a lot has changed since ellen degeneres' "time" magazine cover. tonight, how more and more celebrities are coming out casually. >> from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden, and bill weir in new york city. this is "nightline," july 2nd, 2012. >> good evening. i'm terry moran. tonight, an extremely rich hollywood couple, high-profile religion and divorce battle that's about to thrust both of them even further into the spotlight. katie holmes blind-sided tom cruise with divorce papers after five years of marriage and she's asking for full custody of their daughter, suri. it's a surprise move that's raised a delicate question of faith and marriage. could cruise's famous devotion to the church of scientology be one of the causes of the split? here is abc's dan harris. >> reporter: in the pantheon of seb right divorces, this one is the blockbuster. it's got it all, fame, hundreds of millions of dollars on the table, and high-powered lawyers on both sides. to do it quietly would be mission: impossible. and further, inflam

. >> in a remarkable conversation with ellen degeneres, he spoke out about the casual use of gay slurso have power and are used like weapons. when you're a kid, it can change the way you see yourself. >> so anderson is out now. so much has changed in such a short time. >> i'm gay. >> when ellen degeneres came out in 1997, she was a pioneer and she paid the price. there were protests, huge media coverage, speculation she put her career in jeopardy. >> this is 20/20. she spoke to diane sawyer about it. >> when was the last time you had a moment of doubt wondering if it was the right thing. >> i made the decision during the summer that i wasn't going to live my life as a lie anymore. >> since then, it's gotten better. from neil patrick harris, magic mike he plays a male stripper, making the harts of women melt, coming out has been less risky, less newsworthy even. today in so many walks of life in so many fields and schools and families, the truth can be told. and that's what's really important. as anderson cooper put it in his e-mail today, i am blessed fwar beyond having a great career.

to ellen degeneres, though ellen chose to paraphrase the overheated ppose."n.' fááá, i'm just gonna &padd some ssund effects f what's been whipped up are sales. the wall street journal reports the 50 shadee trilogy copies in the us in months. it took the ddagon tattoo books 3 years to ccomplish that. and while ome couples say the book's done wonders have a big bed but we sure get - around it." the musical has it both ways."this degrading fluff i have had enough." &p"so they've written their min musical, but have they read the book?" "i did not read the wwole book."(reporter: "and you read justta little &pbitt""passages here and there yeaa." "it'' really -- some of it is awful." no shades of shades of grey."jeanne moos, cnn,"shhhhhhh."new york. 3 from 0 shades... to 7 days. days.find out if humidity could make for anothhe steamy week... or if anothhr steamy week... or if storms could lead to a romantic evening insie fertig hits s with the steve fertig hits meteorologist steve fertii hits us with the forecast next. you're watching &pfox 45 good dayybaltimore. g

and who could forget her husband's appearance on the "ellen degeneres show," and in 2009, happily dancingorite. former president george w. bush let loose with african dancer during malaria awareness day ceremony in the rose garden in 2007 and showed off his drumming capabilities. wait. here's the best, favorite part. here comes. and -- here comes -- he's doing the hand jive thing. there it is. that, right there. that guy is smooth. he is so good. >>> still ahead on "way too early," why are you awake? you're moving, tweets, texts, e-mails are next and "morning joe" now just moments away.

and who could forget her husband's appearance on the "ellen degeneres show," and in 2009, happily dancingorite. former president george w. bush let loose with african dancer during malaria awareness day ceremony in the rose garden in 2007 and showed off his drumming capabilities. wait. here's the best, favorite part. here comes. and -- here comes -- he's doing the hand jive thing. there it is. that, right there. that guy is smooth. he is so good. >>> still ahead on "way too early," why are you awake? you're moving, tweets, texts, e-mails are next and "morning joe" now just moments away. >>> asked you, why are you awake? we have your answers. >> who writes, we think you're playing coy with your sports knowledge. fes up. >> i have you all fooled. all fooled. thanks, john. "morning joe" starts right now. ♪ >>> 0-2 the count, runner at first, one out. fly ball into left. bryce harper. can't see it. it goes behind him. it's two on with one out. a at no point did he act like he couldn't see it until it basically landed behind him. >> nobody is there to help him. no short stop. too deep for the

why he organized star-studded fund-raisers while, appeared on the couch of both pro winfrey, ellen degeneres, exclusives to "rolling stone" concerts' with "rolling stone" dave matthews. it paid off in dividends that he was granted exclusive access to the warehouse. there he is an by his side is michelle obama ready to pounce on any non organic items. [laughter] this is that the first state department dinner for the prime minister of india there he wears his sweet ass interbred. [laughter] barack obama is committed to hollywood? they will try a not to have another four years. when i say muzzle hollywood not like the left but to lead a person and come to their own conclusion, i want to analyze the public stance tuesday live by the senate of policies and hypocrisy? what this start with meg ryan. that is not her. jon bon jovi. he is appointed to the white house council on community solutions whatever the hell that means. [laughter] he is not just a rocker from the '80s. he is a beef farmer. [laughter] in the state of new jersey a few are classified as a farmer you can write off 98 percent of you

then, ellen degeneres joined. simon left one season later. >> between last year and this year, they've lost 25% of their audience. a dramatic change is called for at this point. >> reporter: who can breathe new life into the show that turned unknowns like jennifer hudson and kelly clarkson into chart-toppers? brace yourself for the most unlikely of choices. >> is it hard for you to find another guy because i set the bar too high? >> reporter: "idol's" executive producer is reportedly looking at charlie sheen. >> thanks to diana perez for that report. you can hear much more when j. lo's on "gma" on tuesday. >>> coming up on "good morning america," a surprise hero rushes to the rescue of michael clarke duncan when he suffers a heart attack. we'll tell you who it was, next. for a relaxing vacation. ♪ sometimes, we go for a ride in the park. maybe do a little sightseeing. or, get some fresh air. but this summer, we used our thank youpoints to just hang out with a few friends in london. [ male announcer ] the citi than

when ellen degeneres came out in 1997, she was a pioneer and she paid the price.ad put her career in jeopardy. >> this is "20/20." >> reporter: she spoke to diane sawyer about it. >> you know what, i made the decision during the summer that i wasn't going to live my life as a lie anymore. >> reporter: since then it's gotten better. from neil patrick harris, to jim parsons to matt bohmer, co-star of "magic mike" where he plays a male stripper making the hearts of women melt. coming out has become less controversial, less risky, less news worthy even. terry moran, abc news, new york. >> and this its our facebook question of the day -- is it really a big deal anymore when celebrities come out of the closet? check out wnnfans.com and chime in. let us know what you think. >> you know, i wonder if it is a big deal? i wonder what our viewers think. >> yeah, we have come a long way since the ellen episode. everyone remembers that. watershed cultural moment. and we have made a lot of strides since then, i don't think to most people, being, a huge deal here. >> we'll see. >

the women on the right are thinking, "what did you expect when you entered an ellen degeneres look-alike only one ellen but you can try to look like her. one of the lesser known olympic sports, yeah. >> steve: exactly. >> jimmy: this next one is a nice scene. here we have two olympic swimmers chatting and having a laugh before the big race. i can tell the woman on the left is thinking, "i feel like we're becoming best friends." while the woman on the right is thinking, "you're still going down, bitch." [ laughter ] very competitive. very competitive people in the olympics. here's this next one here. michael phelps, the hero of the 2008 olympics. he is definitely thinking, "it's an olympic sized pool. no one will notice." [ laughter ] [ audience ohs ] [ cheers and applause ] >> steve: what's he doing? >> jimmy: peeing. >> steve: oh, peeing. >> jimmy: i don't know. >> steve: you think he's urinating in the pool? >> jimmy: i just think the person in the next lane is going for the gold. if you know what i'm talking about. [ laughter ] >> steve: at least he's not going for the brown. [ laught

and barack obama out of nowhere started to appear on the oprah winfrey -- he was on set with ellen degeneres dancing. granting concerts' with dave matthews. he was the american idol candidates and for someone like david geffen it paid off in big dividend to. he was granted exclusive access to the white house. david geffen, there he is. appointing him at his side. michelle ng obama the food which ready to pounce on any non organic item and the first state o tepartment dinner for minister of in the at and the prime minister wearing a sweet turbabut d hollywood committed to barack obama. barack obama committed to hollywood and they will stop but nothing to have another four years of him. that is why we have to muzzle hollywood. i don't mean in the way the left does. the left tries to silence dissent. they don't want a debate and different ideas and let someone come to their own conclusions. i want to analyze their public -- do they actually live by the set of policies they seek to inflict on the rest of america or are they engaged in hypocrisy. we deserve to know. mets start out. we have made r

. >> reporter: to ellen degeneres. paraphrase. >> he guides his hands across my secret garden. i'm just going to add some sound effects if that's okay because i think -- apologize. >> reporter: what's been whipped up are sales. "the wall street journal" reports the "fifty shades" trilogy has sold almost 20 million copies in the u.s. in five months. it took the "dragon tattoo" books months to accomplish that. >>> romney struggles to control the message. today, the battle over bain. >> you're ultimately responsible for the conduct of your operations, but again that's probably a question he's going to have to answer and i think that's a legitimate part of the campaign. >> this is all an effort on the part of the president's campaign to divert attention from the fact that the president has been a failure when it comes to reigniting america's economy. >> the romney pushback with senior adviser ed gillespie, then obama campaign senior adviser david axelrod. >>> and the states brace for federal cuts. the view from the governo

>> reporter: to ellen degeneres. though he will-chose to paraphrase. >> he guides his hands across my secret garden. i'm just going to add some sound effects if that's okay because i think -- apologize. >> reporter: what's been whipped up are sales. "the wall street journal" reports the "fifty shades" trilogy has sold almost 20 million copies in the u.s. in five months. it took the "dragon tattoo" books months to accomplish that. >>> romney struggles to control the message. today, the battle over bain. >> you're ultimately responsible for the conduct of your operations, but again that's probably a question he's going to have to answer and i think that's a legitimate part of the campaign. >> this is all an effort on the part of the president's campaign to divert attention from the fact that the president has been a failure when it comes to reigniting america's economy. >> the romney pushback with senior adviser ed gillespie, then obama campaign senior adviser david axelrod. >>> and the states brace for federal cuts. t

certainly we've seen with many of the actors who have come out, performers, ellen degeneres, and otherd i think we really sort of moved quickly on so many issues regarding gay life that suddenly a lot of these people started looking at it and saying, wow, not only would it be okay but, in fact, it's an embarrassment now to be in the closet. and i think that's one reason why anderson and others -- i wrote a piece on "huffington post" about how the new trend is doing it low key because i think there's an embarrassment to having been in the closet. and they want to slip out. >> let me jump on that for a minute. why should it be an embarrassment for somebody who happens to be in the public eye maybe because they make a living in front of the cameras to keep their sexual life private? why should there be pressure on them to go public? >> well, it's not about their sexual life. and certainly nobody's talking about anything regarding sex. and you know, that should be the same way with heterosexuals. it's about who you are. it's about something so much a part of your core being. and people lik

penney decided not to keep ellen degeneres. >> reporter: some conservatives are rallying behind it.wo former republican candidates, mike huckabee and rick santorum are calling for national show of support by eating at chick-fil-as on august 1st. they say they treat everyone with honor, dignity and respect. chick-fil-a said they dropped henson before henson dropped them. it's turning into a full-scale culture war. >>> now to a shocking scare for an american sports legend. baseball great cal ripken jr., his mother abducted at gun point, held for almost 24 hours. she's home safely. her abductor is still on the loose. >> reporter: cal ripken, baseball's ironman. got one of the worst scarce of his life tuesday. his mother, vi, seen here with ripken in uniform, was missing. she was kidnapped and blindfolded at gunpoint. >> had a mask on. a gun. she didn't recognize him. he tied her up and put a mask on her. >> reporter: the suspect dropped her off unharmed at her home. she was found nearly 24 hours after she disappeared with her hands bound behind her back if the backseat of her car. is t

. >> reporter: to ellen degeneres, though ellen chose to paraphrase the overheated prose. >> he guidesm going to add some sound effects if that's okay because i think -- apologize. >> reporter: what's been whipped up are sales. the "wall street journal" reports the "fifty shades" trilogy has sold almost 20 million copies in the u.s. in five months. it took "the dragon tattoo" books three years to accomplish that, and while some couples say the book has done wonders for their love life. >> we don't have a big bed, but we sure get around it. >> reporter: musical has it both ways. ♪ this degrading fluff, i've had enough ♪ >> reporter: so they have written their mini musical but have they read the book? >> i did not read the whole book. >> reporter: and you read just a little bit? >> passages here and there. >> it's really -- some of it is awful. >> reporter: no shades of gray in that book review. ♪ fifty shades of grey >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> i don't know if i can go on, but i must, to the next hour of cnn "newsroom" that starts right now. >>> good morning to you. i'm

pen e n /* penney decided not to keep ellen degeneres. >> my haters my motivators. >> reporter: someservatives are rallying behind it. two former republican presidential candidate, mike huckabee and rick santorum are calling for a national show support by eating at chick-fil-as on august 1st. and in that statement to abc news, chick-fil-a said it treats everyone regardless of sexual orientation, with, quote, honor and dignity and respect. the company said they dropped henson as a partner even before henson cut its ties to them because what chick-fil-a claims is the safety of the toys in the children's meals. it's turning into a full-scale culture war. >>> now to a shocking scare for an american sports legend. baseball great cal ripken jr., his mother abducted at gunpoint, held hostage for almost 24 hours. she is home safe now, but her kidnapper is still on the loose. and abc's pierre thomas has that story. >> reporter: cal ripken, baseball's ironman a record of 3,000 games played in a row, got one of the worst scares of his life tuesday. his mother, vi, seen here with ripken in unifo

.& >> reporter: it was just 15 years ago when ellen degeneres made the cover of "time" magazine by utteringhree simple words, "yep, i'm gay." was a groundbreaking, national news event and a big risk. >> ellen coming out for ellen meant that she was going to possibly lose her career. >> reporter: ellen's announcement led to an evolution, not a revolution, in stars coming out. some were forced, like musician george michael, after his arrest for lewd behavior in 1998. actor shawn hayes played a gay man on "will & grace" for eight seasons but didn't talk about his own homosexuality until after the show ended. increasingly, coming out is losing its shock value. >> by the way, i'm gay, as opposed to, yep, i'm gay, is absolutely the kind of new way of coming out. >> reporter: anderson cooper made his revelation in a matter-of-fact letter to blogger andrew sullivan. "the fact is, i'm gay," cooper wrote, "always have been, always will be, and i couldn't be any more happy, comfortable with myself and proud." for san francisco public radio host scott schaffer, who is gay, what's striking about the sta

it's not clear if ellen degeneres and albert brooks will return to voice the main characters. >>> this know you could get down wearing a full body sleeve. take a look. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> well, apparently he named his snuggie blue ivy in honor of the queen baby girl as well. 8:05, back outside to savannah, matt, and al. >> i'll never look at a snuggie the same way again. >> when is the last time you looked at a snuggie. >> did you pack a lot of snuggies with your spandex for the olympics. >> matt has pajama jeans. >> good one, al. >> let's see what we've got for you as i inch away from matt. anchorage, alaska. pit bull is not going to anchorage, he's going to kodiak. sunny, mild, 69 degrees. we've got plenty of showers and thunderstorms firing up along the front from the plains all the way into new england. lots of rain in the gulf coast, nothing heavy. a few showers make their way into the pacific northwest. okay. you want to do it. >> another hot day, this time even more humid. high temperatures in the upper 90's to the low 100's. >> and that's your latest weather. matt. >> al, thank you very m

pen chog ellen degeneres as a spokesperson.ttention but had no impact on penney's sales in either direction. i don't know. is it good for business, bad for business? mixed little controversy for your business. interesting question. >> j.c. penny is not doing so well. there's other factors associated with that that you can't tell if that issue made a difference. >> are you heading to london for the olympic games? well, i'm really jealous then. i have a survival guide for you. the medicare debate continues in washington... ...more talk on social security... ...but washington isn't talking to the american people. [ female announcer ] when it comes to the future of medicare and social security, you've earned the right to know. ♪ ...so what does it mean for you and your family? [ female announcer ] you've earned the facts. ♪ washington may not like straight talk, but i do. [ female announcer ] and you've earned a say. get the facts and make your voice heard on medicare and social security at earnedasay.org. i don't have to use gas.

comedians mockingly vie to record the audio version from gilbert godfrey to ellen degeneres, although the overheated prose. >> he guides his hands across my secret garden. i'm just going to add sound effects if that's okay because i think -- apologize. >> reporter: what's been whipped up are sales. "the wall street journal" reports the trilogy has sold almost 20 million copies in the u.s. in five months. it took the dragon tattoo books three years to accomplish that. and while some couples say the book's done wonders for their love life -- >> we don't have a big bed but we sure get around it. >> reporter: the musical has it both ways. ♪ this flop i've had enough >> reporter: so they've written their mini musical but have you read the book. >> i did not read the whole book. >> reporter: and you read just a little bit? >> passages here and there. >> reporter: some of it is awful. >> reporter: no shades of grey in that book of review. ♪ f 50 shades of grey >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> cnn news room continues right now with brooke baldwin. >> where do i go with that? thank

comedians mockingly vie to record the audiobook version from gilbert godfried to ellen degeneres. >>ffect ifs that's okay. >> reporter: what's been whipped up are sales. "the wall street journal" reports the trilogy has sold almost 20 million copies in the u.s. in five months. it took the dragon tattoo books three years to accomplish that. while some couples say the book's done wonders for their love life. >> we don't have a big bed but we sure get around it. >> reporter: the musical has it both ways. they've written their mini musical but have they read the book? >> not the whole book. >> reporter: you read just a little bit -- >> passages here and there. >> some of it is awful. >> reporter: no shades of gray in that book review. ♪ fifty shades of grey jeanne moos, cnn, new york.