Boy Culture Links: Mamdani's Outrage Over Pride Flag Flap, Slava Mogutin in 'Physique Pictorial,' Country Star Charley Crockett Body-Slams Trump + MORE
FEBRUARY 11, 2026
EXTRATV: Sadly, Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek has died at 48 after battling colorectal cancer.
NEW YORK TIMES: The saying goes that a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich. It’s that easy. But the Trump Administration via Pam Bondi has struck out often — and they apparently have failed to secure indictments against the six Democrats in Congress who urged troops not to follow illegal orders.
NPR: Analilia Mejía has defeated Tom Malinowski in a special election in New Jersey to replace outgoing Rep. Mikie Sherrill (who became governor) that he’d been favored to win — yet another progressive earthquake. Malinowski, all class, said:
“I congratulate Analilia Mejia on her hard won victory in the NJ-11 special primary. I look forward to supporting her in the April general election.”
She was also immediately endorsed by New Jersey Sens. Booker and Kim.
PRE-SAVE HERE: Claybourne Elder’s debut solo album If the Stars Were Mine is coming April 3.
JOE.MY.GOD.: NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani is expressing his disgust with the edict that led to the removal of the Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument:
“I am outraged by the removal of the Rainbow Pride Flag from Stonewall National Monument. New York is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, and no act of erasure will ever change, or silence, that history. Our city has a duty not just to honor this legacy, but to live up to it. I will always fight for a New York City that invests in our LGBTQ+ community, defends their dignity, and protects every one of our neighbors — without exception.”
PHYSIQUE PICTORIAL: The latest issue of Physique Pictorial is out. As always, I conducted all the interviews. This time, there’s some very interesting work, including by Slava Mogutin.
BILLBOARD: Country singer Charley Crockett SLAMMED Trump and stuck up for Bad Bunny, using unusually harsh words for someone with a red fanbase. It’s almost like one of those AI stories on Facebook, but he really did say:
“They keep saying I’m a cosplay cowboy but they love a cosplay president. Some folks have been on here calling Muhammad Ali a draft dodger when yall got one in the White House. When I was at the Grammys the other night I saw a guy get up and talk about Jesus, and then I saw Bad Bunny get up there and talk like Jesus. The country music establishment should be taking notes on a Puerto Rican American who hasn’t forgotten his heritage and brought his culture’s traditional music back to the front, showing the world something new with it. The President is a grifter who bankrupted 6 casinos. That’s pretty extraordinary considering it’s a rigged business in favor of the house. The only thing he’s good at is filing lawsuits and portraying a successful business man as a reality TV actor. Last time I checked Elon Musk was an immigrant from South Africa but there he is standing in the White House buying our elections. Let’s deport his ass and send Peter Thiel back with him since they both openly believe in a post democratic society where men of their class are above the law. Forgive me if I have a problem with a 34 time convicted felon running this country when I lost the right to vote or own a weapon for years over marijuana. As long as you’re hating the oppressed and loving your oppressor you’ll never know why our generation is poorer than our parents and grandparents. As a great man once said it’s welfare for the rich and rugged individualism for the poor. If you can sleep at night licking their boots that’s between you and yours, but that type of thinking isn’t freedom. It’s mental slavery. Every single right we have as a people wasn’t handed to us. We had to fight and take it. Judge a man by how he treats the poor and those who he views as being able to do nothing for him. Don’t forget why Muhammad Ali said ‘I am America.’ Remember the coal miners of Harlan County, Kentucky. I believe in what we can be. Ride on. 🐎”
FACEBOOK: MAGAt Housewife Jill Zarin’s xenophobic critique of Bad Bunny’s Halftime Show has gotten her pre-fired from the upcoming E! RHONY reunion series she’d been so ecstatic to book!
If you missed her rant, it’s here.
OUT: Queer artists Chappell Roan and Orville Peck have both opted to leave their talent agency, Wasserman, over founder Casey Wasserman’s alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
FACEBOOK: I’m too shy to ask someone out, but this guy approaches cute men on the beach and talks them into letting him massage their feet and film it. I’m guessing there is an ulterior motive.
VICE: Gene Simmons of KISS, fresh off his Trump-ordained Kennedy Center Honor, says of rap:
“I don’t come from the ghetto.”
EXTRATV: New developments in Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance include the release of spooky images of her possible abductor … and the delivery of an errant Domino’s pizza. More importantly, hours after less than $300 entered the Bitcoin account monitored by TMZ, authorities announced they were questioning someone in her disappearance — and it’s not a family member.
TWITTER: Meanwhile, the Pima County Sheriff’s Office has better things to keep them busy.
ROLLING STONE: Give ‘er more! Britney Spears has sold the rights to her entire music catalogue in a deal sure to be worth eight figures.
NEW YORK TIMES: Early Blondie band member Fred Smith, who left them to join Television, has died at 77.