How gay were the Oscars? Well, Queen Latifah sat with her trainer girlfriend; Hugh Jackman sat on Frank Langella's lap; Beyonce sang "Over The Rainbow"; Milk writer Dustin Lance Black and star Sean Penn gave stirring speeches about how God loves the gays; and kisses from that film were included in the romance AND comedy montages!

Unfortunately, the ratings were probably so bad they can now blame queers for one more thing!

Here they are, boys! Here they are, world! Here's predictions!

*Best Picture. Slumdog Millionaire. This is the biggest "duh" since Julia Roberts won.

*Best Actor. Sean Penn for Milk. Mickey Rourke will come in a close second, but the Academy usually can't resist the "bravery" of a straight person playing a gay role--though in real life they honor the reverse.

There's a Dark Night curse going on, and not just for those who shell out $12 to see it. It seems as if virtually everyone who's in the thing is finding themselves in some unsavory scrape with either the law or oblivion, maybe because they all participated in one sequel too many. I was totally ahead of this curve—and this curse—when I blogged about it, but now that poor Morgan Freeman has gotten into a scrapeup, the curse has gotten into the dailies. Here's the Boston Herald piece about it. Read it and you'll turn into a black owl with fungus on its nails.

Heath Ledger dies, Christian Bale hits jail and now Morgan Freeman hurt: Blockbuster curse
By Stephen Schaefer

Is "The Dark Knight" cursed?

The box-office behemoth, expected to pass the $400 million mark this week, is notorious as being the late Heath Ledger's last completed movie.

Now Morgan Freeman, the 71-year-old actor who plays Batman's techie Lucius Fox, is in serious condition following a car accident in Mississippi late Sunday night.

The Oscar-winning actor was driving his wife's friend Demaris Meyer's 1997 Nissan Maxima when it rolled off Tallahatchie County Highway 32, flipping over several times. Meyer was treated for minor injuries and released.

Freeman, who was driving to his Charleston home, reportedly suffered broken ribs and was air-lifted to Regional Medical Center in Tennessee.

This tragedy follows assault allegations made last month by the mother and sister of "Dark Knight" star Christian Bale. The 34-year-old Bale denied the charges. He'll be back in court next month.

"Dark Knight," is dedicated to both the 28-year-old Ledger, who died of an accidental overdose last Jan. 22, and Conway Wickliffe, 41, a stunt supervisor who died in a freak accident in London while setting up a car crash. "The Dark Knight" joins a grim list of "cursed" flicks. The "Superman" hex struck Christopher Reeve, who shot to fame after starring in the 1978 movie, after he broke his neck in a horse riding accident. Television's original "Superman," George Reeves died in an apparent suicide in 1969.

The 1982 horror classic "Poltergeist" was haunted by the premature deaths of two of its female stars. Vanity Fair celebrity scribe Dominick Dunne's daughter Dominique was murdered by her live-in lover soon after the film was finished. And Heather O'Rourke, the film's child star, died in 1988 at age 12 of cardiopulmonary arrest prompted by Crohn's disease. [Boston Herald]

Everyone's assuming Heath Ledger has the Oscar in the bag for his supposedly brilliant work in Dark Knight, but dying and being good do not automatically grant you the trophy. Yes, Jeanne Eagels, James Dean, Spencer Tracy, Ralph Richardson, and Massimo Troisi were all nominated from the great beyond, but they rudely lost! And it was their last chance! Peter Finch did indeed nab the gold (for Network) after croaking, but he's the only one! They don't want to waste a trophy on a corpse! And remember when there was talk of nominating Oliver Reed for Gladiator? Reed was great in the film, had a fine career, and he'd even died (in the middle of filming yet), but that still didn't get him the nod. Oscar can be a very cold bitch. In this case, he might just spite himself by depriving the world of a weepy moment that would have been cathartic for us and great ratings for them.

This might sound disrespectful, but did you ever wonder what it would be like to sniff Heath Ledger's butt? Lord knows, as a press person, I kissed it his whole adult life! And now there's a chance to own, fondle, and stick your face in a place where Heath's heinie rested for many hours on the set of the inmmortal rear-ending love story Brokeback Mountain. I'm talking about his director's chair! It's one of many items on sale at Bonhams & Butterfields' auction of entertainment memorabilia in L.A. on June 16 (previews are open to the public June 13-15), and while it's estimated at $1000-1500, you can bet your ass it'll go for more.

http://www.bonhams.com/us/

So a bunch of celebs came to dead Heath Ledger's rescue at the behest of a publicist and partly as a result of the pressure, ET dropped the video they had bought of the actor at an '06 drug party. And once again, the PR industry succeeds in keeping the truth from the public. Flacks were suddenly outraged over the "bad taste" involved in running such a video, but THEY'RE the class acts who accept large sums of money to obscure celebrity realities on a daily basis. Talk about bad taste! I'm not saying this was going to be a Pulitzer winning tape or even provide any concrete answers about Heath's sad demise, but it certainly promised to be newsworthy and less coy than the OFFICIAL reactions anyone's gotten about what happened. Let's not forget the maid who spoke to an Olsen twin way before calling 911 or the various people stepping forward to downplay any potential self destruction involved, as if a 28-year-old could have suddenly dropped from natural causes. Strangely, they're the same people lionizing Heath for having hated any form of b.s.! This tape couldn't have truly hurt anyone. The truth—even in sensationalized form—can only heal.

According to a very weird New York Times T magazine blog post by hotelier Jeff Klein, when an "old queen" event planner of the "gay persuasion" thought Heath had just checked him out in the lobby, Heath—having overheard the guy say that to Klein—made a point of playfully winking at him, mainly to help Klein clinch a certain deal. Klein—who's of the gay persuasion himself—bends over backwards to put down the old gay while praising the confidence and compassion of his dead, straight celebrity friend. Though, of course, he never talks about his hotels' celebrity clients because he wants the place to be a "safe haven" for them.

Boston Herald film writer Stephen Schaefer has written a poignant blog post about Heath's passing and has included an interview he did with the actor last November, filled with typically honest nuggets. Among Heath's revelations, "For me, the only time I'm alive, living, experiencing, feeling, and relating is when I'm on set." As for the down side of being on set, "You are away from everyone and everything for seven months. You come back and try to rekindle again only to have it taken away a year later. It can be really tiring. It can be really lonely."

Terrible, Heath [Boston Herald]

Rather than add to the chorus of media people moaning "What a brave and wondrously diverse talent trapped in a pretty boy's body," I was planning to instead quote some realer comments from posters on the hideously skank and dishonorable yet ever-readable gay gossip site, datalounge.com. But they're falling all over themselves with respect too.

Among their remarks:

"Look for Cate Blanchett to dedicate her I'm Not There Oscar to Heath."

"Why couldn't it have been Britney or Paris? It's not a fair world."

"I hope he wasn't trying to pull a stunt like the big-nosed Wilson guy, trying to get attention to help his career."

"So the first thing the maid and the masseuse saw when they walked into the room was Heath's naked butt? Lucky bitches!"

"There's no one talented enough to play Heath in the inevitable biopic, whereas it's really easy to cast Jake (Zac Efron)."

And finally, in a poignant thread about Amy Winehouse: "Can we get Heath back if this crazy, talentless cunt promises to OD?" No, but at least I can search her remains and get my watch back.