Money rolled into President Obama’s campaign after he announced his support of gay marriage earlier this week. “The phone calls went on until one in the morning after the president spoke—people calling saying ‘Where do I go, what can I do to help, what events are coming up,’” said Robert Zimmerman, a New York organizer. The president’s aides haven’t confirmed an amount, but today Obama attended a fundraiser for gay and lesbian donors hosted by Ricky Martin, and will be doing a second one in June. Before Obama made his views on gay marriage public, his track record of repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” among other stances had hinted at his views.

Rebekah Brooks, Rupert Murdoch's former right-hand woman and the ex-chief executive of News International, testified before the high-profile Leveson Inquiry on Friday morning in London. According to Brooks, current Prime Minister David Cameron used to send her texts signed "LOL" until Brooks told the politician that the acronym did not stand for "lots of love." Brooks admitted she discussed the hacking allegations with Cameron in 2009-11, saying "on occasion" they talked about it, since "it was constant, it kept coming up." Brooks, who used to edit both the News of the World and the Sun, said she did not receive scoops from the government in return for political support. Brooks was close to current Prime Minister David Cameron’s two immediate predecessors, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, but she denied reports that she received up to 12 text messages a day from Cameron.

As JPMorgan announced a $2 billion trading loss, Congress members called for federal regulators to scrutinize and tighten banking rules and trades. New rules are being drafted as part of the Dodd-Frank bill that prevent federal banks from making investments that might put taxpayers at risk. “The argument that financial institutions do not need the new rules to help them avoid the irresponsible actions that led to the crisis of 2008 is at least $2 billion harder to make today,” said Democratic Rep. Barney Frank.

This weekend, Mitt Romney will deliver the commencement speech at Liberty University, the evangelical school founded by Jerry Falwell which, BuzzFeed points out, considers Mormonism to be a cult. Pre-released excerpts of his speech show that the Republican presidential hopeful will avoid the topic of religion as a whole. Instead he'll focus on the state of the economy and its effect on recent graduates, just touching on his White House bid. 

Seven priests in the Legion of Christ, an international Catholic order, are under investigation by the Vatican for sexual-abuse accusations, the Legion said Friday. Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, the founder of the Legion of Christ, was embroiled in a sex scandal several years ago. The Legion said Friday that it had looked into allegations against the priests and found that they had “a semblance of truth.” The cases were referred to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the arm of the Vatican that handles sexual abuse investigations. Officials for the order said the cases “for the most part date back decades.”

Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng may be safe, but his family is still being targeted by the government. The activist’s nephew Chen Kegui has been charged with voluntary manslaughter for wielding a meat cleaver at authorities who broke into his home while searching for his uncle. His lawyers say he acted in self-defense and only wounded the intruders, but local officials are reportedly pressuring them to drop their case. One member of his defense team told The Guardian that he was supposed to visit his client on Thursday, but couldn’t because his lawyer’s license had been revoked. Chen’s nephew faces at least 10 years in prison and a possible death sentence.

Billionaire Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin has given up his U.S. citizenship in advance of the social network’s planned initial public offering, a move that could save him on taxes. The Brazilian-born Saverin now lives in Singapore, and stands to profit handsomely from Facebook’s IPO. In other news, Facebook’s nearly $100 billion initial public offering has come under review by the Federal Trade Commission, the Financial Times reported Thursday. Neither Facebook nor the FTC would comment yesterday on the alleged investigation by regulators into the social network’s acquisition of Instagram. An FTC investigation of the deal would be routine considering the massive size of Facebook’s planned IPO, but a probe could toss a monkey wrench in plans to go public next week.

Los Angeles detectives are hoping to question Christopher Benton, the son of Pepperdine University's president, in relation with the death of Katie Wilkins two weeks ago. The 25-year-old graphic designer reportedly died of a heroin overdose. Benton isn’t being considered a suspect, but there’s video footage of him and Wilkins together the night she died and detectives believe he was the last one to see her alive. Benton recently checked into rehab and has declined to be questioned. Wilkin’s family publicly pleaded for him to talk, and her brother told the press that his family “deserves answers from the kid who saw her last.”

The Lifetime network announced Friday that it is planning a docu-series under the working title The Houston Family Chronicles that will follow the late star’s family members, including daughter, Bobbi Kristina, and mother, Cissy Houston. “The tragic loss of Whitney Houston left a void in the hearts of people all over the world,” said Lifetime Networks vice president Rob Sharenow in a statement. “In this series, the multi-generations of the Houston family will bravely reveal their lives as they bond together to heal, love, and grow.” Whitney’s sister-in-law and former manager Pat Houston will reportedly headline the show.

The man on trial for killing singer Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother, and nephew was declared guilty on all seven charges Friday. William Balfour, the former husband of her sister Julia, had repeatedly threatened the family before the 2008 murders. The Oscar-winning actress was the first to testify in the trial, saying, "None of us wanted her to marry him." According to tweets from Chicago Tribune reporter Stacy St. Clair, Hudson wept after the verdict was read. Balfour's defense attorney has said he'll appeal the decision.

Chilean cruise worker Fabian Zanzi came forward on Friday with claims of sexual misconduct against actor John Travolta. Zanzi alleges that Travolta made unwanted advances toward him on a Royal Caribbean cruise in 2009, and that the actor took off his bathrobe in his presence. “When he got close to me, he took off his white robe and was naked,” Zanzi told Chilean reporters. Travolta also offered him $12,000 for sex, Zanzi said, an offer the cruise worker said he turned down. Travolta’s lawyer Marty Singer rebutted the claim, calling it “ridiculous.”

Will Liz Lemon get married? NBC is renewing 30 Rock for a seventh and final season, according to TV Fanatic, and is also bringing back Parenthood, another popular comedy, for a fourth season. And despite threatening to leave the network, Alec Baldwin will indeed return as Jack Donaghy for the seventh season. The network will announce its full 2012-13 schedule on Monday and picked up a bunch of pilots in recent weeks, including Go On starring Matthew Perry and the Jimmy Fallon-produced Guys With Kids.

Adam Mayes, the Tennessee fugitive charged with kidnapping two young girls and suspected of killing their mother and older sister killed himself Thursday as a SWAT team approached the location he was holding the two girls at, the FBI confirmed. The girls, Alexandria Bain, 12, and Kyliyah Bain, 8, were said to be safe in en route to a local emergency room, a Mississippi’s Union County Sheriff Jimmy Edwards told local media. Mayes was last seen two weeks ago and was said to have believed that the Bain girls were his daughters. The girl’s mother and sister were confirmed dead late last week, having been shot outside of Mayes’s home in Guntown, Miss.

Little is known about the man who infiltrated al Qaeda in Yemen and ultimately foiled an underwear bomb plot targeting a U.S.-bound plane. But a few details have emerged about the agent in recent days. He is of Arab descent, has lived in the United Kingdom for many years, and holds a British passport. He was originally recruited by Saudi counterterrorism agencies because he had fallen in with a group of jihadists, which gave him the background to fit in with the terror network.

Rescue teams combed through the wreckage Friday of the Russian jetliner that crashed in a steep mountainside in Indonesia on Wednesday—but weather conditions are hampering recovery efforts. A dozen bodies were found Friday morning, but the Sukhoi Superjet 100 plane was estimated to be carrying between 45 and 48 people. The cause of the crash remains unclear.

It was always highly unlikely Maricopa County Sherriff Joe Arpaio was going down without a fight. The prickly Arpaio lambasted the Department of Justice for filing a civil lawsuit against him, calling it a political move and a witch hunt. The DOJ released a report in December stating that Arpaio had violated the civil rights of Latinos in his jurisdiction by racially profiling them and unlawfully detaining them during raids. Federal officials tried to negotiate a settlement with Arpaio, but the talks fizzled after he refused to accept an independent monitor.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday blamed "outside forces" for the massive suicide bombings in Syria that killed more than 50 people in Damascus on Thursday. "Some countries are inciting outside forces to interfere into the Syrian situation, which is unacceptable," Lavrov said in Beijing, where he's holding talks with his Chinese counterpart. He did not specify the countries, but the Syrian government has blamed "terrorists" for the attack, while the opposition said the government itself is responsible.

What a patriot. "I was born in American and I am a proud American citizen," Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann said in a statement Thursday, announcing that she had asked the Swiss government to withdraw her citizenship. The former Republican presidential candidate said she gained dual citizenship after she married husband Marcus, who is the son of Swiss immigrants. She did not disclose this while running for Congress or president.

A relative of a victim killed by alleged Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik threw a shoe him during the trial Friday in Oslo, interrupting the hearing. "You killed my brother! Go to hell!" the relative screamed. But the shoe missed Breivik and hit his defense lawyer instead. Breivik has confessed to killing dozens of people in Oslo and Utoya Island last July. The shoe-throwing brought applause from members of the public in the courtroom.

Mitt Romney is trying to shift the national focus back to the economy by shrugging off discussions of gay rights after President Obama's historic endorsement of same-sex marriage Wednesday. His schedule is making that tough, since on Friday he heads to North Carolina, the state that just approved a ban on same-sex unions. He'll also give a commencement address Saturday at Liberty University, the Virginia school founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, who vehemently opposed gay rights.

One path to justice ended when alleged kidnapper Adam Mayes shot himself Thursday night as he was approached by law-enforcement officers. Mayes had been accused of kidnapping Jo Ann Bain and her three daughters. Two girls were found with Mayes and are safe after the bodies of the third sister and their mother were found May 5. Nevertheless, three people were arrested in connection with the kidnapping, it was reported Friday, as a Tennessee district attorney told reporters that he plans to move ahead to prosecute other parties connected to crimes. The two surviving Bain sisters, ages 8 and 12, are reportedly back at home after a short stay in Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital.

Bristol Palin has officially weighed in on the gay-marriage debate—zeroing in on the fact that the change in President Obama’s position on the issue was influenced by not being able to explain to his children why their friends’ gay parents should be treated differently than their friends’ straight parents. The 21-year-old single mother insisted that Obama should have simply explained to his girls that kids who grow up with both a mom and dad do better. “In this case, it would’ve been nice if the President would’ve been an actual leader and helped shape their thoughts instead of merely reflecting what many teenagers think after one too many episodes of Glee,” she wrote on her blog.

This sheds a little more light on Adam Smith’s resignation. U.K. Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt allegedly asked Rebekah Brooks, the former head of News of the World, for “private” advice on the phone hacking investigation so he could “guide his and No. 10’s positioning” on the scandal. The latest insight comes from a new email released to the Leveson Inquiry by Brooks as part of her witness statement. The email, which was sent by News Corp.’s head of public affairs to Smith, suggests that Parliament’s reaction to the phone hacking scandal and News Corp.’s bid to take over BSkyB hinged on the culture department’s cozy relationship with Murdoch’s company. In the same email, News Corp.’s head of public affairs writes that “Hunt will be making references to phone hacking in his statement on [BSkyB] this week.” 

Like a malevolent occupying force, Sacha Baron Cohen’s new satirical film The Dictator swept into London for its premiere Thursday night. “Now, while I am here, I would like to grant political asylum to [Rupert] Murdoch,” Baron Cohen, in character as fictional despot Admiral General Aladeen, said after arriving on the red carpet in an orange Lamborghini carried on a tow truck. “We also have phone hacking in Wadiya,” the comedian said, referring to the fictional country he rules in the movie. “Everyone who has a phone, we hack off their hands.” The comedian also took aim at German leader Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

It's believed to be the largest one-night campaign haul ever: $40,000 a plate, 150 people, and President Obama stayed a while and gave a speech. Obama pal George Clooney threw a backyard party at his Los Angeles house Thursday night for the president, raising $15 million for the campaign. "Obviously yesterday we made some news," Obama said to the applause one day after his historic endorsement of gay marriage. "But the truth is it was a logical extension of what America is supposed to be.” Wolfgang Puck cooked, and guests included Robert Downey Jr., Diane Von Furstenberg, and James Brolin.

Federal securities regulators said Friday they have been investigating JPMorgan Chase's hedge-fund losses.The announcement followed CEO Jamie Dimon's admission that $2 billion was lost from "egregious mistakes" on a hedging strategy. JPMorgan Chase, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, estimates the business unit will post a loss of $800 million this quarter, when it previously forecast a profit of $200 million. Dimon said in a hastily arranged conference call to investors that the report "puts egg on our face." He linked the losses to a trader nicknamed the "London Whale," who had allegedly amassed a outsized position that hedge funds bet against. Regulators said Friday that they had discussions with JPMorgan Chase the division that allegedly lost the money for a month.

A pregnant Joe Biden? A bug-eyed Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council? Oh, what a wide world of cover possibilities opened up to Newsweek and The Daily Beast editor Tina Brown when President Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage on Wednesday! The Photoshop-happy folks over at The New Republic have put together a handsome slideshow of possibilities. Some of TNR’s suggestions, like a bright pink White House, are low-hanging fruit, and will surely be passed over without a second glance. American newsstands, beware. A TinaBeast special is headed your way. And TNR, the Beast assumes all this poking of other publications can be traced back to the impish wit of Chris Hughes.