The Irresponsible Blogger The view from our shitty BlackBerry camera
In the same issue of GQ that Jim Nelson apologized, in his editor's letter, for the schedule of magazine publishing — where the delay between an issue's close and its arriving on newsstands is blamed for such things as Johnny Knoxville and The Dukes of Hazzard appearing on the cover before any realized what terrible things they were — the magazine anoints Kanye West one of its "Men of the Year" … for his blogging.
Calling him "The Irrepressible Blogger," GQ lauds his posting of "photo after photo of fetishy design items … and silicone-pumped models." This, for the guy who doesn't even write his own blog.
How have you not heard about this yet? Michael Hastings was enlisted by Newsweek to go on a top-secret campaign mission: one where he wouldn't be beholden to any spin pundits or bus aides. Instead, Hastings was allowed to keep his analysis to himself until after the election, when he would spill his guts to the American public in a special Newsweek issue and a shiny book deal. So why is Hastings telling us all of this now, when the election is still weeks away? And in another publication no less!
Is the Newsweek Secret Service going to come in and taser Hastings for treason? They might, once they get a load of the dank-ass Kool-Aid the man is sipping:
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Last month, it was just Wired and Rolling Stone that the marketing kiddies behind Dexter showed the world. Now, a full-blown newsstand: The New Yorker (with a cover from actual New Yorker illustrator Edward Sorel), GQ, and Esquire get the treatment. This comes, supposedly, on the heels of a marketing trend, where advertisers are using mock magazines to push their product — even though print is dying and everyone is using The Twitter! CONTINUED »
This 1981 issue of GQ, featuring courtroom celebrity Peter Cook at age 22 (with Carol Alt), was dug up by Inside Edition in an effort, we firmly believe, to get us to think the same naughty thoughts about Christie Brinkley's skeeze of a husband the same way we're being groomed to think about John McCain.
It's working. CONTINUED »
Thank heavens for Batman, because we are being treated to more Christian Bale this month than should be allowed. This time he’s gracing the cover of the UK GQ and saying more things to remind us he’s as beautiful on the inside as he is on the outside.
How was GQ's Tom Carson's supposed to know Tim Russert was going to die this month? Perhaps if he had 20/20 foresight, he might not have taken down the late Meet The Press moderator while laying some smack on Chris Matthews. CONTINUED »
GQ editor Jim Nelson, on whether he'd win a fight with the menswear designer: "Tom Ford would kick my ass so bad I’d end up in a lame little puddle of tears."
Counters designer Thom Browne: "I’m a stubborn Irishman, so I’d probably win." [FWD]
Maxim invented the funny flow chart. GQ just rips it off. [P6]
As Google Docs told me this morning, it's Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day isn't a big deal, but it is a reminder that when I go to sleep at 9:30pm on a Saturday night–which only happened once, after a long day at a Russian bathhouse–no one really notices.
Last time I visited my grandmother in Florida, she asked me what my type was. Rich and tall is trite, right? I kid, I kid. I don't even have a type. So I decided to be proactive and look through men's magazines to figure out what I'm looking for. What I learned? Men are idiots. After the jump, my brief flings with Details, Maxim, Men's Vogue, GQ and Esquire.
Anyway, happy Valentine's Day!- raronauer
The Hillary Clinton machine isn't as well-oiled as you think. Back in September, they worked vigorously to have a negative profile of the candidate, by Josh Green, killed from the pages of GQ; in exchange, they got access to Bill Clinton for a cover photo. Controversy ensued, but the Clintons got what they wanted.
Not this month.
While Green may have collected his kill fee (we're assuming), he didn't lose his reporting.
Which is why The Atlantic editor, shockingly!, has an article in this months Atlantic. Which is exactly what Camp Clinton needs as she faces her toughest battle against Barack Obama.
It's just too bad Chris Matthews has to play nice to Hillary these days.
HIGH FASHION, HIGH POWER Interviewing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for British GQ didn't satisfy her journalistic longings, so Naomi Campbell – currently appearing on French Vogue with Kate Moss – is going after Argentina's chief, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. And perhaps just like Chavez, she'll wind up with a date. After she puts her pen down.
You’d think with all the puff milestones celebrated in its 50th anniversary issue, GQ would remember the first black model who appeared on its cover. Sadly, Renauld White gets no love in the recent issue.
Even considering all the terrible mustaches this guy must have inspired, when facial hair works, it really works.
Was that Alex Rodriguez trying to mack it to the much junior Rumer Willis at GQ's Men of the Year party at the Chateau Marmont in L.A.? Why yes, yes it was, says one attendee who claims to have tried, unsuccessfully, to cop a feel of EIC Jim Nelson's junk.
Men's Vogue was recently applauded for its progressive stance on diversity after its editors had the audacity to put a black person on its cover not once, but twice! (Or possibly even three times!) As a result, rival publication GQ apparently felt compelled to show that they, too, are capable of progressive thinking.
Which perhaps explains why GQ launched a groundbreaking counterattack as part of an endeavor to prove that they are equally as openminded as their more fashionable competitor—at least, in matters pertaining to pedophilia and tastelessness. Exhibit A? This delightful photo spread of 18 year-old (as of August 21) Hayden Panettiere prancing around in her Jon Benet-inspired pink nightie.
Congratulations, GQ. This will certainly introduce the magazine to a whole new demographic. Of pervy, middle-aged Humbert Humberts. [Mollygood]
This week in the "look who benefits from its cover star's spat of unexpected press" is Details, whose Jonathan Rhys Meyers cover can only be helped by his drunken Dublin incident, and GQ, whose new "Man of the Year" Kanye West cover will get a boost from mama's passing.
Though neither really trumps the publicity effect Marie Claire snagged with its July 2007 issue, which featured a spread about partying called "Party Patrol: How Lohan Can You Go?." Just as Lindsay Lohan was going into rehab.
Well, now, if Rhys Meyers goes into rehab again, well … it still won't be as awesome.
Ron Burkle, BFF of Hill and Bill, is set to acquire AMI, which owns Shape, Star, the National Enquirer and Men's Fitness. GQ’s advice to the editors there: stay out of the Clintons' way. [WWD]
Penthouse gave their Editor-in-Chief, Mark Healy, six extra vacation days. After giving his notice earlier this week, Healy was escorted out of the Penthouse offices yesterday.
Healy will return to GQ, where he was previously a mid-level features editor and will now be director of editorial projects.
Healy’s tenure at Penthouse was part of a larger effort to class up the lad mag. Rumors has it that with Healy out, Penthouse will return to its smut roots. That business strategy should work out well since there’s such a glut of that stuff these days.
[NYP]
• Angelina Jolie's rep is quick to dispel rumors that she was fired as the spokesmodel for a a third-tier fashion company.
• Police heroically discover woman who spent the past 8 days trapped in a ravine. Or, put another way, police finally look for a missing person after 8 days of ignoring her husband's desperate pleas for help.
• Having one of these at the frat house must really cut down on the clutter.
• The reviews are in for The Darjeeling Limited. And A.O. Scott is calling it "an odd, flawed, but nonetheless beautifully handmade object as apt to win affection as to provoke annoyance." We're still waiting for the "affection" part.
Yesterday, we talked (at length!) about the widely reported Politico scoop claiming that Hillary Clinton pressured the editors at GQ to kill a story about her campaign, using an upcoming cover story on her husband as leverage.
At the time, we chose to focus on the Clintons' role in the dispute, although GQ's unwillingness to stand by their piece—and wimpy refusal to stand tall in the face of obvious external pressure—was also duly noted.
Which is why we're puzzled at new reports alleging that GQ editors leaked the story to Politico themselves. If true, all we can say to them is well done, sirs! You've done your very best to portray Hillary Clinton as a quintessential schoolyard bully. And as a consequence, you come off looking no better than the prototypical geek who—try as he may—can't seem to hold onto his groundbreaking story proverbial lunch money.
Although we can't seem to shake the nasty habit of writing in the royal we, occasionally one of our editors decides to shake off the cloak of anonymity to write a short, pithy statement long, rambling diatribe about a topic of their choice. Today, Debbie Newman is that editor.
Yesterday, Ben Smith of Politico wrote a longish, somewhat confusing article (provocatively titled "Clinton Campaign Kills Negative Story") detailing a glorified pissing contest between Hillary Clinton and GQ magazine. In said piece, ostensibly written in critique of agenda-driven journalism, the Clintons are depicted as calculating, evil and—worse still—analogous to Tom Cruise while GQ is portrayed as a spineless jellyfish,* who values self-preservation more than the basic principles of the First Amendment.
In other words, it's a completely subjective take on the importance of objectivity.
Editorial Director
