AfterElton.com's very own Rob Smith was on the scene in New York City recently at the Gay Men's Health Crisis Fashion Forward charity fashion show, an annual fundraiser supporting the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Rob chatted up fashion faves Project Runway's Jack Mackenroth and Kevin Christiana, A Four Letter Word's Jesse Archer, former America's Next Top Model finalist Nic, and fashion icon Beverly Johnson about the cause, the party and more. Special Thanks to editor and executive producer Jessica Ransom, who can be found at www.jlr-media.com!

Check out all the celebrity interviews, fashions from designers Michael Bastian, John Varvatos, and Betsey Johnson, and some of the hot guys that rocked the runway after the break!

In the second episode of The Mocha Lounge, co-hosts Rob and Ramon talk about Darryl Stephens' Instinct Magazine cover story, lament the absence of actual gay men on the cover of gay male magazines, and offer up an early mini-review of Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom. (Note, Logo is releasing Noah's Arc and is also AfterElton.com's parent company.)

Our two co-hosts then discuss this week's "Under the Radar" pick, cult ballroom culture documentary Paris is Burning, and talk about some sobering developments among gay men of color in the "What's New with Us" segment.

To wrap it all up, last week's inaugural "What's the Q?" is finally answered by the guys with some help from last episode's viewers, and a sure-to-be-controversial topic is brought up for discussion heading into Episode 3.

Check it out after the break!

In The Mocha Lounge video blog, I Want to Work for Diddy also-ran and AfterElton.com blogger/writer Rob Smith (and an as-yet uncast co-host) will take an in-depth look at gay men of color in the media and beyond.  The vlog will include interviews, questions, reviews, rants, and raves centering around fine, fierce, and fabulous gay men of color in politics and pop culture.

In this first installment, Rob discusses his vision for the vlog and all of the segments he hopes to include. 

Check it out after the break!

Laverne busts a move

Last night’s episode of Product Integration Thea … er, I Want to Work for Diddy was a doozy, so let’s just get right into it, shall we?

First, we started off in the loft, where we were treated to a mini-performance from our resident transgender woman Laverne Cox, who showed us her dancing skills and gave the housemates a little Trans -101 tutorial.  This aroused the ire of Boris, who later commented that Laverne “doesn’t respect her body”, thus leaving us all to marvel at the utter irony of that statement coming from someone with a body shape roughly resembling that of a pear. 

As for yours truly, after being asked about a girlfriend, I promptly revealed that I’m gay, and shifted a little uncomfortably as Kendra and Brianna participated in the time-honored straight-girl squeal that generally comes directly after correctly identifying a homosexual.  On a personal note, it was very important for me to come into this situation and be as open as possible, because it is very important for us to be visible, and, besides, I’m already out in my personal life, so I figured that coming out on national television was the next logical step. 

Riiiiight.

Later on that night, myself and the housemates were woken up by the beefy Bad Boy Bodyguards, and although getting the covers ripped off of you by them may be the start of a good time in other circumstances, it most certainly wasn’t here, as we were whisked into a van and taken to a heli-pad in downtown NYC.  Thanks to post-production editing trickery, a 5-hour wait time is magically cut down to a 45-second transition, and there we were at Fort Dix, a military base in New Jersey. 

Wait a minute … we’re on Fort Dix and I’m an ex-military man, so my team has got this one in the bag, right?  Um, hold that thought.  Super-fierce Sean John marketing director Capricorn and Diddy’s personal stylist Derek come out of a military vehicle and give us the rules:  We are to participate in land navigation.  Given a compass, protractor, and map, we are to find three different points on land, each marked by a trivia question about Diddy himself.  A correct answer leads us to the next point, but an incorrect answer leads us on a detour.  We are given our materials and sent out, thus starting a chain of events that play like something out of a Final Destination movie. 

Kim coughs it up

Over on the uptown side, everyone’s favorite ball of sunshine Kim walks a good 30 feet before being sidelined with asthma problems and is forced to sit out the competition.  Yours truly decides that the best idea is to take a shortcut, proceeding to get the team absurdly lost and off-course in the woods of Fort Dix.  It’s looking a little Blair Witch Project at this point and it ain’t good, especially when the leader has 4 ½ years of military experience.  However, the downtown team isn’t faring much better.  Boris’s body has apparently not been getting the respect it deserves, as he trails far behind his team during the walk in the woods, breathing heavily, slowing them down, and inspiring the ire of de-facto team leader Mike. 

Decisions, decisions...

Back at uptown, I make mistake #2,347 when we finally get to the first point and answer the question thinking that Diddy, the man who this is all about, the man who is worth north of $300 million dollars, the man who has produced countless records, has only received 1 Grammy award.  Where’s a gong when you need one, right?  So after a little more arguing, sweating, and misdirection, both teams are stopped when the light is lost, and we’re all notified that Downtown has won the mission by default, sending the Uptown team to elimination once again.