Rants raves.

"It was kind of like a turning point when [my cousin came out.] I was like, 'Yo, this my cousin, I love him, and I been discriminating against gays.' But everybody in hip-hop discriminates against gay people.... The exact opposite word of hip-hop, I think, is gay.... And I wanna just come on TV and just tell my rappers, just tell my friends, 'Yo, stop it.'"

--Grammy-winning rap star KANYE WEST, in the August 18 MTV documentary All Eyes on Kanye West

"We're not dry humping each other in every scene. It's a beautiful love story, it really is, and we've definitely pushed the envelope."

--Actor HEATH LEDGER, on playing the romantic lead opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in the gay cowboy movie Brokeback Mountain, due for U.S. release in November, as quoted in MSN.com's Hollywood Hitiist column, August 18

'Im scared of plastic surgery. You're somewhere between a burn victim and a female impersonator."

--SUSAN SARANDON, in an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, August 9

"I am never playing a gay man again."

--Sex and the City actor WILLIE GARSON, as quoted by The Daily Telegraph of London, August 6