Billy Eichner breaks silence on controversial marketing for Bros: “There wasn’t much of a blueprint”

The LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention organization the Trevor Project announced in an email sent out Friday that it has removed Amit Paley as the organization’s CEO and Executive Director.The organization has been attacked in recent months by far-right politicians and influencers over its work with queer youth.In the email, the Trevor Project said that the decision came after staff members voiced doubts over the group’s leadership and its recent expansion.“Over the past week, several staff members across our organization, particularly our BIPOC, transgender or nonbinary and disabled staff members, as well as members of our Crisis Services and training teams, have raised serious concerns about leadership and our rate of growth,” the email stated.The announcement stressed that the Trevor Project will continue to provide 24/7 crisis services and programs to support queer youth.The organization said in a separate statement that Peggy Rajski, the founder of The Trevor Project and longtime board member, will serve as interim CEO until a permanent CEO is found.“Relentless attacks against LGBTQ youth and their families also continue to raise the temperature for our crisis services, advocacy, research, and education work,” it read. “This intense climate has led to significant stress on our organization, and many members of our staff have raised concerns about workplace well-being, professional development, prioritization performance metrics, and resourcing compensation — particularly as they impact our BIPOC, transgender, nonbinary, and disabled team members.

Long-distance runner Jacob Caswell took first place in the nonbinary division of the New York City marathon this past Sunday. This was the second year the marathon included a division for nonbinary participants and the first year that cash prizes were awarded to the winners of the division. In doing so, New York City Marathon also became the first World Major Marathon to award cash prizes to nonbinary division runners.The race conditions were not ideal with unseasonably warm weather, but Caswell persevered to cross the finish line with a final time of 2:45:12.

Amy Schneider, the 40-time Jeopardy! champion, took to Twitter on Monday night to urge followers to vote in Tuesday's midterms, emphasizing the importance of voting to help protect the rights of transgender youth.“The stakes are high in every election, but they're particularly high these days for trans children,” she wrote.Schneider added, “Trans children's lives are on the line. I understand that, for many people, it may not seem that way.

(CNN) – The wreck of the Titanic sits in two parts at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean, slowly decaying nearly 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) below the surface, but it’s not alone. A sonar blip detected around 26 years ago has now revealed there’s much more to this underwater area than previously thought.P.H.

Venton Jones is set to make history tonight in Dallas. (David Taffet/Dallas Voice)

Thousands of protesters rallied in Prague on Wednesday to honour two gay men who were shot dead outside a bar in neighbouring Slovakia.Demonstrators have called for more protection for the LGBTQ community and their families following the shooting.The gathering in the Czech capital’s Wenceslas Square was held on the same day as the funerals of Matúš Horváth and Juraj Vankulič in Slovakia.The two Slovaks were killed two weeks ago in front of a popular bar in Bratislava.The 19-year-old suspect was found dead by police.

A Qatar World Cup ambassador has described homosexuality as “damage in the mind” just two weeks before the tournament gets underway.

Gay, bisexual and transgender Americans fear their rights are at risk as the United States goes to the polls for midterm elections on Tuesday.

Daily Wire host who recently released the documentary What Is a Woman?, which attempts to poke holes in arguments surrounding transgender issues.

The third episode of UK Black Pride: A Time Capsule Podcast, hosted by Lady Phyll, has arrived.

With the World Cup just weeks away, Luke Pollard has raised the issue of LGBTQ+ persecution in Qatar with the UK government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).

(CNN) – Qatar FIFA World Cup ambassador and former footballer Khalid Salman has said homosexuality is “damage in the mind” and warned gay visitors “to accept our rules” in an interview with German broadcaster ZDF on Monday.The interview, filmed in Doha less than two weeks before the start of the tournament, was immediately stopped by an official from the World Cup organizing committee.During the interview, Salman was discussing the issue of homosexuality being illegal in Qatar.Salman told ZDF that being gay was “haram,” meaning forbidden according to Islamic law. “It is damage in the mind,” Salman said.RELATED: Qatar Airways Sued Over Alleged Forced Vaginal ExaminationsAs many people are expected to travel to Qatar for the World Cup, “let’s talk about gays,” Salman said.“The most important thing is, everybody will accept that they come here.

The BBC has issued an apology after mixing up Baby and Black Peppa in a video posted to the Drag Race UK social channels.

England football manager Gareth Southgate has encouraged gay footballers to come out.

A senior Conservative minister allegedly told a senior civil servant to "slit your throat" in what they claimed was a bullying campaign. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under increasing pressure over his decision to bring Gavin Williamson back into Government after The Guardian reported fresh incendiary claims about his conduct.

University of Oxford researchers completed a clinical trial that demonstrated the T-cell therapeutic HIV vaccine AELIX-002 had better control of the virus when antiretroviral therapy (ART) was temporarily halted.Mirage News reported that the study, whose full results were published in Nature Medicine, showed two-fifths of participants with no genetic background of spontaneous HIV control were able to stay off ART for the six months of supervised pause.“This result provides further encouragement that active immunization against HIV may be possible, slowing HIV replication, providing a window of treatment holidays for people living with HIV and eventually leading to HIV cure,” said Tomáš Hanke, Professor of Vaccine Immunology at the Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine.Hanke also leads an HIV Vaccine Program at the Jenner Institute aimed at developing a vaccine strategy for the induction of protective T-cells that focus on the vulnerable and conserved regions of HIV. This encompasses trials in the U.K., across Europe, the US and Africa. AELIX Therapeutics developed the therapeutic vaccine, which combines with two other vaccines constructed at Oxford.

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Neighbors, is people discover it as it gets out in the world.

It’s Monday (again). A lot happened over the weekend. Here’s just some of what you might have missed…ON ICE: Anti-LGBTQ Rep.

dismal”, gay rom-com Bros failed to rebound on its second weekend.The $22 million-budget movie, written and starring Billy Eichner, opened in just over 3,300 theatres last weekend, but only took $4.8million.Over its second weekend, it remained on over 3,000 screens. However, it took $2.1million.

Billy Eichner has opened up about Bros’ polarising marketing strategy in a new interview.

Billy Eichner has said he 'could have easily' cast Chris Evans as his love interest in his gay rom com - but decided not to on a matter of principle.The 44-year-old comedian previously trumpeted the movie ahead of its release for having an all-queer cast even for the straight roles.Since then however the movie has bombed at the box office, with one line of thinking blaming its lack of A-list movie stars.'We could have easily thrown Chris Evans into the Luke McFarland role,' Billy said at a New Yorker Festival panel, per Deadline. 'But we didn’t because for us it was important to give a number of openly LGBT actors a chance to star in a movie even though they weren’t movie stars.' All-queer cast: Billy Eichner (left) has said he 'could have easily' cast Chris Evans (right) as his love interest in his gay rom com - but decided not to on a matter of principleBilly was on the panel with Harvey Fierstein, the acclaimed actor and Torch Song Trilogy playwright who also appears in Bros.They candidly acknowledged the movie's underwhelming performance at the box office, where its opening weekend was 40% below expectations.

My Life as a Goddess: A Memoir through (Un)Popular Culture discusses hard topics such as fat-phobia and homophobia with smart, unapologetic humor. He brings that same energy to Bros, where he plays Henry, the fun-loving friend to Billy Eichner’s character Bobby.Guy has been working in Hollywood for over two decades. He has a lot to say about both film culture and the gay scene.

A New Yorker Festival panel with actor and comedian Billy Eichner and playwright and actor Harvey Fierstein, who both appear in Bros, turned into an onstage post-mortem about the gay rom-com’s disappointing opening.

Bros star and co-producer Guy Branum called out the film’s critics in a social media post. 

Taking to Twitter on Sunday, Eichner noted, “Even with glowing reviews, great Rotten Tomatoes scores, an A CinemaScore etc, straight people, especially in certain parts of the country, just didn’t show up for Bros. And that’s disappointing but it is what it is,” adding, “Everyone who ISN’T a homophobic weirdo should go see BROS tonight! You will have a blast!”Contemporary reading comprehension and short online tempers being what they are, these tweets immediately got translated into: “Billy Eichner called everyone who didn’t see ‘Bros’ a homophobe!”So what, then, should we take away from the disappointing opening weekend of “Bros”? Well, for starters, some of those online theories actually do hold water.

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This spring, prior to the departure from her talk show, I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Ellen DeGeneres about her life, the end of her talk show, and that groundbreaking moment when she came out on her sitcom Ellen almost 25 years ago. She took a bullet for our community because being queer at that time was a detriment.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Billy Eichner’s “Bros” made history as the first gay rom-com to be given a wide theatrical release by a major studio, as well as the first with an all-openly LGBTQ cast. From the nightclub where Eichner’s Bobby meets and falls in love with Luke McFarlane’s buff Aaron, to the LGBTQ+ Museum grand opening, the Big Apple love story features several amazing sets — as well as a carefully curated DVD shelf. While production for “Bros” was originally meant to take place in Buffalo, N.Y, the pandemic thwarted plans, and with a new tax credit incentive, New Jersey became the stand-in for the rom-com (with a few scenes shot on the streets of New York and Provincetown). Sitting down with Variety, writer-director Nicholas Stoller and production designer Lisa Myers share insight into the film’s key sets.

Bros underperformed at the box office this past weekend.Billy Eichner‘s big, gay rom-com is hilarious, heartfelt, and features a massive ensemble of LGBTQ actors—it’s the exact kind of movie we should be supporting and making a major blockbuster!But if you’ve been holding out on seeing it for whatever reason, allow us to convince you to rush to the theater immediately…Exhibit A: Ryan Faucett.  A post shared by Ryan Faucett (@tryanfaucett)In Bros, Faucett starsas Josh, a very sexy distraction in the burgeoning relationship between Eichner’s museum curator Bobby and Luke Macfarlane’s hunky lawyer Aaron.Related: Hunky gay ‘Bros’ star Luke Macfarlane was the straight man—literally—in a dozen Hallmark moviesOn an early date at the movie theater, Bobby and Aaron run into Josh and his girlfriend. Aaron used to play hockey with Josh, and admits to harboring a crush on him back in high school—no big deal.

Bros, tweeting that “straight people, especially in certain parts of the country, just didn’t show up” for the movie during its opening weekend.The Universal film — marketed as the first gay romantic comedy released by a major Hollywood studio — took in a disappointing $4.8 million on its opening weekend, with ticket sales being especially low in the Midwest and the South, reports The Hollywood Reporter.“That’s just the world we live in, unfortunately. Even with glowing reviews, great Rotten Tomatoes scores, an A CinemaScore etc, straight people, especially in certain parts of the country, just didn’t show up for Bros.

Bros, underperformed at the box office over its opening weekend. One person shedding no tears for the Eichner-led project is Meghan McCain.In her latest column for the Daily Mail, McCain sets out why she believes the movie faltered.Bros was made for a reported $22million, with an estimated further $30million spent on promotion.

Billy Eichner’s Bros is so much better than it has any right to be.

Bros came in fourth place in this past weekend's box office results, and Billy Eichner—the film's star and co-writer—is firmly blaming homophobia for the disappointing finish.However, other factors may have played a role in the film underperforming. One box office expert told Newsweek the declining popularity of comedy movies in general was shown by Bros' performance."Comedy is a tough sell in Hollywood, maybe the toughest sell of all genres right now," Jeff Bock, senior media analyst at Exhibitor Relations, Co., said to Newsweek.

Bros‘ opening weekend was a bit of a dud.Despite positive reviews, Billy Eichner‘s big, gay, studio rom-com underperformed at the box office, and the writer/star says the straights are to blame. But the internet is full of armchair experts, and everyone seems to have their own theory as to why Bros failed to bring people (straight, or otherwise) to the theater.One of the prevailing thoughts is that Bros just wasn’t marketed well.

Billy Eichner’s Universal-backed comedy “Bros” flopped at the box office during its opening weekend with a $4.8 million bow, about half of the $8 million to $10 million that the studio projected. Eichner, in a now viral tweet, claimed that straight people not showing up to an LGBTQ comedy was a driving force behind “Bros” underperformance. “Even with glowing reviews, great Rotten Tomatoes scores, an A CinemaScore, etc., straight people, especially in certain parts of the country, just didn’t show up for ‘Bros,'” Eichner wrote. “And that’s disappointing but it is what it is.” Eichner is certainly correct that some straight moviegoers weren’t interested in the material, while homophobia about two men falling in love also likely figured in. During a recent trip to a multiplex in Georgia, for instance, this writer saw a group of men being openly homophobic by mocking the “Bros” poster for featuring a guy putting his hand on another guy’s butt. However, the $4.8 million opening for “Bros” is so low that it also means many LGBTQ viewers didn’t show up to see the comedy in theaters either. So why did “Bros” disappoint?

TMZ, and they show several inches of standing water filling most of the ground floor. In addition, portions of the ceiling caved in and have significant water damage.

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took to Twitter to express his disappointment over the dire numbers with a controversial take that quickly garnered backlash.“Last night I snuck in and sat in the back of a sold out theater playing ‘Bros’ in LA. The audience howled with laughter start to finish, burst into applause at the end, and some were wiping away tears as they walked out. It was truly magical.

(CNN) -- Despite a positive critical response, Billy Eichner's film Bros had a lackluster opening weekend at the box office.The comedian and actor took to Twitter to share his disappointment in the turnout and his pride in the movie, a romantic comedy."Last night I snuck in and sat in the back of a sold out theater playing BROS in LA. The audience howled with laughter start to finish, burst into applause at the end, and some were wiping away tears as they walked out," Eichner began a series of tweets on Sunday.

Bros, touted as the first mainstream Hollywood studio-backed gay rom-com, has opened to a less than enthusiastic response at the US Box office.Variety reported that Bros debuted at number four and had grossed $4.8 million in its opening weekend – half the collections projected by the studio. Universal had expected a $8 to $10 million opening for the Judd Apatow-produced film directed by Nicholas Stoller and starring Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane.Before the movie was released, homophobes had review bombed the movie with low ratings.

Bros seriously underperformed at the box office over its opening weekend and Billy Eichner believes straight people are to blame.The eagerly-anticipated gay rom-com, produced by a major studio and starring an all-LGBTQ cast in lead roles, opened at over 3,300 theaters nationwide.It met with almost unanimously good reviews, with both critics and audiences scoring it above 90% on aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes.However, it came fourth at the weekend box office, taking $4.8million. Its production budget was around $22million.

Billy Eichner’s historic new movie, Bros, sold $4.8 million in tickets during its opening weekend – roughly 40 per cent less than anticipated.

Billy Eichner is speaking out in response to his movie Bros‘ disappointing debut at the box office.

“Bros,” the Billy Eichner-fronted film tumbled at the box office on opening weekend. And Eichner – who also co-wrote the film with director Nicholas Stoller – puts the blame on straight people not showing up.“Rolling Stone already has ‘Bros’ on the list of the best comedies of the 21st century.

There is no easy way to say it: When the reviews are this sensational, the marketing support is this substantive and the theatrical footprint is this wide — and ticket sales are nonetheless this low — it usually amounts to outright marketplace rejection. “Bros,” the first gay romantic comedy from a major studio, arrived to an estimated $4.8 million in ticket sales in the United States and Canada, about 40 percent less than the low end of prerelease analyst expectations. Universal Pictures booked “Bros” onto 3,350 screens and spent an estimated $30 million to $40 million to promote it.

Bros producer Guy Branum opened up about his initial distrust of Nicholas Stoller directing the film’s gay sex scenes. 

Billy Eichner: "Thrilled."BE: "Shooting with Luke [Macfarlane], who plays my love interest Aaron, on the Upper West Side near Central Park. It reminded me of all the great romantic comedies I grew up loving — When Harry Met Sally..., Sleepless in Seattle, Tootsie, and Working Girl — but they were never about a gay couple. I love those movies, but I never saw myself in them.