Lady Gaga, 'Smash' Among GLAAD Award Winners

Lady Gaga and the TV musical series Smash were among this year's honorees Saturday by gay and lesbian media group GLAAD.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation gala in New York honored the best representations of gay community members in various media outlets including music, television, film, blogs and others. Glee stars Cory Montieth and Naya Rivera hosted the event.

Although not present at the ceremony, Lady Gaga won outstanding music artist for her 2011 album Born This Way. Smash producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan (Chicago, Hairspray) received honors for their series, which features a healthy gay relationship during a Broadway show. 

Being gay is "part of who I am, so it impacts the work that we do," Zadan said. Meron said the two spent years working to "fight, persuade and manipulate" the entertainment industry to incorporate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters and stories.

Last year's indie film Pariah, following a lesbian black teenager in Brooklyn, earned an award as outstanding film in limited release award. HBO's Cinema Verite won best TV movie or miniseries. Openly gay high school student Katy Butler received a special honor in recognition of her anti-bullying efforts, while the award for outstanding TV segment went to ABC World News with Diane Sawyer for "Battle Against Bullying."

Dancing With the Stars, featuring contestant Chaz Bono, the transgender child of Cher and Sonny Bono, was recognized as the year's outstanding reality TV program. Other awards went to Oprah Winfrey, playwright Tony Kushner's The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures, CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, the New York Times, the Boston Globe and The Advocate.

GLAAD plans to present more media awards in Los Angeles on April 21st and San Francisco on June 2nd.

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Lady Gaga, 'Smash' Among GLAAD Award Winners

Lady Gaga and the TV musical series Smash were among this year's honorees Saturday by gay and lesbian media group GLAAD.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation gala in New York honored the best representations of gay community members in various media outlets including music, television, film, blogs and others. Glee stars Cory Montieth and Naya Rivera hosted the event.

Although not present at the ceremony, Lady Gaga won outstanding music artist for her 2011 album Born This Way. Smash producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan (Chicago, Hairspray) received honors for their series, which features a healthy gay relationship during a Broadway show. 

Being gay is "part of who I am, so it impacts the work that we do," Zadan said. Meron said the two spent years working to "fight, persuade and manipulate" the entertainment industry to incorporate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters and stories.

Last year's indie film Pariah, following a lesbian black teenager in Brooklyn, earned an award as outstanding film in limited release award. HBO's Cinema Verite won best TV movie or miniseries. Openly gay high school student Katy Butler received a special honor in recognition of her anti-bullying efforts, while the award for outstanding TV segment went to ABC World News with Diane Sawyer for "Battle Against Bullying."

Dancing With the Stars, featuring contestant Chaz Bono, the transgender child of Cher and Sonny Bono, was recognized as the year's outstanding reality TV program. Other awards went to Oprah Winfrey, playwright Tony Kushner's The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures, CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, the New York Times, the Boston Globe and The Advocate.

GLAAD plans to present more media awards in Los Angeles on April 21st and San Francisco on June 2nd.

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‘Drive,’ Michael Fassbender, Steven Spielberg Among Oscar Snubs

Richard Foreman Jr/FilmDistrict

This morning's unveiling of Academy Award nominees has some cinephiles seeing red – including Rolling Stone's own Peter Travers.

Noticeable absences in the Oscar hopefuls included several much-lauded performances, including Michael Fassbender in Shame, Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin, Michael Shannon in Take Shelter, Kirsten Dunst in Melancholia, Ryan Gosling for Drive or The Ides of March, Leonardo DiCaprio in J. Edgar and Albert Brooks in Drive. (Brooks has already responded, quipping on Twitter, "I got ROBBED. I don't mean the Oscars, I mean literally. My pants and shoes have been stolen.")

Several films were largely overlooked despite enjoying largely positive critical receptions, including Drive and Young Adult. Steven Spielberg was also not recognized for Best Director for War Horse, even though the film received a Best Picture nod. The cancer comedy/drama 50/50 was also missing from top categories, as was the final Harry Potter film. Angelina Jolie's directorial debut, In the Land of Blood and Honey, was not included in the Best Foreign Language Film category, to the chagrin of her many fans, although the film was technically not eligible because it was a United States-based production. Also, despite a shortlist of 39 songs up for consideration for Best Original Song, only two made the cut.

Rolling Stone's Travers was not shy about expressing his disappointment in some Oscar categories. As he tweeted this morning:

Oscar snubs Alberts Brooks/Drive. Ditto Fassbender for Shame, Shannon for Take Shelter & Swinton for Kevin. A new definition for ignorance.

— Peter Travers (@petertravers) January 24, 2012

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