For fuck’s sake, nice Christian people, how hard is it to understand that “I totally respect and love you, I just think you’re going to be tortured eternally by the devil” is an oxymoron? I get that Sherri Shepherd is a nice person (probably) with gay friends (maybe). But you simply do not get credit for “niceness” and “openness” while simultaneously spouting cherry-picked Biblical passages that serve no purpose other than oppression. You just don’t.
When asked what she thinks is the public’s biggest misconception of her, Shepherd said, “I think people don’t know my heart. I think people feel I’m very judgmental. I think people feel I’m very homophobic. If they knew me, and knew my heart…If you come to me respectfully and ask me about my beliefs, I’ll talk to you about anything.”
Shepherd went on, “You grow up being a Christian and you have grown up believing homosexuality is a sin, you’re going to hell if you’re a homosexual. This is something that they teach in churches, literally. So it’s something that I grew up believing. And being on the show has really forced me to go, ‘What are your beliefs, Sherri? What is God saying? It says one thing in the Bible and you have these people in your life and how does this apply to you, Sherri?'”
“I always tell people, ‘I may not agree with your lifestyle. I may not agree with your lifestyle, but I love you,'” she said. “You may not agree with my lifestyle, but you love me.”
Shepherd continued of homosexuality, “Some people say it’s a choice. I don’t say it’s a choice. If you tell me, ‘Sherri, I was born gay.’ OK. I’m not gonna argue with you, because I can’t tell you how you feel and what’s going on inside. I’m trying to make it up to heaven by the skin of my teeth…So if you tell me you’re born [gay], I’m not gonna argue with you. And I absolutely respect you for that. I just ask that people respect how I feel, respect how you feel and we can have a great dialogue. And then afterwards, let’s go get a drink.”
It’s not a “lifestyle.” You don’t just get to “go get drinks” with people (without pushback and criticism, at least) when you vocally subscribe to a philosophy that treats them like an abomination. [E!]
Joe Manganiello says he’s thinking of opening up his own male strip club.
Not only has he produced La Bare, a documentary about the Dallas outpost of a chain of male strip clubs, but the True Blood star also may start investing in the franchise himself.
“The owner [of La Bare] has asked me if I want to go in with him on a new club,” Manganiello exclusively told me earlier today at the Sundance Film Festival’s Eddie Bauer and It’s So Miami lounge. “We’re talking about it. I never in a million years thought this is the way my career would be going, but here we are.”
He is also thinking of becoming a real werewolf. (It’d be double the business, too, because then you can strip for humans AND wolves.) [E!]
- Some lady ordered an Uber car and Joe Jonas picked her up. [HuffPo]
- Vanessa Hudgens says she “made herself ugly” for Gimme Shelter. [JustJared]
- Jenelle Evans is having a hard time. [Radar]
- Amber Heard and Johnny Depp are officially engaged. [Us]
- Prince Harry has stopped being a helicopter pilot. [Us]
- Zac Efron says his favorite place to have sex is “the kitchen table.” THERE’S NO WAY THAT’S TRUE, WEIRDO. [E!]
- Gwyneth Paltrow went to the doctor QUICK TAKE HER PICTURE. [JustJared]
- Kylie Jenner “can’t stop cutting her hair.” Uh huh. [E!]
- I don’t feel like watching the actual episode of Jerry Seinfeld Riding in Cars with Boys, but apparently Jay Leno has never had coffee before? Or is it a bit? I guess I’ll never know [E!]
- Weekend. Bye.