out who we actually were and going with that and not being inhibited by anything, especially being as far from reality as we were. We were in Geneva for four months in like lala land, so I’m surprised we didn’t make a record that sounded like fucking Snow White. It was so idyllic.

Out: Now that you’re putting out a new album, does your wild success with the earlier albums make it easier, or are you intimidated by trying to achieve that level of success again?

Adam: I feel older for sure. It’s kind of weird. The band released our first record when we were all 22. That’s young. We started succeeding when we were 23, 24, and I’m 31 now. A) It’s crazy that we’ve been around this long and B) I start to feel -- not insecure or self-conscious -- but definitely start to feel slightly more disconnected from that youth-based, kind of pop culture. I’m figuring out how to deal with it because I think we still make really poppy music. You know, once you turn 30 you start tripping about that kind of shit too. I see it as a positive because I’m like, “Fuck everything. Fuck all you guys” -- not you guys -- but it’s like I’m just going to do my own thing now. I’m cool, and I have ownership of who I am and what I do, so what everyone else thinks doesn’t matter to me. And that’s a cool way of making music too, because I feel totally unself-conscious about it. But it’s weird, you’re competing with these kids, 19-, 20-year-old kids, where you’re like, “You guys don’t even know -- about anything. You’re kids!” I don’t even know where the music comes from. I was just talking to my manager outside -- I’m so disconnected. If you gave me the top 10 artists right now in the country, I’d be like, “Who are you?” I’m so dissociated from it. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I see it as a good thing because then you have the potential to bring something new and unaffected by other things in pop culture. I think that’s great. I think that’s going to make us stand out and live forever in the universe.

Out: Since the last record came out, the musical landscape has changed so much. A name that comes up a lot in the Out studio is Lady Gaga, and I really think she’s changed the musical landscape in a lot of ways -- especially in America. But you’re saying that you guys really didn't take into account what's trendy or popular and just concentrated on doing what you do?

Adam: Gaga is the perfect example because people are definitely saying things like, “changed the face of music” and “avant-garde.” And I love what she does. I love the fact that she exists. It’s almost like, finally there’s a pop star who brings a little bit more weight to it. She’s weird. She’s a weird chick. She does weird shit. She dresses weird. Her music is slightly off. That’s awesome. I think that’s great for pop music because it’s been so safe up to this point, and I like that she’s nude all the time and weird and awesome and cool. Madonna was that way too. I know she gets that comparison a lot, but it’s true. She was pushing the envelope back in the day. She was doing the same thing that Gaga’s doing to a large extent. She has her own spin on it. That’s fantastic. I love subverting the new generation of pop music and all these really safe Disney kids. But no, I’m not going to try to sound like that because that would be weird. That would be even weirder than Lady Gaga herself if we just all of a sudden got really strange -- because we’re not, that’s just not who we are. But she’s great, and there are very few things these days that are truly innovative and forward-thinking or at least different. Goddamn, everything’s just so generic. I like things that shake shit up.

Out: So many of the articles I read while doing research on you mentioned how attractive you are. But some of the articles argued that your good looks might be doing the band a disservice…

Adam: Yeah.

Out: …because Maroon 5 might not be seen as credible musicians because of that. How do you feel about being cast as a sex symbol?

Adam: I don’t know. It’s weird. I once said in an article, I think, if we were overweight, middle-aged dudes, we ‘d be taken very seriously, and our music would be considered ironic and cool and we’d be hipsters. Same music, different look. And it’s probably true. Maybe it has hurt a little, but this is also assuming that I find myself attractive, which is funny, but the fact that I’ve been considered that is very flattering but also maybe somewhat detrimental to what I’m trying to do. But also really helpful, so it’s a double-edged sword. It’s great. It’s propelled me to a place that I enjoy, mostly, so I’m not mad at that. I’ve also been perceived as a womanizing whoremonger or whatever, some sort of weird dude – Lothario is a word I’ve heard a couple of times -- and that’s just weird. I’m young, successful. I’ve been having fun and hooking up with girls. It’s like, Leave me alone. What, do you not want me to do that? So I’m cool with all of it. Yeah, sometimes it sucks because I would like to be – we are taken seriously, that’s another thing. Sometimes I am hypersensitive to the fact that we’re not taken seriously, but I don’t realize, Well, wait a minute. We’ve won awards that are really prestigious and Grammys and all this stuff. What am I complaining about? I’ve got all that shit too. It’s kind of awesome. I’m really stoked, to be honest.

Out: You’ve also gotten a lot of attention for hanging out with Jake Gyllenhaal.

Adam: Will everyone stop thinking that dude is gay? Seriously guys. How immature is it of the media to perceive this guy -- it has to be because of Brokeback, right? I’ve known this dude forever. He’s one of my oldest friends, and it’s very weird that they have this -- it’s very immature and infantile the way they treat his whole situation. If him hanging out with his bros means he’s gay, it’s like further perpetuating that weird homophobia that exists in our culture, which is just stupid. So, yeah, he’s my buddy. I fuckin’ love the guy.

Out: Do you read your own press?

Adam: No. My press always gets regurgitated to me at some point and I’m like, Ugh, this is so silly. So, yeah, God bless ‘em.

Out: Lastly, Perez Hilton was talking about your comeback and the question he posed was, “In 2010, is Maroon 5 still relevant?”

Adam: I didn’t read it.

Out: How would you respond to that question?

Adam: Scoreboard. We’ll see. Who knows? Being relevant doesn’t have anything to do with anything other than quality and good music. And as long as I go out there and play good music and play for our constituency and our fan base, I don’t see us going anywhere. That’s another thing that’s really exciting, we’ve been doing this a long time and our first record came out almost a decade ago and we’re still here. We’re not trying to push the envelope, but we’re definitely interested in quality and making good records and continuing to do that as time goes on and let people say what they say, it doesn’t really matter. Like I said, scoreboard. Look and see. You always have that little fear in your mind and think, Shit, what if no one cares anymore? But I like to stay positive through all this shit. Because that’s the one crappy thing about all of this: unwanted attention. The only thing I ever want attention for is music. Nothing about my personal life, friends, or family, who I’m dating and all that shit -- that’s an unfortunate byproduct of what we do. But it’s very important to a lot of people. I wish it weren’t because things are a lot more important than that, guys, so start focusing on that a little bit.

Hands All Over is now in stores and available for download. For more info on Maroon 5, visit the band's official website.

James Franco: ‘I Don’t Smoke Pot - I’m Not Gay’

After taking roles in “Howl,” “Milk” and “Pineapple Express,” moviegoers have a few preconceived ideas about James Franco – and now the actor is setting the record straight.

“Everyone thinks I’m a stoner, and some people think I’m gay because I’ve played these gay roles,” James told The Advocate’s October issue. “That’s what people think, but it’s not true. I don’t smoke pot. I’m not gay.”

The actor understands why some of his colleagues might choose to keep their sexuality in the closet, but said he wouldn’t hide it if he were gay.

“I’d tell you if I was,” he told the mag. “I guess the reason I wouldn’t is because I’d be worried that it would hurt my career. I suppose that’s the reason one wouldn’t do that, right? But no, that wouldn’t be something that would deter me. I’m going to do projects that I want to do.”

In fact, James is tired of the typical big screen straight love story.

“In this history of cinema, there are so many heterosexual love stories,” he said. “It’s so hammered, so done. It’s just not that interesting to me. It’s more interesting to me to play roles and relationships that haven’t been portrayed as often.”

The only time when the actor’s team attempted to dissuade him from a taking a role was his recent foray into daytime TV as the character Franco on an ABC soap

“You want to know what my agents did try to talk me out of?” James said. “‘General Hospital.’ They didn’t think me acting in a soap opera was the greatest idea. But they know that I’ve always wanted to do a movie about the Beats, so no one tried to stop me from playing Allen Ginsberg.”

James is currently on the big screen in “Eat Pray Love,” and will play Ginsberg in “Howl” – opening in limited release on September 24. He’s also portraying Aron Ralston, a mountain climber who was forced his amputate his arm after getting trapped by a boulder, in the Danny Boyle-directed “127 Hours” – hitting theaters on November 5.

James Franco: "If Somebody Says I'm Gay, I Guess They Would Be Wrong"

James Franco famously played a gay man in the film Milk, made out with a couple of guys in a Saturday Night Live sketch and was seen at LA Gay Pride but I believe that if the man were gay, he would just say so.

And yet, there remains speculation about this handsome actor who definitely marches to his own drummer and he’s not afraid of gay roles.

In a profile in The Independent, Franco discusses the number of gay characters he’s portrayed or put on screen and says that, “the worst downside, and I don’t consider this a downside, the worst thing that anybody could say is that I was gay and if somebody said that I guess they would be wrong, but I also wouldn’t care and as far as being typecast, that’s not the case, nonetheless I would be happy to play 100 gay roles as long as they were always good parts.” The article states that James has been dating actress Anha O’Reilly for several years.

His latest short film, The Clerk’s Tale, based on Spencer Reece’s poem, premiered at Cannes. It’s a psychological portrait of a gay man trapped in a monotonous job at a high-end male store. He also stars as poet Allen Ginsberg in Howl which is opening night film at next month’s Outfest.

Did Ricky Martin Date an Anti-Gay Closet Case?

A Spanish-language tabloid claims that Ricky Martin used to secretly date Chasing Papi star Eduardo Verástegui, a Latin model, actor and singer. Verástegui is no stranger to gay rumors. But he was also the face of California's "Yes on 8" campaign against gay marriage.

The tabloid TV y Novelas claims the two were a couple when they were both in the closet. Like Martin, Verástegui also started out in a boy band, but he went on to star in Spanish-language TV shows and lots of shirtless photoshoots. According to this report he went right-wing around 2006 and made an anti-abortion message movie and even palled around with John McCain. It culminated in this commercial supporting California's Proposition 8, which eventually passed and robbed gay folks in the state of legally tying the knot.

Now this information is all very speculative. Who really knows if supermarket tabloids are ever right (even though the Enquirer taught us they often are), or whether or not Verástegui is even gay. (The gay rumors are numerous but of the standard variety.) What we can say is that it's great that Ricky moved on from this dude and eventually found his way out of the closet. Denying who you truly are can seriously messed up things to your head.

David Archuleta's Twitter Panic: I'm Not Gay

David Archuleta took to Twitter this weekend after a report was published that he had been spotted at NYC's gay nightspot Club 57, despite the fact that the report acknowledged that he was only there to see dance artist Charice perform:

"So, was David bumping and grinding with some steamy Dominican muscle man? Hardly. David was there with his friend Charice, who performed a dance remix of her current hit single, 'Pyramid' at the coveted 1:30 a.m. spot. Reportedly, however, Charice and her entourage, which included David and his old band mate Eli, did do something terribly scandalous after the performance: They went to a local Pinkberry for ice cream."

Wrote Archuleta: "Mental note to self: always ask where before you go! Wasn't my kind of place lol, and I had no clue! I guess you live and learn."

He later added: "I wouldn't get into things like that intentionally haha."

And finally, "I didn't want you guys to be worried so had to let you know the facts."

Presumably Archuleta has a lot of gay fans. It's too bad he considers being thought of as gay something to freak out about."

Jamie Foxx: I'm Not Gay (and I Could Eat Pizza in a Male Shower)

Late last week Jamie Foxx denied he's gay in response to suggestions made earlier in the week by fellow Sirius radio host Howard Stern. The two radio hosts are in the midst of an on-air war.

Said Stern of Foxx earlier last week: "He seems to be in some bizarre thing where he wants to start in with me so that he can get some attention for his channel on the Foxxhole, which is an interesting name too. The hole. I wonder which hole they're referring to? How many holes are in Jamie? He's got an ass and a mouth. I don't know what he does with them...I gotta sh*tload of stuff on Jamie which isn't a lot of fun...even the name change to Foxx, it's interesting that he chose the name 'Jamie,' I could get into the whole f***ing thing...My guess is we're probably not on the same team. I think he's playing for a way different team. I don't know what team he's on but it ain't my team."

Said Foxx on Friday: "I'm not gay...A lot of people say that I'm gay and that doesn't bother me, because I could eat a pizza in a male shower and not feel anything because I'm secure with myself. And I'm not gonna take that, Coward Stern. I'm not gonna take that from a person who has chronic gonorrhea."

White Collar's Matt Bomer Hides His Sexuality

Matt Bomer's curious relationship with the media about his sexuality continues in Elle, a magazine of women's fashions, and arguably one of the friendliest places to be a homosexual famous person (aside from this website, of course). As the star of White Collar, Bomer still refuses to acknowledge the increasingly large elephant in the room. Call it Anderson Cooper Syndrome: Everyone knows what's going on here, but we dare not speaks its name, for fear of ruining a "brand."

Yes, there are pictures of Bomer being gay on the Internet. But so far, the celeb-friendly entertainment media — undoubtedly assisted by Bomer's partner, publicity guru Simon Halls (until December, the chief of PMK, and now at Slate PR with old friends Stephen Huvane and Robin Baum) — have treated it with kid gloves. People named Bomer its "Sexiest Rising Star," without mentioning which team he plays for.

And in the March issue of Elle, the magazine notes Bomer "makes female viewers fantasize about being his next mark." Haha. So true.

But writer Corrie Pikul pushes the Bomer's Sexuality Storyline one step further: "While Bomer hopes to parlay his new found fame into more TV work … he's still not comfortable talking about his personal life in interviews. 'My favorite actors are people who I don't know anything about, and I can project any characters onto them,' he says. 'They focus on their work and then go live their lives with the people they love.'" (Just like Rock Hudson, eh?) It's hard to tell whether Elle's readership will interpret this as a straight guy playing coy (i.e. he has a girlfriend, but doesn't want women to stop thinking they could have him) or a gay man keeping one foot in the closet, but it's an obvious means of escaping personal questions. And, might we add, an expertly crafted one.

This interview follows Details magazine asking him about the gay rumors, where he offered a similar line: "I don't care about that at all. I'm completely happy and fulfilled in my personal life."

What's notable, then, is that Bomer is still participating in magazine interviews that, frankly, he doesn't have to do. Bomer must speak to TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly; Details and Elle aren't exactly requirements.

Which means giving those magazines access, by sitting down for a chat, could come with a demand from his reps that no personal questions are asked. The practice is standard in Hollywood, and fluff mags are comfortable abiding by the rules just to get their glossy photos and pullquotes. But Bomer isn't doing that. He isn't requiring the press to avoid the question altogether. Instead, he's just dodging their inquiries.

It might be his way of (subconsciously? purposefully?) laying the groundwork for a quiet reveal of his sexuality down the line. We imagine, in preparing the publicity for the the fourth or fifth season of White Collar, Bomer casually hands out an interview where he mentions his partner and their kids. It won't be a People cover announcing "I'm Gay." But it will be an on-the-record acknowledgment of why he heads to the set each day.

“White Collar” Star Matt Bomer is Asked About Gay Speculation...

Matt Bomer, who plays Nick Cafferty on the terrific new USA Network show White Collar, has never publicly come out as a gay man.

But a photo of him passionately kissing another man have surfaced online he has never denied reports about his sexuality. In a new interview with Details, Bomer is asked if it bothers him that so much that has been written about him is speculation that he is gay.

Here is his reply: “I don’t care about that at all. I’m completely happy and fulfilled in my personal life.”

The interviewer follows up by stating: “But you don’t want to talk about it” to which Bomer says: “I have a network and a show riding on my shoulders. I would say a big difference between my character and me is that I can be too trusting. And I’ve realized in this business, that’s not necessarily the smartest thing to be. I definitely have a thing or two to learn from the con artists.”

Matt was also asked about his first big break: “Guiding Light, nine years ago. I played a trust-fund baby who became a male prostitute, killed three people, kidnapped a girl, then killed himself in front of her father and her boyfriend. You know, just your average slice-of-life piece.”

Pick up the latest edition of Details magazine at a newstand near you for the complete interview.

Bradley Cooper Loves Gay Rumors & Nude Beaches

Bradley Cooper says that he thought rumors that he was in a relationship with actor Victor Garber were "fantastic."

Said Cooper: "People thought we were dating. It was all over the internet. It was the first time I read a rumour like that about me, and I just thought it was fantastic."

Movieline dug up an old segment from Cooper's gig on a Discovery Channel show called Globe Trekkers on which he pays a visit to a nudist beach in Croatia, and declares, "I'm never gonna wear clothes again."

Here's the NSFW clip from Globe Trekkers:

BTW, the screen-cap above is not from Cooper's nudist beach visit. It's from the new A-Team trailer, which you can watch here:

Tiger Woods' Mistress Set to Write About His Gay Sex Adventure

One of the women who reportedly slept with Tiger Woods is set to write a book claiming she saw him having sex with other men.

Sicillian model Loredana Jolie Ferriolo, the thirteenth woman linked to the golfer, has reportedly been trying to sell her story for $1 million.

http://www.radaronline.com/ reports that Ferriolo has graphically described Woods' alleged gay encounters.

She said the book would detail "his healthy appetite for arranged sex, threesomes, girls next door, girl-girl, and an answer to all the rumours surrounding Woods' sexuality".

Her representative told the website: "She is in talks with a number of publishing companies regarding a tell-all book deal."

There has been a lurid stream of allegations about Woods' extra-marital affairs since November, when it was reported he had an affair with nightclub manager Rachel Uchitel.

Thirteen women have now alleged they were sexually involved with him, although as yet, Ferriolo is the only one to allege he had sex with men.

Another woman claims to have a sex tape of the disgraced star but porn producers Vivid Entertainment say they cannot ascertain whether it is him.

Matthew Morrison: 'I'm Not Gay'

Actor Matthew Morrison is unfazed by speculation over his sexuality because he's been battling rumours he's gay since he was a child.

The star made his name on the Broadway stage in musicals like Hairspray before shooting to fame on hit U.S. TV show Glee, in which he plays music teacher Will Schuester.

Morrison, 31, admits he is regularly called a homosexual because of his love of singing and dancing, but the straight star insists he's not offended by the assumption.

He tells Elle magazine, "I grew up singing and dancing, so people have been calling me gay since fifth grade. I've heard everything you could possibly hear about it.

"I'm not gay... But I do love gay people, so I'm not going to act like I was insulted or angry about it."

Tom Cruise Sued by Alleged Gay Lover

Hollywood film star Tom Cruise is being sued over allegations of wiretapping. Magazine editor, Michael Davis Sapir, claims that the actor hired private detective, Anthony Pellicano, to wiretap his phone.

In 2001 Sapir claimed to have a video in his possession that proved he was having a "homosexual relationship" with the star.

According to documents filed at Los Angeles' County Superior Court, Sapir claims that Cruise hired Anthony Pellicano to spy on Sapir during the court case.

Eventually both parties acknowledged that the video did not exist and the $100m (£62m) case was settled out of court.

The actor, best known for roles in the Mission Impossible films and Top Gun, has been a controversial figure over recent years.

In addition to promoting various programs that introduce people to Scientology, Cruise has campaigned for Scientology to be fully recognized as a religion in Europe. He has lobbied politicians in France and Germany, where the legal systems regard Scientology as a cult.

In 2006 Paramount Pictures announced it was ending its 14-year relationship with Cruise.

In the Wall Street Journal, chairman of Viacom (Paramount's parent company) Sumner Redstone cited the economic damage to Cruise's value as an actor and producer from his controversial public behaviour and views.

During his marriage to actress Nicole Kidman, the couple endured public speculation about their sex life and rumors that Cruise was gay.

In 1998, he sued The Daily Express after they alledged that the marriage was a sham designed to cover up his homosexuality.

According to documents obtained by entertainment site Tmz.com, Sapir is asking for $5 million.

Ron Livinston Sues Over Wikipedia 'Gay' Edits

Wikipedia doesn't always get it right.

At least, that's what actor Ron Livingston wants you to believe. The star, who played a disgruntled employee in the movie "Office Space," is suing an unnamed Internet mischief-maker for spreading 'malicious' rumors online that the actor is gay.

According to TMZ, the online prankster has repeatedly hacked into Ron Livingston's Wikipedia page and edited the entry to say that the Livingston is homosexual, and involved in a relationship with a man named Lee Dennison.

TMZ reports: According to the lawsuit, filed last week in L.A. County Superior Court, the Wiki-hacking began back in May -- and every time Ron's reps remove the false info from his Wiki page ... the bandit "changes them back almost immediately."

The same hacker is believed to have gone so far as to create fake Facebook profiles for Livingston and Dennison that list the two men as "in a relationship" with one another.

Livingston, who is married to Standoff co-star Rosemarie Dewitt, filed a suit at the Los Angeles County Superior Court on December 5 2009. He is suing for libel, invasion of privacy and for using his name and likeness without permission.

Although Livingston's current Wikipedia entry contains no reference of Lee Dennison, a previous entry included this line: Ron lives in Los Angeles with Casting Director Lee Dennison and is currently starring in Defying Gravity.

Is Twilight's Taylor Lautner Gay?

Those rumors about Twilight beefcake star Taylor Lautner romancing the same-sex might have easily died down, at least for this press tour, if the entertainment media did its job and let celebrities stay in the closet. But they did not!

What's this about you being gay?, Rolling Stone magazine threw at Lautner for his cover story interview.

Supposedly dating Taylor Swift, Lautner isn't exactly making a convincing argument the pair are anything more than friends. He tells the magazine: "We instantly clicked. And she''s – she''s an amazing girl. Aside from being beautiful, she''s extremely funny, charismatic and fun to be around, and so we definitely get along. We"re close." Wow, we can feel the sexual tension!

And as for those rumors that he's gay?

Playing coy, Lautner would only say he's "possibly" dating someone, which could be Swift or somebody named Sean Fox Zastoupil, whose name has been curiously planted in B-list celeb blog reports as dating Lautner.

"I’m really big about, like, commitment. Loyalty is a major thing for me," he tells Rolling Stone. Except, the mag asked: “Another possibility is that maybe you’re just sort of discovering yourself …"

Lautner replies: "OK."

Rolling Stone: "… As a young person trying to figure out his sexual identity in the world."

Lautner: "OK. I see where you’re going. Interesting choice."

Rolling Stone: “It is a possibility."

Lautner: "There’s a lot of rumors out there."

Well that's certainly not a confirmation. But moreso, it's not a denial, which is usually the obvious choice for actors who are heterosexual, and the scripted choice for actors who are gay but playing heterosexual in public.

For now, Lautner is a 17-year-old actor with overnight success. We'd love to have him on our team but for now, we're comfortable speculating.

Twilight's Kellan Lutz & Peter Facinelli Shoot Down Gay Rumors

Twilight father and son Peter Facinelli and Kellan Lutz have dismissed murmurings of a secret gay romance after photos surfaced of the two actors holding hands.

Both stars find the gossip amusing, with Lutz joking there are far more damning shots of the pair together.

He tells http://www.eonline.com/, "It's the naked one (photo) of us in the bubble bath that would really get us into trouble!"

Facinelli is also poking fun at the fuss - posting the picture on his Twitter.com blog and quipping, "Co-stars caught holding hands... Guess this picture proves everything."

And the actor, who is married to 90210 star Jennie Garth, jokes, "We're just friends. It's weird how rumors get started. You're holding hands with a friend and then the rumors begin."

Facinelli reveals the paparazzi snap was taken in April: "We were coming off a plane and the paparazzi were all over us so we were just being goofy. At one point, we even pulled out a Twilight book and started reading it. If they wanted a circus, we were going to give them a good show."

Ironically, Lutz has been romantically linked to AnnaLynne McCord - a castmate of Facinelli's wife on 90210 - but he dismissed dating reports during a recent radio interview.

The actor told Los Angeles DJ Ryan Seacrest he and McCord had been friends since they were both Abercrombie & Fitch models - but they have never dated.

Zachary Quinto's "Gay Moment"

Zachary Quinto, rumored to be gay, once shared a really steamy kiss on Tori Spelling’s highly-entertaining but sadly short-lived show "So NoTORIous."

In his pre-Heroes and pre-Star Trek days, he played Tori’s gay BFF on the show and he was on one scene which took place in the sauna of a gym where he kissed another male sauna patron and was later interrupted by Tori. (See video below!)