Gawker: Ok!

Which Tabloids Lie the Most?

Maureen O'Connor — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 15:04:36 EDT

In the constantly-contradicting world of tabloid journalism, is anyone reliable? We analyzed 20 months of reported break-ups, marriages, and pregnancies to tabulate our first-ever Tabloid Reality Index, batting averages for America's five major celebrity glossies and the rumors they monger. More »

Does Tiger Woods Not Sell Magazines Covers Because He's Black?

Brian Moylan — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:28:51 EST

That's the conclusion that Rob Shuter comes to in the Huffington Post when he says that the tabloid covers that carried his famous face didn't move at the newsstand. Well, let's see how Brittany Murphy fares this week. More »

New Contender for Survivor: OK! Magazine

Hamilton Nolan — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:45:15 EST

Getting an editorial job at OK! Magazine has proven to be similar to riding a merry-go-round where you get your head chopped off after one go-round. That said, we'd like to welcome OK!'s new editorial boss! We hear many things. More »

Imus To Fox Business, Glenn Beck's Losses Mount

cityfile — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:35:00 EDT

• Confirming the rumors from a few weeks back, Fox Business says it will begin simulcasting Don Imus' radio show beginning next month. [LAT] More »

Kim Kardashian Joins OK!

cityfile — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:44:00 EDT

If you're an unemployed fashion/beauty editor and you can't find a job, you officially have one more reason to be depressed about your career prospects today: OK! says Kim Kardashian has joined its staff as a "contributing beauty editor." [OK!] More »

The Jackson Memorial, The WSJ, Another NYT Scandal

cityfile — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:39:00 EDT

• How many networks covered the Jackson memorial? Count 'em yourself: ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, HLN, MTV, VH1, VH1 Classic, VH1Soul, BET, E!, TV Guide, TV One, Univision and Telemundo. [AdWeek] More »

The End of Vibe, Wall-to-Wall Jackson Coverage

cityfile — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:45:00 EDT

• The urban/music magazine Vibe is shutting down. [Daily Finance] More »

Ok, Sure, Have a Hip Hop Roundtable, Atlantic

Pareene — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:36:54 EDT

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"In an email roundtable, Atlantic correspondent and Vassar College assistant professor professor Hua Hsu, frequent Atlantic.com culture contributor Alyssa Rosenberg, and Government Executive staff correspondent Gautham Nagesh discuss rap's future in the age of Obama." [~~XXL~~ The Atlantic] More »

Geffen's Bid, Palin's Book, A New NEA Chair

cityfile — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:26:00 EDT

• Veteran theater producer Rocco Landesman has been nominated to be the next chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. [NYT] More »

The Times Backs Down, Wolverine's Big Weekend

cityfile — Mon, 04 May 2009 12:07:00 EDT

• Tense negotiations over proposed budget cuts continue between the New York Times Co. and unions that represent workers at the Boston Globe; in the meantime, the Times has postponed plans to shut down the paper. [NYT, WSJ] More »

OK!'s US Edition a Big Failure?

Hamilton Nolan — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:31:35 EDT

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In your meaty Tuesday media column: rumors of coming layoffs (and a die-off?) at OK! magazine, a golf magazine is killed, advertising plummets, media companies may default, and Americans don't know a damn thing: More »

Cuts at Page Six Magazine, More Changes at OK!

cityfile — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:47:00 EST

More layoffs in medialand: Page Six Magazine is now planning to go quarterly and 23 staffers have been laid off. Over at OK!, Kent Brownridge is out as general manager, and Sarah Ivens will take over as editor until a permanent replacement is found. [Gawker, Mediaweek] More »

OK! Melts Down

cityfile — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:55:00 EST

Fashion Week Daily reports OK! editor in chief Susan Toepfer was dismissed today, just a few months after taking over for Sara Ivens at the second-rate tabloid weekly. A number of OK! staffers have been cut as well, although additional layoffs are expected in the coming days. [The Daily] More »

Ad Pages Plummet, Mags Cut Salaries and Staff

cityfile — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:18:00 EST

• Bad news: Magazine ad pages were down 11% in 2008 and 17% in the fourth quarter. Good news: They now take up less room in your bag. [AdAge] More »

Cuts at Newsday, Rush & Molloy Go Weekly

cityfile — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 12:06:00 EST

♦ Newsday is slashing 100 jobs. [Newsday] More »

OK!'s Strategy: Don't Publish

Hamilton Nolan — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 11:13:05 EST

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Why does the public not sufficiently appreciate the hardworking people at OK! magazine? Last month there were rumors that Richard Desmond, the billionaire British publisher of the laughable celebrity mag, actually flew to America to personally investigate why new OK! boss Kent Brownridge was losing money. The magazine's flack denied this, saying they where "doing fine." Shockingly, it appears what that flack said was not entirely true, because OK! has decided to skip four issues at the end of this year: More »

A-Rod and Madonna Head South

cityfile — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:50:00 EST

♦ It's the question that has been keeping you up for days now: Where is Alex Rodriguez going to spend Thanksgiving? First it was reported that A-Rod planned to stay in New York. Now People now says he plans to have dinner with his ex-wife and their two kids in Florida. But Madonna is on the scene, too! Maybe in the spirit of the holiday, they'll all just join together and be thankful for what they have? Kidding! [People, TMZ] More »

Graydon's Oscar Plans, Koppel Departs Discovery

cityfile — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:45:00 EST

♦ Graydon Carter says Vanity Fair plans to go ahead with its annual Oscar party, but "the party will be a much more intimate affair than in years past; we're going to scale back the guest list considerably." [DH] More »

Handicapping How the Gossip Glossies Will Cover Jennifer Hudson's Family Tragedy

Richard Lawson — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:13:00 EDT

When the celebrity weeklies unveil their new covers tomorrow, we can bet they'll be dominated by coverage of the terrible Jennifer Hudson news story, in which the singer and actress's mother, brother, and 7-year-old nephew were murdered on Friday. And we suppose they're right to, it being big news and all. Since the issues went to print yesterday, it's up to the websites to tease what each publication has in store (and to keep up with breaking developments). So what might each magazine be featuring? We took a look at five magazines' websites today to try to see if there were any hints of what their coverage will look like tomorrow. More »

The Times Endorses Obama, Radar Closes

cityfile — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:29:00 EDT

♦ The New York Times has endorsed Barack Obama, not surprisingly. [NYT] More »

Dustin Hoffman Feigns Interest In 'The New Yorker,' But Reaching For The Latest 'OK!'

Douglas Reinhardt — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:41:56 EDT

Minnie Driver: Baby Business Innovator

Richard Lawson — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:42:00 EDT

Actress Minnie Driver recently gave birth to her son Henry last month, and in lieu of some splashy magazine cover (I mean, not that she's that big of a star to warrant that, but you know), she decided to just post a humble, makeup free, mom and baby photo on MySpace. It's a refreshingly un-self-indulgent photo that is heartening to see in this time of the splashy money-making, high gloss, celebrity baby industry. Maybe it represents a new era? More »

Letterman Rants, Ivens Leaves

cityfile — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:15:00 EDT

♦ David Letterman ripped into John McCain once again last night, which he'll probably continue to do as long as he gets this much attention for it. [NYT] More »

Shuter Ankles OK!

Pareene — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:38:40 EDT

We just heard—and Jossip confirms!—that exec editor Rob Shuter is OUT at OK!(.) He says "resigned," we hear "fired." Shuter was the hated lying flack who we accused of destroying an honorable craft when he ascended to head the celeb weekly. His "celebrity-fair" style of coverage made his magazine the friendliest and also least interesting of the tabs. OK!'s new GM, Kent Brownridge, is probably behind the shake-up. Also: we were told former Daily Newser Laura Schreffler got canned too. Can anyone confirm? More »

People Wins Brangelina Baby Pics?

Hamilton Nolan — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:58:59 EDT

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People magazine has won the heated bidding war for the new Brangelina baby pictures, according to a report (unconfirmed, so far) on JustJared.com, who puts the winning bid at "between $10 million and $15 million." Rumors of a $15 million payday for the tot photos surfaced almost two months ago. People was bidding against OK!—where publisher Richard Desmond was reportedly so determined to land the rights that he was leading the negotiations personally. If People really walked away the victor here, they will have succeeded in staving off (temporarily) OK!'s ominous ambition to corner the baby picture market. [JustJared] More »

Brangelina Baby Shoot Booked Even Before Bidding Complete

Hamilton Nolan — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:47:13 EDT

Brangelina spawn photo war update! We hear that Getty is scheduled to do the photo shoot of Angelina Jolie's new twins on Monday. Knox and Vivienne are officially entering the celebrity media machine, and it's about time! The twist, of course, is that the bidding war between OK! and People for the rights to the photos is still ongoing. The price was hovering between $11 and $12 million this morning, and we hear it hasn't been decided yet. We know you are dying to know who will walk away the victor. A speculative look, and a guess: More »

Desperate Lohan Selling Gay Story?

Ryan Tate — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:18:22 EDT

"Insiders told Page Six that Lohan and OK! are in talks to do a cover where Lohan 'comes out' about her relationship with gal pal Samantha Ronson, and the mag has offered her "around $1 million to do the cover." [Post] More »

Courtney Hazlett To Be The New Jeannette Walls

Choire — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:10:34 EDT

Gossip gal Courtney Hazlett left OK! magazine last week, we heard, but we didn't know where she was off to. Now we hear she's going to MSNBC, to replace their long-missing gossip columnist Jeannette Walls—Jeannette stopped writing their "Scoop" column more than a year ago to become a fulltime authoress. Hazlett (fun fact: once upon a time an intern for The Smoking Gun, while she was at Columbia!) will also continue her T.V. talking-headness. More »

Everybody Talks About Lindsay Lohan, But Nobody Does Anything About Her

abalk — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 17:00:50 EDT

Why, look here! It's celebrated navigator Lindsay Lohan reading our old pal Bill Evans' meteorological disaster epic Category 7 in the pages of OK! magazine! Apparently, Lindsay thinks "the people you meet in weather are very inspiring." Uh, whatever the fuck that means! Anyway, if Linds plans hasn't finished the book yet, she might want to bring it along for her upcoming seven-minute jail stint. We hear the people that you meet in prison are very inspiring as well! More »

Media Bubble: 'Radar' Now En Español

abalk2 — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 08:56:04 EST

The scene at Penn Station, where Radar sits alongside Mujer. Many Spanish-speakers are concerned about the heterosexuality of their babies, so this may be a savvy move. More »

Irresponsible Rumormongering: Everything 'OK' With Rob Shuter?

abalk2 — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 15:35:11 EST

It's the day before Thanksgiving, so we're damned if we're going to bother to do, you know, any real reporting on this one, but a well-placed source tells us that former Jessica Simpson flack Rob Shuter "has been consulting for [marginally less sophisticated InTouch celeb weekly] OK!." We've no idea if the rumor is true, but the current issue includes the following item:

It's been a year since Jessica Simpson's split from ex-husband Nick Lachey, and the 26-year-old doesn't seem to be reveling in her singledom. She's been avoiding the party scene. According to several reports, it's because the singer is depressed over her current life status. Her latest album didn't make much of a dent on the pop scene, and her love life has stalled. Jessica also doesn't have a lot of close friends. The short list includes her wardrobe and hair stylists Jessica Paster and Ken Paves, her sister Ashlee and her pet pooch Daisy. "Nothing is lifting her spirits," a source tells OK!..

so, uh, not unlikely. Confirm or deny here. More »

"Law Lords" to Adjudicate Dueling Brit Tabloids

Chris Mohney — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 13:10:36 EST

For the 2000 wedding of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas, British tabloid OK! had an exclusive contract with the Douglas-Jones enterprise to run dewy styled photos of the proceedings. Rival exclamatory publication Hello! scammed and ran their own photos, resulting in years of litigation between the two tabs. This week, the dispute reached Britain's highest court — a panel of "Law Lords" in the House of Lords. OK! claims business interference, Hello! claims the journalistic right to "spoil" its rival's scoop. Concerning a particularly unflattering Hello! shot of Douglas feeding her wedding cake, Zeta-Jones says, "I don't usually like my husband shoving a spoon down my throat to be photographed." Notice the key phrase "to be photographed" — Douglas can shove a spoon down her throat all he wants, long as it goes undocumented. So amusing that the highest British court has to waste its time with such frivolous celebrity tomfoolery. Silly foreigners! Oh, wait. More »