What's news: An oral history of coming out in Hollywood, stars speak out on why they protested, John Boyega's Black Lives Matter speech, Disney's donation, Sarah Aubrey on launching HBO Max, Cannes' line-up, AMC Theatres downgraded. Plus: The CW looks to Europe to bolster schedule, Apple gets into the sports game. --Alex Weprin

 Coming Out In Hollywood

►How I came out in Hollywood: A decade-by-decade oral history. LGBTQ icons including Wanda Sykes, Jim Parsons, Rosie O’Donnell, Anderson Cooper and more recall the fears, funny moments and ultimate triumphs of telling the industry (and the world) who they really are: "I was scared to death."

--Rosie O'Donnell: "When I took the job [to host The Rosie O'Donnell Show], I told the executives at Warner Bros. that I was gay. It was a big meeting at a big corporate table with 20 seats on each side. I said, 'Before you invest $5 million in me, I want you to know you're getting someone who's a lesbian in a time when being a lesbian could hurt your commerce.' They all said, 'Do you imagine you're going to come out?' I said, 'I can't even imagine it.' This was 1995 or '96, so nobody was out."

--Harvey Fierstein: "I used to say if you want to know if somebody is gay, just look to see if there is a photograph of me with them — because if there is a photograph of me with them, they're not gay because people in the closet would not be photographed with me. Richard Chamberlain wouldn't go out on the street with me. Well I don't really know that's true. I didn't ask him out. But I had two dinners with Rock Hudson, and we did not go to the restaurant together."

--Jim Parsons: "So I was scared. I wasn't scared about losing my job. And I wasn't scared to the point of denying my sexuality. But I was scared enough to make it my mission not to talk about it. I was scared enough to be nervous the first time I was even nominated for the Emmy. And I was scared that it might cause trouble, quote unquote, for our big television show." The oral history.

+A personal history of gay pride and prejudice: THR's chief film critic looks back. David Rooney muses on three decades as a gay reviewer — from toxic stereotypes and the ubiquitous "f-word" to the thrill of Almodóvar and New Queer Cinema, Oscar's Brokeback Mountain burn to the Moonlight milestone and beyond.

Quote: "Periods of flourishing creativity in film history have often emerged out of oppressive climates, so perhaps it's not surprising that it took the conservative double whammy of Reagan and Thatcher, coupled with the pain of the AIDS crisis, to really shake up the landscape for LGBTQ movies in America. The radical currents of the New Queer Cinema movement couldn't come fast enough." The column.

 Why They Protest

►Debbie Allen, Skye P. Marshall, Matt McGorry and more on why they protested. Industry talent talks to THR about their experiences participating in protests that spanned the city, from Santa Monica to Beverly Hills to DTLA.

Quote: "I think we need to do something that tells the truth about the disparity, and about our police," Allen says. "Some police have gotten away with so much. There are so many who do such a good job. I value the police. I’m a mother and a grandmother. What is the world that my children are going to inherit? We should do some films about what just happened.” The interviews.

►John Boyega delivers impassioned speech at London Black Lives Matter protest. "I'm speaking to you from the heart. I don't know if I'm going to have a career after this, but f*** that," said the Star Wars actor as he addressed thousands who had amassed in Hyde Park. More.

+"We got you": Hollywood figures support John Boyega after Black Lives Matter speech. After the actor said he didn't know "if I'm going to have a career after this" during his speech, Jordan Peele, Olivia Wilde and Charlie Brooker were among those assuring him he most definitely would. More.+

+Disney pledges $5 million to social justice organizations. The NAACP will receive $2 million, according to the company. “The killing of George Floyd has forced our nation to once again confront the long history of injustice that black people in America have suffered, and it is critical that we stand together, speak out and do everything in our power to ensure that acts of racism and violence are never tolerated,” Disney CEO Bob Chapek said. More.

+MSNBC's Ali Velshi on covering protests amid press attacks: "We exist to hold power to account." The anchor gives Jeremy Barr a minute-by-minute account of covering the protests and getting shot by a rubber bullet fired by police in Minneapolis on Saturday night. The story.

+Barack Obama sends message of hope in town hall: "You have the power to make things better." The former president spoke to the nation through a virtual town hall hosted by Obama Foundation's My Brother's Keeper Alliance on Wednesday titled "Reimagining Policing in the Wake of Continued Police Violence." The discussion centered around the tragic events of recent weeks, racial bias in the criminal justice system, and specific action steps needed to bring about meaningful change. More.

+Dwayne Johnson lambastes President Trump in passionate message about healing and equality. "I am not the president of the United States, but I am a man and I'm a father who cares so deeply about my family, about my children, and the world that they will live in," the star says. More.

+L.A. Pride organizers plan protest in solidarity with black community. Christopher Street West, the nonprofit behind L.A. Pride, had previously postponed its typical in-person June events due to the health risks as a result of COVID-19. But on Wednesday, the organization announced that "we have decided to peacefully assemble a protest in Hollywood, where the first ever permitted Pride Parade took place, in solidarity with the black community." More.

+Also: Chris Redd has launched a COVID-19 protest relief fund to help cover medical costs for people involved in protests against the killing of George Floyd... Leslie Jones urges people to vote amid protests: "A non-vote is a vote for Trump"... Late Night writer Amber Ruffin is opening up about her experiences with the police... The New York Times newsroom is in open rebellion over an op-ed the newspaper's opinion section published Wednesday that called for the army to be deployed into American cities to crush nationwide protests over police brutality and systemic racism...



^HBO Max's content head on delaying Friends reunion and taking on Netflix amid pandemic. With HBO Max several months late to the streaming game, Sarah Aubrey opens up about how the pandemic altered launch plans and what a path back for production might look like.

Quote: "By the beginning of summer, we'll have a good sense of where and when we can go back into production, starting around the fall. We are making plans that are shiftable. Perhaps it'll be easier to go back into production more quickly on Tokyo Vice with Michael Mann and Ansel Elgort in Tokyo than it would be to shoot here. But everything is changing quickly." The interview.

►Snapchat to stop promoting President Trump's account. Evan Spiegel-led Snap said it made the decision after determining that Trump’s comments could incite violence. “We will not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice by giving them free promotion on Discover,” a company spokeswoman said in a statement. “Racial violence and injustice have no place in our society and we stand together with all who seek peace, love, equality, and justice in America.” More.

►Cannes lineup: The message from the Cannes Film Festival is: Corona or not, the show must go on. The iconic French festival, which was scheduled to run May 12-23 but was forced to cancel its physical event due to the coronavirus pandemic, on Wednesday unveiled its lineup for Cannes 2020, a selection of films that will carry the Cannes brand to screen at other events around the world.

--The Cannes 2020 program includes many of the year's buzziest art house and indie titles — among them Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch, Naomi Kawase's True Mothers, François Ozon's Summer of '85, ADN aka DNA, directed by, and starring French filmmaker Maïwenn (Polisse) and Thomas Vinterberg’s pro-drinking drama Another Round. The full line-up.

+"Creature feature" horror The Little People heading to online market with Cornerstone Films. Described by director Jon Wright as "Gremlins meets Straw Dogs" the film is based on an original screenplay by Mark Stay (Robot Overlords) and Wright. More.

+Cannes' ACID section unveils selection for online market. The five fiction and four documentary features will screen for buyers at the virtual market later this month. More.

+Cannes critics' week launches "support program" for 15 features and shorts. Artistic director Charles Tesson and his team have picked five features and 10 short films, which can use the 2020 Semaine de la Critique label in their marketing and promotion efforts. More.

 America Challenged "Like Never Before"

►Comcast CEO: Pandemic, racial tension challenge society "like never before." Opening the company's virtual annual shareholder meeting, which was webcast, Brian Roberts acknowledged the "extraordinary time we are living in," he also vowed Comcast would look to play a "constructive role" amid the debate about social and racial divides and launch initiatives in the weeks, months and years ahead to help address them. More.

►AMC Theatres credit rating downgraded over "distressed" bond swap. "We would consider the completion of the proposed exchange as a tantamount to a default because noteholders would receive less than the original par amount of the notes," S&P Global said. More.

►Chernobyl dominates BAFTA TV Awards nominations with 14. Announced Thursday, nominations were also doled out to The Crown, with seven nominations, and six for both Fleabag and Girl/Haji. The full list of nominees.

►Patrick Dempsey thriller joins CW's fall lineup. The CW has added an internationally produced thriller starring Patrick Dempsey to its coronavirus-proof fall schedule. The network has snagged Devils, a drama produced in Italy featuring the former Grey's Anatomy star, who shares top billing with Alessandro Borghi. More.

►Apple is getting into the sports TV game. "Apple has hired Amazon exec Jim DeLorenzo to head up sports for its Apple TV unit. DeLorenzo went to Amazon in 2016 to run sports there, tho his current LinkedIn says he’s svp at Amazon’s Audible," Recode's Peter Kafka reports. The big question: Will Apple pursue live sports rights like Amazon has? Or focus on original sports content in the same vein as The Last Dance?

►NBA season expected to return late July; Disney World to host play-in tourney. The National Basketball Association's Board of Governors is expected on Thursday to approve the league's plan for a 22-team return-to-play in order to conclude the 2019-20 season, according to NBA insiders. The league previously confirmed it was in the midst of talks with the Walt Disney Co. for a plan to conclude the season at its sprawling Orlando park, but no specifics were released at the time. More.

►Quebec to restart film production amid pandemic-era safety guidelines. Provincial soundstages will be able to host movies and series production and Montreal-based visual effects and post production houses may also resume full operation under social distancing guidelines. The province is also investing $91.5 million in local media content as the sector resumes production. More.

 How Sean Penn made the biggest COVID-19 testing site in U.S. In the actor and his Community Organized Relief Effort nonprofit, which has provided aid after natural disasters in Haiti and beyond, Los Angeles has found a key partner to reach maximum testing capabilities. More.

►TV ratings: NBC swept all three hours of primetime Tuesday with America's Got Talent and World of Dance. Both shows dipped a little from their premieres last week but were easily the top two shows of the night in adults 18-49. ABC also got decent numbers for a repeat of a 2016 Black-ish episode dealing with police violence. The numbers.

In other news...

--Just two days before it was to begin streaming, We Are Freestyle Love Supreme, a documentary about the hip-hop improv group with Lin-Manuel Miranda and friends, has postponed its release out of solidarity with protesters.

--Quibi is implementing pay cuts for senior executives as its two-month-old entertainment app struggles to catch on with viewers amid the coronavirus pandemic.

--The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Golden Globes-dispensing organization comprised of roughly 90 Los Angeles-based journalists for foreign outlets, has announced its officers and board of directors for the 2020-2021 year.

--The Kenya Barris-produced Astronomy Club: The Sketch Show is finished at Netflix. The streamer has canceled the series after a single season, making it the latest one-and-done show at Netflix.

--TikTok influencer Josh Richards has signed with The Gersh Agency for representation in all areas.

What else we're reading...

--"Team Biden: The media is f*cking up the election again" [The Daily Beast]

--"Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey gives $3 million to Colin Kaepernick’s organization" [CNBC]

-- Forester Research predicts that U.S. agencies will shed more than 50,000 jobs by 2021 [AdExchanger]

--"8 journalists on reporting while black, with the weight of history on their shoulders" [Glamour]

--"Early Facebook employees disavow Zuckerberg’s stance on Trump posts" [NY Times]

Today's birthdays: Angelina Jolie, 45, Noah Wyle, 49, Russell Brand, 45, Bar Refaeli, 35, Evan Spiegel, 30.