Afternoon Delight: “House” gets an eighth season, Linda Perry wants closeted celebs to stop hiding

Olivia Wilde fans will be thrilled to learn that her show House been renewed for an eighth season. (Wilde is already under contract to appear on the show.) Also, Wilde recently told Glamour magazine about her next project, “I’m going to Haiti to work on a documentary about a Little League team.” The project will focus on the young baseball players and how their lives have changed in the aftermath of the earthquake that devastated the country last year.

Glamour‘s piece on Wilde covers a number of topics, including her newly single status. She says of relationships, “I wish I could play the field. But it’s so not me. I go 100 percent into everything. And I’m a really good girlfriend.” But you already knew that, didn’t you?

NewNowNext‘s John Polly talked to out rocker/producer Linda Perry at SXSW this year about what her buds Pink and Christina Aquilera think of her newest project (Deep Dark Robot) and how her 4 Non Blondes classic is a never-say-die karaoke staple.

Perry’s publicist sent out an interview today in which Perry was asked about people being closeted in the music industry.

Q: It’s not always easy to be who you are in the music business, especially if you’re gay.

LP: Not letting people be who they are is not just a gay problem — it’s a human problem. It’s happening right now as we speak all over the radio and all over MTV and VH1. These straight little girls are running around looking like dip sh-ts because the labels want them to be this way. I have to deal with them when they come over and meet me to work on their music. They say, “I hate my label; I hate the way I have to dress; I hate my record; I can’t be who I want to be.” The label’s trying to get them to raise the tittie flag. And I say, “It’s your f–king fault! Why are you doing this then?” Ultimately, I hope I can represent someone who stands up for who they are and doesn’t let anyone push them around. You’re going to get a lot further than if you just follow the game plan. And if you’re gay, just be f–king gay! There’s nothing wrong with it.

Q: Some gay people are still afraid of certain consequences if they come out of the closet to their families or on their jobs.

LP: You know what? Bad things are going to happen, no matter who you are. Things are going to happen in life — we can’t avoid it. I would hope that everyone can get to a place where they don’t have to hide anymore. Stop f–king hiding!

Right on! Can we please send that memo out to everyone in the film/tv business too?

Entertainment Weekly wants to know why American Idol hasn’t featured openly gay contestants, especially since The Voice can’t seem to get enough of them. (If you haven’t already, check out our interviews with two of the lesbian contestants on The Voice, Beverly McClellan and Vicci Martinez.

If you’re a Jeff Bridges/Big Lebowski devotee like me, it will totally mellow you out to learn that The Dude’s cardigan is up for auction this weekend in Beverly Hills. You should make a bid because it will really tie your wardrobe together.

The photo caption “Starbuck & Starbuck drink Starbucks at Starbucks” pretty much says it all.

Sissy Spacek will make her directorial debut with Sweet Tea, based on Julia Oliver‘s 1994 anthology Goodbye to the Buttermilk Sky (described by the L.A. Times as “a collection of supernaturally inflected short stories” that centered on “various families and relationships in Depression-era Alabama”).

No casting announcements yet, but if you’re familiar with the book please make some suggestions of your own in comments below!

Ever wonder what would happen if Rachel Maddow ran into Sarah Palin at a party?

Tonight we’ll finally see the prom episode of Glee, featuring the return of Jonathan Groff (Jesse) and a duet with Rachel (Lea Michele) covering Adele‘s “Rollin’ In The Deep.” Check out the clip below:

Listen up, Keira Knightley fans! Focus Features now has the distribution rights to Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, co-starring Knightley and Steve Carell and set during “humanity’s last days.” Filming begins this month, and so the long wait begins.

Country music group Little Big Town (currently touring with Sugarland) has re-released a cover of Lady Gaga‘s “Born This Way” that includes the LGBT inclusive lyrics that were removed from their original version. I’m thinking “Reborn This Way” might be a better title for this project.

Lesbian/bi Video of the Day:

Melissa Silverstein at Women and Hollywood posted the trailer to the new Miranda July film The Future today. Have a look, I think you’ll find it intriguing.

Any film that features voice-over from a cat or the moon gets my immediate interest, but a cat and the moon? Wow. The film is set for release on July 29.

Your regular Afternoon Delight columnist, Bridget McManus, will be performing tonight at Akbar (4356 W Sunset Blvd.) in Los Angeles at 8 PM, along with out comics Erin Foley and Jill Kushner. If you can’t make that show, be sure to go to the Improv (8162 Melrose Ave.) this Friday, where Foley will be headlining the 8 p.m. show. For more info (and free tickets!) go to www.improv.com and use the promo code FOLEY.

Talk to you tomorrow!