LGBT

'RuPaul's Drag Race' has laid down the hammer on one of their current contestants after a catfishing scandal came to light ... and he copped to it himself.

Sherry Pie -- who's real name is Joey Gugliemelli -- was disqualified from filming the rest of season 12 this week, according to the official 'RuPaul' Twitter page. The tweet reads, "In light of recent developments and Sherry Pie’s statement, Sherry Pie has been disqualified from RuPaul’s Drag Race."

They continued, "Out of respect for the hard work of the other queens, VH1 will air the season as planned. Sherry will not appear in the grand finale scheduled to be filmed later this spring." It's pretty crazy ... only two episodes of the new season have aired thus far.

Sherry has been introduced as a "big, loud Broadway dame" who considers herself the "Queen of camp." A majority of the filming is presumably complete for Season 12, but 'RuPaul' usually films a live reunion/finale episode, and brings everyone back for it.

Sounds like Sherry won't be though ... it's unclear how far along she made it in the show, but it appears VH1 will air the season as is, and simply won't invite her back for any further participation.

The reason Sherry got the boot ... at least 5 men have come forward to accuse Sherry/Joey of catfishing them over the years -- allegedly posing as a casting director and asking them to submit explicit videos of themselves in degrading acts. One guy says he was asked to masturbate on camera, and he agreed.

PGA golfer Scott Piercy says he'll "do better" after posting a homophobic meme about Pete Buttigieg on his IG page ... insisting he wasn't trying to offend anyone.

Dude, are you a moron?

41-year-old Piercy doesn't seem to get why posting a photo of the openly gay politician with the caption, "Peter Pulls Out Early From Behind" could be deemed offensive.

Oh, and the post also referenced QAnon -- the far-right conspiracy theory. Supporters of it have been condemned by the FBI.

The PGA Tour was super upset with Piercy -- a rep said, "We were made aware of Scott’s post and are disappointed in the lack of judgment used."

The 11-year PGA Tour vet -- who's made more than $20 mil in his pro career -- spoke out on Tuesday saying, "Whenever i post my intent is NEVER to offend. I want to apologize if any of my recent story posts have been offensive. I will do better!"

If?! IF?!?! Okay ...

"Love Is Blind" star Carlton Morton says he's getting some much-needed therapy after a 911 call from his home following his cry for help over social media.

We got Carlton at Drip Coffee Shop in Atlanta Thursday and our guy asked how he's holding up after catching tons of flak online, and a very public meltdown.

As you know ... Carlton's claim to fame on "Love Is Blind" is not telling Diamond he was bisexual until AFTER they got engaged, leading to an epic spat.

Authorities tell TMZ ... someone at Carlton's Atlanta home called 911 for a non-life threatening injury hours after his scary social media post, and he was transported to a hospital. Carlton tells us someone wanted to check up on him.

Carlton says he's seeing a therapist in hopes of improving his mental health and tells us he's getting death threats on the daily, and feels like the world hates him.

Carlton has lots of regrets, and he's second-guessing a bunch of decisions ... from how he showed Diamond his true colors, to even going on the reality show in the first place.

Pete Buttigieg is throwing in the towel in his bid for the presidency -- he's reportedly set to suspend his campaign ahead of Super Tuesday.

According to reports, the former South Bend mayor is dropping out after performing poorly on Saturday during the South Carolina primary ... where he came in at a distant fourth, only racking up about 8% of the vote which was largely made up of African-Americans.

Pete won the Iowa Caucus by a thin margin, but has largely underperformed in the races after that. So far, he's got 26 delegates to his name -- while Biden now has 53 and Bernie Sanders (the proverbial so-called front-runner) has amassed 60 to himself.

Elizabeth Warren has just 8 delegates, and Amy Klobuchar has only 7 -- no signs yet of either of them cutting bait ... it's interesting PB called uncle first, seeing how the big contest was around the corner. On Tuesday, a whopping 1,357 pledged delegates are up for grabs.

The Democratic nominee needs only 1,991 of those pledged delegates to claim victory.

Part of the problem for Pete thus far has been his inability to win over black voters, or voters of color in general. He made lots of efforts to do so, but in the end ... they just weren't with him. Of course, he was also battling homophobia within the party as well.

Pete was the first openly gay major presidential candidate to make a run at the White House. There've been others before him, but he was the first with a legitimate shot. He was also the youngest candidate in the race -- coming in 38 years old, while everyone else remaining is well over 50 and beyond.

Buttigieg was becoming a favorite among moderate voters in the Democratic Party -- being seen as a more stable option than someone like Sanders. Biden fits that bill too though ... it'll be interesting to see if he picks up Pete as a running mate in the weeks to come.

Boosie getting tossed from his gym over his transphobic rant against Dwyane Wade can be summed up by Bravo star Miss Lawrence in just two words: Poetic justice.

We got the former 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' cast member and "Fashion Queens" star Friday at LAX, and had to get his take on the fallout after the rapper sounded off about Dwyane supporting his 12-year-old Zaya identifying as female.

Boosie said a few days after his verbal diarrhea on the subject, he was turned away from his Planet Fitness gym in McDonough, GA. The rapper claimed the manager is gay and refused to let him in, specifically because of his Zaya comments.

Now, if you wanna call that karma, Miss Lawrence is perfectly fine with that. He says don't feel bad for Boosie one bit, but he does offer the rapper a bit of advice.

Dwyane Wade admits the decision to go public with his 12-year-old child's gender identity story wasn't easy -- the family "struggled" -- but they ultimately decided it was the right thing to do.

The NBA star appeared on 'GMA' and opened up about how Zaya -- who was born as a boy named Zion -- came to him and Gabrielle Union to talk about wanting to "live my truth."

"I think going forward I am ready to live my truth," Zaya told the Wades ... adding, "I want to be referenced as 'she' and 'her.' I would love for you guys to call me Zaya."

Wade says the family spent a bunch of time researching and talking to people to try to understand what Zaya was going through -- and it made the family stronger in the long run.

And, with Dwyane working with ESPN on a documentary about his own life, Wade knew he would have to decide whether to include Zaya's gender identity story in the flick ... and it wasn't an easy decision!

"I struggled on how much I wanted to talk about in the doc," Dwyane said ... "I actually didn't talk about it a lot. But, I knew if I put it in the doc at all, it would be a big conversation. "

"Yes, we understand that our daughter's 12 years old. We struggled with what people would say about a 12-year-old making a decision about her life, but we also know our child."

Van Jones says Dwyane Wade is setting a good example for other parents when it comes to his kid, Zaya ...  and he's sure more and more families will follow suit.

We got the CNN host out in Chicago this weekend and asked him to weigh-in on Dwyane revealing this child wanted to identify as a female, and change her name from Zion to Zaya. Check it out ... Van says it was a brave thing to do, and it'll have a ripple effect.

He basically explains that someone of D-Wade's stature coming out in support gives other parents a permission structure to do the same with their own kids who might be in a similar situation. So, in other words, Van thinks Dwyane's actions will carry over beyond right now.

And by that, he means less suicides, less self-hatred ... and a lot more love and acceptance.

Pete Buttigieg is firing back at Rush Limbaugh's homophobic remarks with poise and class -- and interestingly enough ... he's got Steve Bannon supporting him here.

Mayor Pete went on CNN Sunday to talk about the campaign, Nevada, polls and attracting voters of color -- but he was also given the opportunity to respond to the conservative radio host's recent controversial POV ... that Trump would easily defeat a gay opponent.

PB was pretty measured, but also firm. He says he loves his husband, Chasten, and doesn't care who knows it. More importantly, he won't take family advice from someone like Rush -- who says Pete seems to enjoy making a show out of kissing a man on stage.

Pete corrects the record there as well -- telling Dana Bash he usually just hugs Chasten.

As we've reported ... DT himself has actually taken the opposite stance, saying he doesn't think Pete being gay would affect voters all that much -- and certainly shouldn't hurt his electability.

Welp, as it turns out ... Trump's old campaign pal, Steve Bannon, feels the exact same way. We got him out in NYC as he was leaving the FOX News studio and asked him about it. You gotta watch this for yourself because Steve is incredibly strong in his statement to us.

Wendy Williams is saying sorry for comments she made on her Thursday show, which were hurtful to the LGBTQ+ community ... and vows to do better.

The talk show host has been taking heat after she did a segment on Galentine's Day that turned controversial when she went off on gay men planning to celebrate the unofficial holiday ... because she felt it's a women-only occasion.

Wendy said, "I don’t care if you’re gay. You don’t get a [menstruation] every 28 days ... you can do a lot that we do, but I get offended by the idea that we go through something you will never go through."

That was contentious enough, but then she added ... "And stop wearing our skirts and our heels" and suggested women don't have anything for themselves anymore.

Wendy's taking it back now, saying she didn't realize how she came across until she re-watched herself ... but promises she didn't mean to cause any harm, and never does the show in a place of malice.

Williams says she was just trying to have a conversation, but she understands now she may have been "out of touch" Thursday and says she will learn from it.

President Trump is NOT taking homophobic potshots at Pete Buttigieg -- instead, he's saying the Democratic candidate's sexual preference won't be a factor ... for most Americans, anyway.

The door was opened wide for POTUS to make a wisecrack about Buttigieg when he was a guest Thursday on Geraldo Rivera's iHeart radio show. Geraldo asked, "Would Americans vote for a gay man to be President?"

Trump quickly said, "I think so." He went even further down the high road when he acknowledged it would be an issue for some voters, but added ... "I wouldn't be among that group to be honest with you."

Let's keep it real ... most Democratic supporters have been waiting for, and even expecting, Trump to weaponize Buttigieg's sexuality. Well, no dice. Prime example of the Prez zigging when everyone thought he'd zag.

Of course, the same can't be said for the man he honored with the Medal of Freedom ... Rush Limbaugh. When the Buttigieg subject came up on his show Wednesday, Limbaugh went on a disgustingly homophobic rant about Trump and Buttigieg appearing on a debate stage together.

He said, "Okay, how's this going to look, 37-year-old gay guy kissing his husband on stage next to Mr. Man Donald Trump? What's going to happen there?"

Limbaugh even added, "Can you see Trump have fun with that?" Clearly, he expected the President to follow in his homophobic footsteps.

Lil Nas X is applauding Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union for supporting their 12-year-old kid who is now identifying as female ... and he's also got some advice for Zaya.

The "Old Town Road" singer, who came out last year, weighed in on Zaya's big announcement Wednesday at LAX ... explaining why it's important for kids to have parents in their corner when they reveal their truth.

As you know ... the NBA legend appeared on 'The Ellen Show' Tuesday and told the world his kid identifies as a female after being born male.

Dwyane and Gabrielle are being super supportive of Zaya coming out as transgender, and their oldest son, Zaire, also says he'll always have his sibling's back ... and Lil Nas X says the family backing is super important for anyone in Zaya's shoes.

Zaya's also spoken out against folks who may disagree with her announcement ... saying, "What's the point of being on this earth if you're gonna try to be someone you're not? It's like you're not even living as yourself, which is like the dumbest concept to me."

Dwyane Wade's oldest son, Zaire, is making it crystal clear he will always have his sibling's back ... posting an emotional message to Zaya after coming out as transgender.

The NBA legend appeared on 'The Ellen Show' Tuesday and revealed his 12-year-old identified as female ... and shared how his family is supporting her.

18-year-old Zaire is now speaking out on the announcement ... saying "I have been blessed to have my best friend, Zaya with me for 12 years."

"We did everything together...we fought, we played, we laughed and we cried. But the one thing we never did was leave each other behind... "

Zaire continued ... "I’ve told you that I would lay my life down to make sure you are ten toes down and happy on this earth."

"I don’t care what they think Z, you are my best friend and I love you kid, and if it means anything, just know there’s no love lost on this side."

Zaire's always been supportive of Zaya ... and even went with her to the Miami Pride parade last year.

As for Zaya, she spoke out against those who may disagree with her announcement ... saying "What's the point of being on this earth if you're gonna try to be someone you're not? It's like you're not even living as yourself, which is like the dumbest concept to me."

Jussie Smollett is facing felony charges in Chicago again -- the special prosecutor just announced an indictment against the actor for the alleged homophobic attack against him last year.

A grand jury handed up the new indictment against Jussie on Tuesday. Dan Webb was appointed special prosecutor for the case last summer. We're told he's now facing 6 felony counts for lying to law enforcement. The indictment calls the 6 charges "disorderly conduct," but all 6 involve allegations of lying to cops.

This effectively re-opens the controversial case that led to Smollett getting fired from "Empire."

Special Prosecutor Webb says Jussie "planned and participated in a staged hate crime attack, and thereafter made numerous false statements to Chicago Police Dept. officers."

Webb adds the new charges -- pared down from 16 to 6 -- were re-filed "in the interest of justice." Webb was critical of the State's Attorney who dismissed the case, saying Kim Foxx's office had no additional evidence from what the Grand Jury had when they indicted Smollett in the first place, so the dismissal made no sense.

Jussie and his attorneys had staged a legal battle against the special prosecutor, saying it would expose him to double jeopardy. That effort was shot down in court. You'll recall Cook County prosecutors dropped all 16 felony counts against Smollett in March 2019 ... calling it a "just disposition and appropriate resolution," but not an exoneration.

That decision pissed off Chicago law enforcement -- and in August, Webb was appointed special prosecutor to investigate how the case was handled, and if there was any reason to renew charges.

FOX32 in Chicago first reported the indictment.

A source connected to Jussie tells us, "The officers who re-investigated the case are the same ones who originally investigated it. These officers are currently being sued by Smollett. They have also spent taxpayer money on having these officers go to Los Angeles and harass members of Smollett's team and friends."

We're told Jussie still maintains his innocence, and finds the timing of the indictment interesting -- because Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx is up for re-election next month. He plans to plead not guilty.

Jussie will be arraigned February 24. We're told he faces up to 3 years in state prison if convicted.

You'll recall, Jussie claimed he was attacked on a frigid night in Chicago by 2 white men who put a rope around his neck and doused him with bleach while yelling racial and homophobic slurs.

However, 2 black men -- brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo -- were eventually detained, and told police Jussie paid them to stage the whole attack.

After the new indictment, the Osundairos' attorney, Gloria Schmidt, says they remain "fully committed to the public knowing the truth" about the so-called attack -- and will cooperate with the investigation. However, they did not testify before the new grand jury. Instead, the panel relied on the brothers' previous testimony.

NBA legend Dwyane Wade just revealed his 12-year-old now identifies as female ... saying his child asked him and his wife, Gabrielle Union, to call her Zaya.

"Zion, born as a boy, came home and said, 'Hey, so, I want to talk to you guys. I think going forward I'm ready to live my truth." Wade said on "The Ellen Show."

"And, I want to be referenced as she and her. I would love for you guys to call me Zaya.'"

Wade discussed his support for Zaya and the LGBTQ+ community in a powerful interview with Ellen DeGeneres ... saying he and Gabrielle couldn't be more proud of her.

“We take our roles and responsibilities as parents very seriously. So, when our child comes home with a question ... it’s our job as parents to listen to that to give them the best information that we can, the best feedback that we can, and that doesn’t change now that sexuality [and gender] is involved.”

Wade has been incredibly outspoken about his support for Zaya ... and clapped back at people criticizing her in a family photo back on Thanksgiving.

"Stupidity is a part of this world we live in — so I get it. But, here's the thing — I've been chosen to lead my family, not y'all," Wade said at the time.

"So we will continue to be us and support each other with pride, love & a smile!"

In fact, Union and Zaire Wade took Zaya to the Miami Pride parade back in 2019.

Wade went on to explain, “I looked at her and said you are a leader ... It’s our opportunity to allow you to be a voice. Right now, it’s through us because she’s 12 years old, but eventually, it will be through her.”

Oscar Isaac is damn near closing the door on that galaxy far, far away -- strongly hinting he'll never play Poe Dameron again ... Disney "overlords" be damned.

The 'Star Wars' actor was outside The Mercer in NYC when he told us he's "probably not" going to return to his role as a commander in the Resistance's Starfighter Corps ... and his tone sounded even more definitive than that.

Oscar's not necessarily done anything to ingratiate himself with Disney -- the owners of the iconic film franchise -- since the release of the final movie in the third trilogy, 'The Rise of Skywalker.'

He came out shortly afterward and said "Disney overlords were not ready" to explore a "current-thinking love story" between his Poe character and the Finn character played by John Boyega ... despite claiming he tried to push things in that direction.

Many fans viewed Isaac's outspokenness as a sign he was done with 'Star Wars,' and based on what he told us ... seems their suspicions are confirmed.