This poor reader. He sent his subscription check into Celebrity Living for almost $40 … and AMI deposited the money. For obvious reasons, this reader never got his mags.
Celebrity Living Weekly,
I am expecting to receive my weekly edition but have not received even one. You cashed my check of April 4, 2006 of $39.00 and you have not sent my weekly mags. Please let me know when you intend to send them. Again, the Name and Mailing address are as follows:
Take note of the date they cashed the check. According to our records, AMI knew CL had folded on April 3. Not that we can understand why anyone would pay to subscribe to this mag, but maybe they will give him a year's worth of the Enquirer instead?
Update: From the desks of the folks at AMI
It has been decided by American Media, Inc., the publishing company of Celebrity Living, to cease publication of this title. Your Celebrity Living subscription has been transferred over to Star magazine starting with the 5/29 issue. If you already have a Star magazine subscription, this subscription will be extended to include the Celebrity Living subscription. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this transfer, please feel free to contact our customer service department at 1-877-566-5831.
Hey, it's better than a subscription to Shape.
• Always beware of a guy in a fedora who threatens to bite off your boob, pee in your soup, and thinks that Page Six is the mafia.
• And magazines who lie to you about being able to see Eva Longoria from space.
• Maybe if you're lucky, Si Newhouse will buy you an apartment. But, if you suck at running a magazine, you'll probably only get a one bedroom apartment.
• Elle Girl's life gets taken before she even has a chance to become a woman. But, she will live on like the real ladies — on the internet.
• From inside AMI, the real story of Celebrity Living's demise. Even Bonnie Fuller stopped by to shake hands.
• And for once, the only magazine that nobody cares about, with the most stalked about celebrity of the month.
More info has been sent from inside the walls of One Park.
After some old guy (possibly a homeless man off the street or David Pecker) grumbled something about the staff of Celebrity Living being fired, and the spunky young thangs found bags and boxes for speedy packing on their desks, Ms. Bonnie Fuller herself came around to pay her respects.
Also yesterday as those poor overworked, beaten up staffers were packing up their desks under the watchful eyes of HR, Ms Fuller came by and shook the hand of each of the departing staffers. (The first time she had ever made eye contact with most of them.) I'm sure they ran out to disinfect their hands.
Oh, we doubt hand sanitizer was at the forefront of these AMI staffer's minds. After all, they had free drinks waiting for them at Molly's.
Ealier: Inside the murder of Celebrity Living
Update: We have been informed that the "old homeless man" who told CL staffers their mag was folding was Daniel Rotstein, not David Pecker. "Rotstein is the top HR exec at AMI. He does the firings and reports all promotions internally at AMI."
(And for the record we never actually called David Pecker — or Daniel Rotstein — an "old homeless guy." We said homeless guy or David Pecker. There's a difference.)
Celebrity Living may be dead, but the celebrities themselves continue to live and breathe.
They are still getting coffee, buying pacifiers for their preg-o wives, and of course (the fave celeb pastime) getting divorced. Today's celebrity break-up is brought to us by formerly divorced and re-married couple Marshall "Eminem" Mathers and Kim Mathers.
Eminem has filed for divorce from wife Kimberley Mathers — again — after just 82 days of marriage!
A source close to the rap giant tells Star that divorce papers — under his birth name Marshall Bruce Mathers III — were filed on his behalf on the morning of April 5, at the Macomb County (Mich.) Clerk's office.
Oh, Hailie. That poor little girl. She might just become more messed up than Francis Bean Cobain or Kelly Osbourne. Then again, she might go the Nicole Richie route, develop anorexia, and become the face of Jimmy Choo landing a big fat contract.
Whatever, it doesn't really matter what happens to kids in these situations. And there's no way she'll end up worse off than Tom and Katie's test tube baby … even if she does end up in Detroit.
We know what the final days before Celebrity Living shut down were like. Rumors flying, other celeb weekly staffers hammering at our inboxes, and the Thursday afternoon meeting that supposedly sealed the deal.
But what were the hours before the official closing like inside the mag? No tears (except from mama Kelli Delaney), no cries of shock … just a cool exchange of cash, a free round of shots, and some death threats aimed at Bonnie Fuller.
How did AMI break the news?
A stabling older man, who no one even knew, mumbled out CL was closing and today would be the last day. Or I should say you have less then an hour to pack your desk and get out.
It seems that the random homeless people off the street knew more than the staffers of AMI's big kill. Then again, our tipster says the old guys name is "David or Daniel" … our money's on Pecker.
The full email from inside One Park, after the jump.
CONTINUED »
• Nat Ives confirms what we reported yesterday. We guess nothing is really official until it's in Ad Age.
• In other AMI news that we didn't break, Shape en Espanol and MPH are going six feet under right next to CL. [Ad Age]
• We thought compulsively Googling the entire staff of New York magazine was weird. But this guy really does have way too much time on his hands. [Newsthinking]
• Cameron Diaz gets rid of a photographer. And she doesn't even need to backhand him or rip the camera from his bleeding fingers. [MCAFP]
• Just in time for summer, the National Enquirer gets banished back to Boca. [Gawker]
• We knew Anna Wintour had some pull in the magazine 'biz … but Jon Stewart? Only in the Folio 40, folks. [Fishbowl NY]
• There is hope for Jessica Simpson, after all. If she decides to follow in Pamela Anderson's footsteps, maybe someday she'll hook up with a real musician. [TMZ]
• We're sure Mother Teresa would be thrilled to know that she looked just like Paris Hilton. [Star]
It's the mag we've been waiting for all year — the New York Weddings Issue! With 1,074 ways to dream your perfect Charlotte York style wedding, summer just isn't summer without it. (Plus, we hear it was totally put together by Adam Moss' assistant Denise Penny, which is a pretty hot job for an EA.)
New York Weddings is the only bridal magazine edited with a sophisticated, urban sensibility. Discover the best bridal sample sales, how to get in shape for your wedding day, and valuable tips to save both time and money.
With all the hype over AMI's total annihilation, we almost missed this truly special arrival into our city. We recommend putting on your padding and helmets now — especially if you live on the east side in the 30's.
Because if the rush to the newsstands to grab the last living copies of Celebrity Living, Shape en Espanol, and MPH weren't enough to send the flocks of blonde 28-year-olds to the kiosks, the bridal focused NY will definitely add another level to contact magazine browsing.
This just in:
Celebrity Living has closed. Shut down. Finito. Dunzo.
Literally, we just got a one-line sentence as a tip, and are further investigating as you read this. No time for jokes, people — more to come as we get updated.
Update: So far, this is the only further information we were able to extract: At a sales meeting on Thursday afternoon, it was announced that the celebrity weekly, which launched about a year ago, was being shut-down. A sales rep at Star (who we were patched through to in an attempt to contact media relations) responded, "oh, no, that has not happened." Our reliable source, however, is sure it has.
Us Weekly's Janice Min on AMI's completely-missing-the-Nick-and-Jessica-story Star and Celebrity Living:
When it comes down to it, the illusion of reporting can never trump actual reporting.
Zing!
Though at least In Touch had the decency to "confirm" the report — sans crediting Us Weekly, natch.
Picking Up The Split [WWD]
In Touch
Related: Jossip Juxtaposition: Star's still holding out for Nick & Jessica
Aw snap! Women's Wear Daily's Jeff Bercovici has called out Celebrity Living for trying to be .. a celebrity weekly!
Scandal, we know.
But the American Media publication began its run in April promising to be a "lifestyle magazine — really a lifestyle magazine." After all, AMI already has Star and the National Enquirer to fill that gap. Shouldn't Celebrity Living be competing with, say, Bauer's Life & Style?
Not with with recent cover headlines like "Brad and Angelina's First Big Fight!" and, as Bercovici devotes too many words to, a new logo.
It also features a new logo, white with a pink border — the same configuration favored by Us Weekly and Star.
Delaney acknowledged the similarity was no coincidence. "The old logo almost had a monthly intimation," she said. "When I looked at it, I didn't know right away that this magazine was part of the celebrity weekly category."
We hope this celebrity category identity disorder doesn't continue much longer. Otherwise we'll be looking at a Star magazine that – dare we say it? – reports on celebrities!
Editorial Director
