Jun 2, 2009 03:58 AM
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New York, 6:03 PM
Tue Feb 9
57 posts in the last 24 hours
It's been a while since we caught up with the sinking ship of suck that is OK! magazine. Last we checked in, people were being fired over a silly catfight, rhetorical venom was flowing like wine, and they all drowned their sorrows in margaritas after. Now big heads will roll.
You'll recall that in early May publisher Lori Burgess fired editor Katie Caperton, along with a host of others who'd aligned themselves with her, just after Caperton had put out one of the magazine's better selling issues after only two months on the job. Burgess then installed her business partner, former Gotham editor Jason Oliver Nixon, to take over for Caperton, and last week the duo managed to turn out the worst selling issue in the magazine's history. Now tipsters are telling us that Richard Desmond, CEO of the company that owns OK!, is utterly livid and plans to fire both Burgess and Nixon.
One tipster also tells us that Katie Caperton and some of the other recently fired staffers, some of which have already been fired and re-hired by the magazine, have been contacted by Desmond's people to see if they'd be interested in coming back to work at OK!, while a clueless Burgess is "walking around pretending to be editor and chief, with a clipboard, calling people in and asking randoms 'what do you think of this cover' yet - she's 'publisher.' She has no idea what she's doing."
The tipster went on to tell us that several staffers in the magazine's LA office recently walked out because "it's a shitshow...they are now hiring for the "Beverly Hills office" on Mediabistro." (They sure are...the ad is here if you're just desperate for a job!)
In regards to the potential firing of Burgess and Nixon, which we were told should come within the next two weeks barring some kind of miracle, our tipster pointed out that Burgess' hiring of Nixon, with whom she is partners with in a venture called "LXJ 360," is in direct violation of a clause in her employment contract, which reads:
Employee agrees to render services exclusively to the Company, and will not, direct or indirectly, perform services as an employee for, own, manage, operate, join, control, participate in, invest or have a financial interest in, or otherwise be connect with in any manner any entity that is engaged in the business of newspaper, magazine, or book publishing or any other business in which the company or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates are currently engaged or may hereafter be engaged at any time during the period of Employee's employment.
Well I'm no lawyer but it sure sounds like there's a contract violation going on here! What are you waiting for Richard Desmond? Fire these people already!
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