Chaunce Hayden, the Steppin' Out editor whose name regularly appeared in Page Six until he found himself embroiled in a false report about a Bam Margera and Lynsi Smigo sex tape, is the center of this Radar profile, which lists his various past careers: male stripper, car washer, failed punk rocker, bartender, swimming pool digger. Hayden acknowledges that nobody actually reads his publication, which is littered around New York and New Jersey, which might be a growing concern because until lately, it's been his single entry into getting his gossip items, and his name, in the press. Then the Post banned him (Smigo has since filed a $10 million defamation suit against him and the paper); MSNBC blacklisted him after a he caused a commotion on Joe Scarborough's show; he's persona non grata at ABC, when he went on-air to report Diane Sawyer had just shushed him; and Howard Stern would like to see him dead after Hayden said, on ABC, that Stern should be looked at for insider trading for allegedly leaking details of his then-impending move to Sirius. Interesting, though, that Radar is reporting all of this. Not because the gossip industry isn't the pub's territory — it is — but because paragraphs like this:

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To be sure, it's quite fair that Lynsi Smigo — the fiance of Opie & Anthony radio host Gregg "Opie" Hughes — would be so disgusted that somebody would insinuate she made a sex tape with Jackass' Bam Margera that she would sue over the matter. It's just sort of silly to think that the matter will see a courtroom.

Back in April, Page Six ran an item with the sex tape claim, provided by Steppin' Out editor Chaunce Hayden. Which explains why, in addition to the Post, Hayden and P6 editor Richard Johnson are named as defendants. Nevermind that Johnson & Co. have since thrown Hayden under the bus, blaming him for the erroneous report and severing a lengthy relationship with the column regular. But it's not like Hayden has the cash Rupert Murdoch's Post does.

Smigo is looking for $10 million. As a consolation prize, she'll take 10 minutes with Hayden's tongue. [TSG]

Page Six editor Richard Johnson vs. Steppin' Out editor Chaunce Hayden in the Bam Margera Sex Tape Retraction. [Gawker]