'Mean Girls' Actor Daniel Franzese Comes Out; Happy 450th Birthday, William Shakespeare!

April 23, 2014— -- quicklist: 1

title: 'Mean Girls' Actor Daniel Franzese Comes Outtext: Daniel Franzese, who played Lindsay Lohan’s gay best friend in the iconic teen comedy “Mean Girls,” has come out as gay in an open letter penned to his character in the film on IndieWire.

The 35-year-old wrote the letter 10 years after playing the role of Damian, who was labeled “too gay to function” in the film, saying he actually hates that phrase and it “really is only OK when Janis says it."

Franzese also asks, “Why the hell did it take me so long to come out of the closet?” He went on to say that he was meeting a "gay glass ceiling" in casting, but now he has shed his fears and is proud to be a queer artist in Hollywood.

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quicklist: 2title: Happy 450th Birthday, William Shakespeare

text: Today is what would have been the 450th birthday of William Shakespeare, had the genius wordsmith lived to tell the tale.

The legacy of the prolific English playwright, actor and poet lives on of course in his work, centuries after his death in 1616, not least of which is the enormous contribution he made to changing the English language, as we now speak it. Ever been “in a pickle,” or “had too much of a good thing?” You have the bard to thank for such phrases.

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quicklist: 3title: 'Goonies II' Storyline Will Be Written by Steven Spielberg: Director

text: Richard Donner, the original director of cult 1985 movie "The Goonies," let slip while being followed and questioned by a TMZ camera crew in Beverly Hills that the sequel is actually the brainchild of Steven Spielberg.

Donner had said earlier this month that a sequel was in the works, but didn't reveal the cast or that Spielberg, the original writer, producer and second-unit director, was involved and has come up with a new storyline for "The Goonies 2."

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title: Lawmakers Shoot Down "Affluenza" Defense Bill

text: California lawmakers nixed a bill Tuesday that would deny people the right to make an "affluenza" defense in court, reported TIME Magazine. It would have been the first state to throw out the controversial defense.

The bill was originally introduced after a high-profile case in Texas, where a privileged teen, Ethan Couch, was given 10 years probation for killing four people in a DUI crash. The teen's lawyers said the then 16-year-old had been coddled by his affluent parents into a sense of irresponsibility and could not fathom consequences, according to The Associated Press.

It's not over yet, though, with committee members saying they may possibly reconsider the bill at another time, according to TIME.

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