Gawker: Star

Star to Katie Holmes: Sorry for Calling You a Drug-Addicted Zombie

Maureen O'Connor — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:40:32 EDT

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Katie Holmes' $50 million libel lawsuit against Star magazine has ended. In today's issue, Star apologized for a January story about how Tom Cruise and Scientology control Katie. Star says it "did not intend to suggest that Ms. Holmes was a drug addict or was undergoing treatment for a drug addiction." And Star's parent company, American Media, has made an "substantial donation" to an undisclosed charity in Katie's name. More »

Pecker-Loving Star Editor Fired by Pecker

Hamilton Nolan — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:46:44 EDT

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Earlier this year, we heard rumors of a revolt brewing among dissatisfied employees at AMI, publisher of Star and The National Enquirer. This prompted every last AMI editor and executive to email us, insisting in the most strenuous terms that AMI is just fine! For example, Star editor Candace Trunzo (pictured, at left) wrote, "What revolt? This is a crock! Your source clearly has an axe to grind. At Star, we are committed to the magazine, AMI and most especially David. He is a superb leader!" More »

Jake Tapper Is King of Television

Hamilton Nolan — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 13:39:01 EST

In your congratulatory Thursday media column: Jake Tapper wins the Game of TeeVee, News Corp cleans up its UK tabloid, Star and the National Enquirer merge newsrooms, a new Newsweek publisher, and a new job for Helen Thomas. More »

The Mysterious Case of Britney's Black Eye: Falsified Audio Edition

Maureen O'Connor — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 18:48:41 EST

Today Star reported that Britney Spears' ex-husband Jason Alexander had a phone conversation about current boyfriend Jason Trawick "beat on me." Hours later, Radar published audio of the alleged conversation. But Britney's lawyers say it's all a fake. More »

The McSteamy Naked Threesome Gets the Celebrity Weekly Treatment

Brian Moylan — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:16:54 EDT

All the tabloids threw something together on deadline after our tape of Eric Dane, Rebecca Gayheart, and Kari Ann Peniche went up. So many questions: Will their marriage survive? Who is the other woman? And just who wore it better? More »

Michael Phelps' Mom Gives Book Excerpt to Enemy News Outlet

Hamilton Nolan — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:04:17 EDT

Hold on to your frumpy Chico's fashions: Michael Phelps' mom has written a tell-all book! Star has an exclusive excerpt. Can you guess why that fact alone is very, very strange? More »

Apparently the Levi Johnston/Bristol Palin Love Affair Is Over

Pareene — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:23:40 EDT

In this week's Star: hilarious and slightly depressing "gossip" from Levi Johnston's bitchy, MySpace-y sister Mercede! Do you care about the petty dramas of unwed teen parents in far-off Alaska? More »

Ben Widdicombe Out at Star? (Yes)

Hamilton Nolan — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 10:00:00 EST

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Ben Widdicombe wrote his last Gatecrasher column for the Daily News last April. Three months later, he replaced Julia Allison as Star's gossip maven. Is he already leaving? [UPDATED BELOW: Yes.] More »

Celeb-Mag Contagion Hits Star

Ryan Tate — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:13:30 EST

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Anyone know about the purported layoffs at Star? A tipster tells us the second-tier celebrity magazine is firing a "bunch of people." More »

Grading The Celebrity Glossies' Jennifer Hudson Coverage

Richard Lawson — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:04:00 EDT

Yesterday we took a look at the celebrity glossies' websites, to get a sense of how this weeks issues would cover the Jennifer Hudson story. People and Us Weekly seemed like they planned to devote the most space reporting on the murders of the singer/actress's mother, brother, and nephew. And, sure enough, they were the only two to run the story as the main image on their covers. But what's inside? More »

Attack of the Clones: The fleeting chance...

STV — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:20:00 EDT

Attack of the Clones: The fleeting chance at tourist-snapshot immortality is enough to roil most of the costumed geeks outside Mann's Chinese from their Yoda jammies in the morning. But Google Maps immortality is nothing less than the Force itself at work — the Dark Side specifically, which commanded Darth Vader from his Chinese perch to a bit of stormtrooper recon down the street at the Kodak Theater. A disapproving George Lucas's cease-and-desist letter is no doubt on its way to Sergey Brin and Larry Page as we speak. [Google Maps via /Film] More »

Bonnie Fuller Can Never Get Enough Money

Hamilton Nolan — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:51:35 EDT

Bonnie Fuller was axed last month from her job as editorial chief of American Media. But the company gave her $2.4 million in fiscal year 08, which is 50% more than even CEO David Pecker got. And AMI, which is facing some serious financial challenges of its own, was planning a $2 million severance package for her if she left by the end of March (since she didn't, they haven't revealed her actual severance—but it's surely in that ballpark). Fuller's rich, but she's still a well-known neurotic about money issues, dating back to her own mother's rough period of being broke after a divorce. Understandable—but it doesn't really give one the right to start yelling at the good people from the freaking Make-A-Wish foundation, as Fuller once famously did when she thought they were being too stingy: More »

Times Incorrectly Portrays Bonnie Fuller As Sympathetic Figure

Hamilton Nolan — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:38:15 EDT

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For unclear reasons, the Times felt compelled to hand a huge chunk of its Sunday Business section over to a profile of Bonnie Fuller—the woman most responsible for creating our nation's soul-destroying cast of powerful celebrity magazines—who was recently axed from her multimillion-dollar gig as editorial chief of American Media. A sympathetic profile! The news peg, purportedly: Bonnie Fuller is doing some vague new project on the internet. For women! With specifics to be determined! Color us skeptical. The Fuller that the Times describes does not sound like the woman who was so despised by her assistants that they put snot in her food. What's the major malfunction here? More »

Julia Allison Out At Star

Ryan Tate — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:27:30 EDT

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It's another sad breakup for Julia Allison. The fameball's sweetheart, six-figure gig as editor-at-large for Star magazine has come to a close, the Post's Keith Kelly is reporting. A few months after a fling with AM New York, the self-promoting young dating columnist was hired one year ago by Star under the tenure of American Media editorial director Bonnie Fuller. Her work for the tabloid consisted not of writing, but of showing up on cable news shows to talk about, say, the Texas polygamists ("I was sitting there seriously disturbed"), or about singer Britney Spears' love life ("the guy is a user, a loser and a mooch"). With Fuller gone, save for her own editor-at-large gig, Allison's yearlong contract was allowed to expire. Star isn't talking publicly about exactly why that is. More »

Tabloid Editors Insane From Brangelina Pressure

Ryan Tate — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:51:36 EDT

The birth of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's twins is, for celebrity tabloid editors and producers, like a presidential election night, the Superbowl and a moon landing all rolled into one, and the incredible pressure is destroying them one at a time. Bonnie Fuller was an early victim, losing all grip on reality at the end of March, when the magazine she then ran, Star, described a New Orleans wedding between the power couple that never took place. Then, earlier this month, Entertainment Tonight reported that Jolie had given birth to the twins in France, a story that was swiftly denied by reps for the couple and that is raising questions about the show's standards (apparently it was like the New Yorker of celebrity journalism). Now, Fuller's replacement at Star is also messing up the Brangelina story, cropping a month-old photo to make it look like Jolie "collapsed" in the south of France: More »

Gay Cowboy Dated Littlest Clinton

Pareene — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:09:58 EDT

WTF. Wooden almost actor Jake Gyllenhaal apparently dated wooden former first daughter Chelsea Clinton, according to Star. In 1999! When he wasn't even famous! Apparently their parents knew each other. We don't buy a word of this. Why is it coming out now? Last-ditch effort to rescue Hillary Clinton's campaign with star power? Also according to this story, Chelsea Clinton thinks Jake should marry Reese Witherspoon. According to a "source." That "source" is drugs. [Star] More »

Us Calls Bullshit on Star!

ian spiegelman — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 09:43:26 EDT

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Star overlord Bonnie Fuller is getting her ass kicked this morning. "Online reports that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt tied the knot in New Orleans Saturday are 'complete and total bulls—t,' a source tells Us. 'Bottom line, they aren't even in New Orleans.'" More »

Smell The Innuendo

rebecca — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:55:13 EST

There's a new book about blogs that the blogs can't stop talking about because bloggers love books about them. But actually reading a book about blogs? Nothing could be more boring. But there are nuggets in Ultimate Blogs: Masterworks from the Wild Web that make reading it, or the reviews of it at least, worthwhile. For one: In Eurotrash Geraldine Hayward takes bad breath to new literary heights describing her former (possibly famous!) boss. More »

Bonnie Fuller Is A Good Mom, Compared To Britney Spears

Emily Gould — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 09:40:54 EST

AMI EVP Bonnie Fuller does some ethical backflips to justify the redeeming value of Star magazine and its ilk in a HuffPo blog post: "Now, gossip high priestess Liz Smith wrote in her November 13 column that "celebrity madness fueled by instant technology" is her top choice for Time magazine's "person" of the year. And I have to second her choice." Whoa, way to bite the feeding hand! "But while Liz may agree that celebrities and celeb newsweeklies like Star serve the purposes of entertaining us, informing us about popular culture, fashion and style," —wait, what?—"I bet not even she understands that celeb mommies play an all-important role as guilt-evaporators." She goes on to tell her "frazzled compatriots" to "give yourselves permission to pat yourselves on the back for a change. You may not be the perfect mom, but you ain't Britney." But where are we to turn to expiate the guilt we feel over reading Star? [HuffPo] More »

Bonnie Fuller's Hair And Makeup Allowance: Twenty Grand

abalk — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 12:32:13 EDT

Once again, American Media Inc., publisher of Star, the National Enquirer and Men's Fitness, filed its financial statement with the S.E.C. well past the due date. And we can understand why: The company is hemorrhaging money. Is there some way they could cut costs to help the bottom line? Well, maybe they could reduce the amount they shell out on Chief Editorial Director Bonnie Fuller's beauty treatments. More »

Star magazine will miss its first-half targets;...

abalk — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 10:40:42 EDT

Star magazine will miss its first-half targets; the title has been selling about 600,000 copies per week, a number which may drop further as the summer winds down. [WWD] More »

Terrorism Expert Assesses Threats

abalk — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 11:00:17 EDT

Julia Allison Is New 'Star' Editor At Large

Emily Gould — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 09:40:32 EDT

"Oh yeah, baby, it's all downhill from here. ;) i do hope i can stick with tv. writing is far too much effort ;)" asserted Julia Allison back in March, when she was ~~fired~~ amicably separated from her job as AM New York's online dating advice columnist. Maybe she's been reading The Secret, because it seems like Julia just got her wish! She'll be Star's new Editor at Large, a position that really plays to her "strengths:" "She won't be editing or writing, but she will be appearing as a talking expert whenever TV comes calling for someone to go on air to comment on the latest celebrity gossip or scandal." Congratulations, Julia! We knew you when, and for some reason we still know you now. As for those "wondering why Star actually needs a permanent full-time TV person, since Editorial Director Bonnie Fuller relinquished day-to-day control at Star to Candace Trunzo and seems to have more time on her hands these days," we'd meekly posit that maybe it's because Bonnie Fuller doesn't have an ass on which you can bounce a quarter. More »

That "tell-all manuscript" about her relationship...

abalk — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 12:17:14 EDT

That "tell-all manuscript" about her relationship with Brad Pitt that Jennifer Aniston was seen holding on the cover of Star? Actually an airbrushed art catalog! We always figured her for illiterate anyway. [Radar] More »

Us Weekly's Brand Is Truth

Emily Gould — Fri, 04 May 2007 11:00:20 EDT

A two-page spread in this week's Us Weekly calling out other magazines for fabricating stories has their competitors scoffing. "I find it amusing that Us Weekly and [editor in chief] Janice Min thinks they are above all else in the celebrity category of weekly gossip magazines. How can she point fingers when Page Six had to run a retraction from picking up her stories in the last year?" a Star spokesman asked WWD today. "We don't say that we don't make mistakes; that is the nature of any news gathering operation. What we don't do is wholesale fabricate stories to sell magazines," a Wenner spokesman responded. No, never! But fabricating controversy is another story, apparently, as a peek at the 2-page spread in question, headlined "Creative Writing: All The News That's Fake!" reveals. More »

The $40 Million Question: Define "Nappy"

abalk2 — Thu, 03 May 2007 09:56:24 EDT

Don Imus' contract with CBS said: "Services to be rendered are of a unique, extraordinary, irreverent, intellectual, topical, controversial, and personal character." Legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin thinks that makes Imus's $40 million lawsuit against CBS a bit more plausible. [CNN] More »

Does 'Star' Editor Edit Or Even Read 'Star'?

Emily Gould — Wed, 02 May 2007 13:04:05 EDT

"What's WRONG With Brit's Baby!" screams the cover of today's Star magazine. But new editor Candace Trunzo's editor's letter makes no mention of poor possible Britney flipper-baby Jayden James. Instead, it's all about... Britney's weight loss? "Britney Spears really is this year's Comeback Kid," Trunzo crows. She ends with, "This issue's amazing new pics on page 44 say it all—Eat your heart out, K-Fed." And the 4-page story that begins on page 44 is about how Britney is losing "a pound a day." It's not until page 52 that Star asks, rather more briefly, "Why Is Brit Hiding Jayden James?" A: "It's all about the Benjamins!" (Duh.) Also: "'Britney did so much partying after Jayden was born, she doesn't feel as close to him [as Sean Preston],' maybe says another source." Maybe says another source! It's a new low in tabloid journalism, or maybe a new high! Congratulations, Candy. —Emily More »

Searching 'Star' For Candace Trunzo

Emily Gould — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 10:59:50 EDT

What's conspicuously missing from this week's Star magazine? Sure, you could make a case for "anything remotely interesting"—that "Brad and Angie might not be together forever" cover really must represent a new low—but we're actually talking about the magazine's Editor's Letter. It's gone! Why? Was it that a bunch of readers picked up last week's issue, read new ed-in-chief Candace Trunzo's enthusiastic endorsement of some celebrities' "smooches and seaside frolics," and thought "Ewww, Mom! We don't talk about that stuff!" That's our guess. That or something to have to do with the layout. Anyway, we'll be anxiously waiting to see whether Candace and her scarf return next Wednesday. —Emily More »

You Suck, Trunzo! Bring Back Dolce!

Emily Gould — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 10:59:08 EDT

What's that unfamiliar face peering out at all us trashy housewives from the masthead of Star? Why, it's former Globe editor Candace Trunzo, who took over the reins from our beloved punching bag Joe Dolce on April 1st. How will Star be different under Candace's leadership? "I'm on a mission," she declares in her first editor's letter, promising "more celebrity news stories, more revealing must-see photos, more fun, more pop!" Oh boy! Unfortunately, when Candace says "more," she seems to mean "less" — her first Star contained only three Normal/Not Normals (there are usually at least five!) and only three "Worst of the Week" fashion violations! Even a particularly gruesome shot of Courtney Love's fresh lipo couldn't compensate. Bring us the trash we crave, Candy! You're veering dangerously close to In Touch territory here. —Emily More »

Media Bubble: Tribulations

abalk2 — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 09:55:58 EDT

Tribune: The Chandler family hits the road, Sam Zell talks to David Geffen, gets veto power on the board, bashes Google. [LAT] More »

'Star' Brutally Cleans House, Ditches 10 Staffers

Choire — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:12:15 EDT

In a clearly well-thought-out attempt to make right American Media's $160-million loss last year, Star magazine ditched 10 staffers in their New York offices today. Reportedly among the missing: editor Joe Tirella, film and TV critic Marshall Fine, three photo editors, two reporters, a designer—and former CNN producer and current Star executive editor Jon Auerbach. The state of the office is unsurprisingly being described as "miserable." More »

Media Bubble: Fox Hunts

abalk2 — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 09:10:00 EST

Keith Kelly gets the "exclusive": Time Warner is selling its Time 4 Media properties to the Bonnier Group for a sum considerably less than the $300 million they wanted. Tough break for AdAge, which had the story yesterday but pulled it. [NYP] More »

Irresponsible Rumormongering: 'Star' Really IS Moving to Boca

Doree Shafrir — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 17:27:46 EST

Despite the Mediabistro job postings that seemed to indicate that AMI would be moving Star's operations back to Florida from whence they came, Star has thus far vehemently denied that that was, in fact, the case. But over the transom comes the following:

Star staffers are out in March. Star really moving to Boca. Nobody asked to join the ride.

The usual caveats apply, but this would seem to be quite a repudiation of Bonnie Fuller's reinvention attempts. More »

Media Bubble: Plenty of Free 'Time' To Watch Extra Hour of 'Today'

abalk2 — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 09:40:39 EST

Another hour of "Today" just means more Al Roker to love. And, you know, Ann Curry. [WSJ] More »

Media Bubble: Again With The Layoffs

abalk2 — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 10:00:38 EST

Next week is layoff week at Time Inc. Also, every week thereafter. [WWD] More »

'Star' vs. 'Us': What's Over?

Emily Gould — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 14:30:00 EST

"Because when the breakup's this big, no less than giant yellow coverlines will do," says Eat The Press. Well, yeah, totally . . . except, if you look really closely, each of those covers trumpets the earthshattering demise of an entirely different celebrity couple (or, in the case of Us, "couple.") Could Us have sort of pulled the Kate and Owen thing out of its ass to compete with Star, which hit newsstands first? We guess we'll never know. More »

Olsen Twin Tells: Distinguishing MK From A

Emily Gould — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 18:00:00 EST

We enjoyed Star's cover story on Mary Kate Olsen's reanorexia as much as or possibly more than most people — "HER EATING COACH IS GONE" is a great name for a post-hardcore band, by the way — but we couldn't help but notice that some of the pictures of "Mary Kate" looked suspiciously full-bodied and — how to put this? — differently nosejobbed than the others. Today, WWD confirmed our suspicions: according to their publicist, the twin in at least one of the pictures is indeed Ashley, not Mary Kate. We guess those tricky twins confuse the Star photo department by periodically switching off haircolors, but we rely on other clues to distinguish one from the other. We thought we'd help out the Star photo editors with a handy list of our personal Olsen twin "tells" — subtle clues that reliably determine which platform-booted, layered-looked lady is the rexy twin and which is the relatively healthy-looking fraternal counterpart. More »

Leslie Sloane Zelnick Is Just Not Even Trying Anymore

Emily Gould — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:30:00 EST

It's a season of Bests Of, so we're hereby nominating this quote as "Best Publicist Denial 2006." It's from an article in the print edition of this week's Star magazine about "plate parties," at which young Hollywood stars are passing around drug-filled plates (!!) and "popping pills, guzzling booze, smoking reefer and snorting whatever they can get their hands on," according to "one Hollywood producer" who has perhaps seen Beyond the Valley of the Dolls one time too many. Anyway, we admire Zelnick's laziness, so this is our official favorite. It's better than Elliot Mintz's genius assertion that the white stuff in Paris Hilton's nostril was "stray dessert," even! Hats off, Leslie — and here's to more Lohan-enabling in 2007. More »

'Star' Eloquently Sums Up Problem With "Modern Literature"

Emily Gould — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 11:30:00 EST

As we mentioned, we read Star for its incisive "Look Who's Fat Now!" pictorials, not for its words. But our eyes inadvertently grazed a sentence in this week's issue — and you know what? It resonated with us:

The film has the brittle, chilly feel of modern literature, where people are supposed to feel bad about themselves and are slapped down when they try to find a way to feel good.

A tiny bit reductive, sure, but pretty much dead-on, and actually, the reason we were reading Star instead of, you know, a book. More »

Stephanie Green's Bonnie Fuller Book to Open Wide on eBay

Chris Mohney — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 13:10:45 EST

Recall the tale of Stephanie Green, a researcher at Star who in 2004 began shopping Dishalicious, her Devil Wears Prada-esque novel featuring a Bonnie Fuller caricature. Green was promptly sued by American Media for violating her confidentiality agreement, though the lawsuit was finally dismissed in 2005. Sadly, the public lust (or publishing's interest) in this genre appears to be waning, as Green has been unable to find a buyer for the manuscript. Ergo, she's hawking copies of the text on Paypal, with plans to upgrade to eBay v. v. soon! After the jump, Green's philosophical take on the death of her book, plus hopes and dreams for a brighter tomorrow. More »