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July 16, 2009
The Fuller Brushed Grrrrrrr
Toldja!
I am going to have a smile on my face for a few days, just amused to no end about how Jay Penske backdoored Nikki Finke into working for Bonnie Fuller.
It was clear 3 weeks ago that Penske was looking to build a web gossip conglomerate and now, the other shoe has dropped. It's just a much bigger shoe than anyone really expected... surely least of all, Nikki.
This is probably very good news for the guys at Movieline, who will probably be given room - if not a lot more money - to build their niche within the organization. And Nikki will be given room to continue working in her niche. As Fuller indicated to David Carr, as he broke the news hours before Nikki posted a press release and a defensive note, her target will be female and very much based on the US Magazine/National Enquirer profile.
But let's not be coy. The guy with the $30 million to build his empire of gossip... he knows where his bread is buttered... and it's not going to be on insider snark. Does anyone really believe that Bonnie Fuller was not the person who sent Penske to buy out Nikki? Did anyone see Penske referring to Nikki as "an innovator in the field of journalism" or suggesting that Nikki "radically enhances (Mail.com's) market opportunity?" Did anyone else notice that Fuller is opening offices on both coasts?
Also depressed this afternoon... TheWrap.com. Michael Jackson gossip and suicidal reality show star freelancers just found a new, better-paying home.
The Gossip Wars just got a little uglier. But there is this... Fuller knows what she is, no matter how expensive her shoes. Pretending gossip is news just got a little harder.
Posted by dpoland at July 16, 2009 06:37 PM
Comments
Not to wipe the smile off your face so soon, but this is running A1 in tomorrow's NYT...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/business/media/17blog.html?_r=1&src=twt&twt=nytimes
Posted by: johntheking ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 16, 2009 08:40 PM
I'm sure Nikki is crying all the way to the bank.
Posted by: Joe Leydon at July 16, 2009 10:58 PM
Doesn't wipe the smile off my face at all. Do you think there was some new insight in there? I bet I can guess the names of most of the people who said they wouldn't talk about her based on how they said it. The only new fact in the whole story is that she was not paid nearly as much as she claimed.
The Bonnie Fuller story actually buries this and the LA Times softball.
The sad part is a guy like Patrick Goldstein who is happy to throw away integrity because he thinks what Nikki does is what works on the web. It shows his fear and his ignorance about the web and the people who work in this medium.
Posted by: David Poland at July 16, 2009 11:36 PM
David: Nikkie Finke
Nikki: David who?
Posted by: Hunter Tremayne at July 16, 2009 11:54 PM
One of these days I will share (in full) my Nikki Finke story about how she called my cell after I was let go by Variety and accused me of making death threats in the comments section of her blog, a ridiculous and completely unfounded (and untrue) accusation. When I dealt with her she was a bully who refused to apologize when she was 100% wrong and she threatened me after I involved Variety to try and straighten out the situation. She's WAY TOO PARANOID, but she's also damn good at what she does and that's why DHD is the first site I check in the morning and the last one I check before I go to bed. I respect the shit out of her. But she's nuts. And I have the emails to prove it.
Posted by: The InSneider at July 17, 2009 02:47 AM
Continuing to bash Nikki Finke the way you do is just so pointless. You do realize how weird it sounds by now, to keep chewing on the bone? Your reporting on this Finke story is just about you and your petty feelings towards her. And Jeff, Finke is paranoid with good reason; clearly a lot of folks out there hate her with a passion.
Posted by: byanyother at July 17, 2009 07:37 AM
Is that really you in there, David?
I will proceed on the assumption that this is a joke post.
Posted by: stvanairsdale at July 17, 2009 09:48 AM
Bonnie Fuller is a moronic creep. She makes Huffington look like the former Republican she kinda still is...
Posted by: christian at July 17, 2009 10:47 AM
Well... I do find it funny, Stu.
And I hope it does work for you. Could go the other way.
I love when people show up in here ONLY to tell me that I should lay off Nikki. Wonder who they are and why they are here...
Finke is paranoid because she lies and she abuses and everyone who has ever had any contact with her knows it. And if people ever start going on the record, the end of her will be the next story that the same journalists dying to be her will love to write.
Posted by: David Poland at July 17, 2009 02:29 PM
PS - Building her up to tear her down is creepy and wrong... even if it is Nikki. Cowardice in the media and in the film industry is the real story here.
Posted by: David Poland at July 17, 2009 02:31 PM
"I respect the shit out of her."
That's really strange, because if she's anything like how you described her in your comment there, I can't fathom what you WOULDN'T respect the shit out of. You inadvertantly come off like a battered woman in that paragraph, in the same vein as "He fucks around, spends all my money, and beats me into the walls with a chair - but damn it, I LOVE THAT MAN!".
Seriously effing strange comment.
Posted by: Hallick at July 18, 2009 12:01 AM
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