1. Johnny Weir says he feels "in a crossfire" for not boycotting the Sochi Olympics. Three-time U.S. national men's champion, who will be going to Sochi as a commentator for NBC and not a competitor, told Reuters:
"I've come under so much hate and scrutiny from within my own LGBT community for my views on the Olympics, but as somebody who watched my parents sacrifice everything so that I had at least one chance of making the Olympics, I could never boycott the Olympics whether they be in Pyongyang (in North Korea), in Uganda, in Iran or Mars."
An Italian IOC member also invoked the " the Olympics are not political" argument and thus ignored the 1936 Berlin Olympics, 1980 Moscow, and 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, all of which were very political.
2. American Apparel decided that its mannequins needed pubes. According to Gothamist, an American Apparel on East Houston Street in New York City decided that the store's mannequin needed to look a bit more natural. Gothamist has the photos.
3. Lily Allen told the NME that she's sure that people "will find things to get angry about" on her upcoming album. Allen, whose video for "Hard Out Here" caused a firestorm of controversy over its depiction of women of color, told the British music mag: "When you put something out there, people want to write about it. They want the hits, they want American Apparel to advertise on their blog. So, yeah, I'm sure people will find things to get angry about on the record."
4. The Ukraine has passed an anti-protest law in order to curb anti-government protests. There have been on going protests in the nation's capital, Kiev, because of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's refusal to sign a free trade agreement with the EU in favor of strengthening ties with Russia. The new laws ban the unauthorized tents, stages, and amplifiers in public. There are still several hundred protesters camped out in the streets of Kiev.
5. Ducky Dynasty returned to television Wednesday and netted 8.5mil viewers. The show, which was embroiled in controversy after star Phil Robertson made anti-gay comments in a GQ interview and video of him making homophobic remarks surfaced, returned at the No. 2 spot of the night of the night, just behind American Idol.
6. Billy Eichner and Olivia Wilde played a gay called "Obamacare or Shut Up." The Funny Or Die video features the rapid-fire quiz host asking the former House star if what he said had to do with Obamacare or not. The video is part of the new "Tell a friend, get covered campaign" created by Covered California, a state-based exchange getting federal funding to advertise the Affordable Care Act. Check it out below:
[h/t The Atlantic]
