Model agency IMG simultaneously fired Taylor Momsen and hired Dakota Fanning. Recall that Dakota also beat Taylor for the role of Cherie Currie in The Runaways, leaving a a shaggy-haired Momsen no choice but to start her own band.
In your explosive Wednesday media column: a new book will re-ignite the Danish Muhammad cartoon controversy, Tom Florio goes to IMG, the WSJ celebrates itself, Lucky is coming for your kids, and everyone hates the media, still.
• It looks like there's a new frontrunner to take over BusinessWeek. Mayor Bloomberg's media company, Bloomberg LP, has bypassed Bruce Wasserstein as the leading contender to take over the McGraw-Hill-owned mag. [NYP]
• After close to three decades at ABC News, John Stossel is leaving the network to join Fox News and…
• The September 2009 issue of Vogue looks nothing like the issue from 2007, the making of which is detailed in R.J. Cutler's new period picture, The September Issue. Take a sec to let the image of the 840-page behemoth from two years ago—the largest issue ever—burn itself into your memory. Given the way things are…
• Malia is totally into "pleats and pared-down things," but is not a "huge fan of sparkles." Sasha, on the other hand, totally adores "bright colors and sparkly things." Could America's first daughters be any cuter? [WSJ]
• IMG would really love it if Michelle Obama turned up for Fashion Week next month. [SF]
• The…
• Vivienne Westwood may have designed Carrie's wedding dress for the first Sex and the City movie, but she'd like to write the script for the sequel, and she's even written to Sarah Jessica Parker to make her case. [Telegraph]
• Tracy Feith is the latest designer who has been tapped to do a line for Target. [WWD]
• …
Every print publisher, and especially the glossies, want in on the online-video game. Unlike the text-and-photos Web, where there are more pageviews than media buyers know what to do with, there's not enough slickly packaged content that big brands deem safe enough to advertise themselves on. Condé Nast's Vogue has …
While DreamWorks, Lionsgate and even Cash-Machine Manoj all have Indian capital to thank for their varying degrees of independence, Terry Semel is apparently courting a few billion dollars from Dubai as he nears a deal to acquire the management giant (and burgeoning media player) IMG. The ex-Warner Bros./Yahoo!…
With money from Warner Bros., private equity firms, and the United Arab Emirates, former Yahoo CEO Terry Semel wants to buy talent and marketing agency IMG. Semel's plan: Turn the agency, currently owned by buyout guy Ted Forstmann, into a media and content company with a focus on digital distribution — more or less…
