Last night Keith Kelly, and all those other Kellys, held court at Michael's for their annual Kelly Gang fundraiser. This year they were donating funds to the Krabbe Disease-focused Hunter's Hope Foundation, founded by Football Hall of Famer Jim Kelly and his wife Jill for their son, Hunter.
It was St. Patrick's day, which meant lots of wearing green, stepdancing, and drinking, though that last one would've happened with or without the holiday. Publicists arrived in crowds, all there, as one publicist put it, to pay homage to and curry favor with the Post columnist. Receiving lines are cute.
A dapper Rick Stengel, Time's editor, took our drink order, but it took Time Inc. publicist Betsy Burton's wrangling for us to get it. Keith Kelly's hair had been cut recently; at least one of his kids was running around in a "Kelly" jersey. Kent Brownridge wanted to talk about a certain dragon tattoo story; new bride and Hearst publicist Alexandra Carlin did not.
New York's Jesse Oxfeld explained his birthday plans. In Touch's Dan Wakeford delivered punchlines in his British accent. Genre editor Neal Boulton shared quality time and sweet nothings with former Star editor Joe Dolce, who was all smiles and says he's working on something big but can't say what. (NB: Every unemployed person says that.) New Freud Communications queenpin Lisa Dallos tossed around bread rolls with Ron Perelman's rep Chris Taylor. Us Weekly chief Janice Min looked like she just stepped off the Photoshop screen of her photo chief (that's a compliment).
And then, toward the end of the evening, when AMI editorial director Bonnie Fuller made her too-late-to-be-fashionable entrance, Min was suddenly absent from the table she had been sitting at. She could be found standing toward the back of the restaurant, engaged in conversation. With someone else.
[Photo]
DC may not be a good looking city and journalists can be an ugly lot, but surely Claire Danes in her awkward phase and Jesse Oxfeld look-a-likes are not the best looking writers there. And yet Catherine Andrews, an editor at The Washingtonian online, and Kriston Capps, an arts writer, won this year's FishbowlDC Hottest Media Types, Off Air Division.
But as the sleuths over at Salon uncovered, the whole thing was a fraud. "Friends" of Capps and Andrews created voting bots to rig the election. Which just goes to show, only ugly people care about looking good online.
Competition online is growing in the world of gossip, and New York is determined not to be left behind. After signing on former Gawker editor Jesse Oxfeld to head up their daily online gossip mongering, New York mag online finally introduces "Daily Intel." One party newsy, one part chatty, and one part tipsy, Daily Intel will basically cover … whatever the staffers can come up with.
Starting now, the Daily Intelligencer is nymag.com's home for that same cocktail of the serious and the frivolous — but blended much more quickly. Daily Intel will filter the stories of the day through New York's unique sensibility, all day long, every day of the week. Serious looks at city news will jostle for space with comic riffs on what's going on around town. Party reports will bump up against Atlantic Yards updates. Think of it as a stream of collective unconsciousness from inside the New York brain.
The concept of New Yorker's thoughts flowing out onto a website is more or less terrifying, but that doesn't mean we won't be adding it to our daily check list. If only to re-acquaint ourselves with Oxfeld's quirky humor. Or it could just serve as a fresher alternative to other "magazine" gossip non-blogs (especially the one without a magazine) which have somehow managed to fail at retaining our full interest and attention.
Welcome to Daily Intelligencer [NYMag.com]
If USA Today is known for anything, it is by far for their professionalism in reporting. Just look at this in-the-know, highly researched article on the the lives of bloggers.
Bloggers and other amateur journalists have some of the same problems any amateurs do: They make up the rules as they go, and they run the risk of screwing up and hurting someone. But because blogging isn't their day job, they have little risk — they aren't going to be fired.
Yeah. That's pretty expert reporting right there. God, we just love looking to seasoned reporters for their insight and meaningful opinions. Whenever we don't understand our own lives, we go to them for the answers. And these folks are always so wise. And correct. And we are ever so grateful the moron amateur bloggers haven't yet replaced these all-knowing experts. So grateful.
Technology empowers amateur journalism — for better or worse [Andrew Kantor, USA Today]
In the midst of New York magazine's website updating (well, they say they're updating their website, and they gave Jesse Oxfeld a job, so we hope that's still happening) New York puts out their annual Fall Issue. Yes, on the heels of the Fashion Issue and Best Eats Issue and The Summer Issue and all the other listicles we can't seem to remember comes "The Most Brilliant Issue."
Fall, apparently, is brilliant. Not only because it's full of bursting colors in the parks, but because there is so much to do.
Like the pilgrims, New Yorkers associate the fall with abundance. But instead of pumpkins and yams and those weird nubbly squash things that no one eats, we’ve got Jack Nicholson onscreen, Julianne Moore onstage, and TV on the Radio.
As notorious huge fans (we'd go so far at times to say stalkers) of New York, we at Jossip are a bit disappointed. First off, what's with NY Mag's complete obsession with Julianne Moore? (We think Adam Moss has a little crush?) Secondly, "like the pilgrims?" Sounds like New York is really stretching for a valid reason to bring us more lists of potential advertisers.
Dare we say, "it's a good thing we have Radar now?"
• You've seen the photos of Lindsay Lohan boxing — now, watch the video. It's her most Oscar-worthy performance yet. [Google via Mollygood]
• Now we know why the Vanity Fair folks don't really talk to the New Yorker staffers. Seriously? The editors walk on their hands? Or is this some nerd genius humor we don't really get? [Double Think via Romenesko]
• Elizabeth Spiers comments that Jesse Oxfeld was "not a good fit for Gawker." And the chart accompanying her statement really drives that point home. [NYO]
• Paris Hilton tells British GQ she's slept with two people. Maybe she just thinks the double zeros at the end of that number don't count? [MSNBC, Pretty in the City]
• How ever are we going to live without the pointless existence of Office Pirates? [Mediaweek]
• For the 2% of the world who haven't seen Janet Jackson almost topless on the cover of a magazine … here ya go. God, Vibe is almost as desperate as she is. [AP]
We knew it wouldn't take too long for someone to scoop up high profile former Gawker editor Jesse Oxfeld. It seems only natural that after disceting media and culture for the New York gossip blog, a magazine like, uh, New York, would grab him up.
With this week's byline serving as an indication, the New York Observer confirms Oxfeld will be joining the developing web team over at NYM.
"I'm hugely excited for it," said Oxfeld by phone today. "That's not spin or a line. It's a magazine that I've always wanted to work for."
"I've known a lot of folks at New York magazine for a long time," he said. "In fact, I was at July 4th fireworks at a New York staffer's place. That's where I met Ben Williams, who is running their web project."
Just goes to show, it really is right place, right time, right friends with summer houses … seriously, though, we're happy for Oxfeld. We've sorely missed his particular brand of subtle humor and have no idea what's happening with Radar since he's been gone from the Internet bubble.
Jesse Oxfeld to New York Magazine [Michael Calderone, The Media Mob]
What's notable about Radar's website resurrection isn't that Maer Roshan is heavily vested in ensuring you know he still exists, but that Gawker is covering it. Asks the trickle of emails this morning already destined for the Trash Bin: Isn't that fired editor Jesse Oxfeld's territory?
Don't think we didn't spot Gatecrasher's footnote over the weekend:
Former Gawker.com editor Jesse Oxfeld will have a desk at Us Weekly from next week on, I hear
Expect the ink to already be drying.
New York Minute [Gatecrasher]
• The Fourth of July went off with a bang… well, a few bangs.
• Meanwhile, a lil' chubby Lil' Kim got her independence, minus the house arrest bit of course.
• In another form of independence, Jesse Oxfeld was whacked from Gawker. But we polled and found that y'all could care less.
• Us Weekly tries to hide its problems with the missing Suri Cruise. But even that can't make the nausea of seeing the Teri Hatcher and Ryan Seacrest photo (and subsequent scandal) subside.
• Ken Lay passed away and Barbara Walters finds a golden nugget of a segue.
• A near ass-whooping is prevented to our disappointment. At least we had a drunk Vanessa Minnillo dishing on Nick Lachey and making out with Perez Hilton to make up for it.
• The New York Observer loses onerver to Conde Nast Portfolio. But the real media excitement came when Star visited the plastic surgeon.
With nearly 1,200 of you crawling to our ballot box, the votes are in from our Gawker Whacker poll. With Nick Denton ousting Jesse Oxfeld and realigning his flagship title to have more mass appeal (and then today giving Gawker.com a pretty makeover), what did you all have to say? For starters, ya'll thought Oxfeld sucks less than Jessica Coen, though Denton seems to be getting all the real sucking action. As for most of you? You've probably already skipped this item.
Earlier: Gawker Whacker, Part IV: Wherein A Fake Oxfeld Hunts For Jobs
Related: All Gawker Whacker coverage
Appearing yesterday evening on Craigslist, a not-so-conspicuous job hunt:
Former blog editor seeks new opportunity
Reply to: XXX@craigslist.org
Date: 2006-07-02, 5:16PM EDTEditor of Gawker.com, a very popular media blog, seeking a new opportunity. I'm an experienced writer/editor with both Internet and mainstream media experience. Please email me for more info.
Thank you.
So we asked Jesse Oxfeld: Is this yours? "ha. no. not at all. of course not." So it's a hoax? Of course. The real Jesse Oxfeld would only post a for-hire ad on Mediabistro.
Earlier: Gawker Whacker, Part III: Where The Officials Deliver Their Missives
Related: All Gawker Whacker Coverage
So what're you waking up to this morning in the latest round of Gawker Whacker saga? Well there's David Carr's piece in the New York Times, which was posted late last night. Not much to be said about the rolling heads 'round Gawkerville – "putting two of his sites on the block, reorganizing others and laying off several people" was how he put it – with focus instead placed on Denton's new game plan, which is, to be fair, his old game plan: make money by staying current. How very Madonna. The best part of Carr's item: all-Denton, all the time, and nary an outside source — or even pretending he spoke to one. And blogs are skewed.
Elsewhere, Gawker managing editor Lockhart Steele sent out a missive to staffers, which reads in part:
More than anything, I think the moves are driven by our belief that Gawker needs to remain in a state of constant revolution. Resting on our laurels, and getting lazy, becomes easier as the company matures. Yet, so many of our titles are still in their infancy in terms of what their potential audience size, impact, and editorial could be. Look at our biggest traffic sites — Gizmodo, Gawker, Fleshbot, Defamer, Kotaku, Deadspin, Lifehacker, just for starters. Each amazing in its own way. And each capable of being two, five, ten times bigger than it is now — not just in traffic, but in influence, buzz, and significance. I'm also excited by the buzz around some of our newer titles, like Consumerist, and some ideas we have for new sites. [...]
Regarding Screenhead and Sploid: both sites have been among our favorites, and the bloggers behind them true pros. But if we're to keep our focus, we need discipline to invest more in our hits, cultivate our smaller sites with rising buzz, and develop new titles, like our forthcoming music title. And, yes, part ways with a site when it's not working out for us.
To be clear, by "focus" Lock means "minting cash like a bankrupt Argentina."Meanwhile, Denton will be posting his own Dear John Letter on his blog, which will read in part:
[I]t's easy enough to start a site; increasingly tough to attract attention. Readers tend to give new Gawker sites an initial look at the very least, and we do cross-promote. But each site ultimately stands alone, and succeeds on the uniqueness of its proposition and the quality of the items. There are no sure things.
And back on the Lower East Side, Jessica Coen starts up her first week in quite sometime without Movable Type neighbor Oxfeld. As for the notion that the site is going more mainstream, we understand "broader" is the buzz word. So when a New York Daily News features editor gets whacked, you're going to have to look somewhere else to read about it.
Lastly, let's not forget about our favorite feature, the Gawker Whacker poll.
A Blog Mogul Turns Bearish on Blogs [David Carr, NYT]
Shakeup At Gawker Media: Jesse Oxfeld Out; Shuffle Across Blogs; Two Properties Up For Sale [Rachel Sklar, ETP]
With all the news we're breaking about Jesse Oxfeld's ousting from Gawker, we thought it would only be fair to ask for your reaction. Like guests on Meet The Press, the options are few and obvious.
If you haven't a clue what any of this is about, perhaps you should read Part I and Part II of our Gawker Whacker coverage. Briefly: Gawker boss Nick Denton got rid of editor Oxfeld, but is keeping Jessica Coen on staff. Meanwhile, he's bringing on two new guys to recast the flagship title as a mainstream entertainment destination.
Earlier: Gawker Whacker: Nick Denton Fires Jesse Oxfeld, Shutters 2 Titles
Earlier: Gawker Whacker, Part II: Denton Wants Mainstream Appeal
Exclusive
Because when you begin chatting about the chattering classes, the flood gates of gossip open — which means we've already received our fair share of updates regarding Jesse Oxfeld's ousting at Gawker and Nick Denton's additional slashings. As you recall from our exclusive report earlier today, Gawker honcho Denton dismissed Oxfeld without warning on Friday. Denton, we're told is also going to close two of his titles: Screenhead (made extinct by YouTube) and Sploid (while sporting some impressive CSS, was made extinct by news junkies' continued preference for The Drudge Report and, well, YouTube).
So why is all this happening? Because Denton – who has long touted Gawker's media insider vantage point – wants to take his flagship title more mainstream (read: mainstream = more pageviews = more ad dollars). And that means there's no place for Oxfeld's endless Radar magazine updates and masthead shake up chronicling. Instead, Gawker needs new blood: enter TMFTML/Alex Balk and Gridskipper's Chris Mohney. But while Balk is taking over what's technically Oxfeld's empty Aeron, the real news is Mohney's role: top dog.
After two-plus years helming Gawker, co-editor Jessica Coen is getting a new superior to answer to. In additon to managing editor Lockhart Steele breathing down her neck, newcomer Mohney will techically be Jessica's overseer. And you can imagine how pleased she is with that back stab. (Surely Jessica squelches her tears with hosting duties for the Star channel's Looking For Stars.)
As for readers, they can likely expect an Us Weekly-ization of Gawker, sans bright yellow serif fonts. (Whether Denton will remake Mark Lisanti's Defamer as a bland Hollywood gossip sheet instead of insider studio rag is yet to be determined.)
Now, when it comes to closing Screenhead and Sploid, Denton is looking for a buyer before he's ready to shut them down. But there's a short timeline: one month. If a cheque isn't endorsed by the end of the July, both sites will go under. And so, too, will their staff: "Dong Resin" at Screenhead and Sploid's Ken Layne and Scott Ross will be out of work. And that's not all of Denton's pink slipping: Gizmodo's John Biggs – who joined Denton's stable in April 2005 after founding editor Peter Rojas defected for a future windfall at rival Engadget – is being shown the door as well. (Blogebrity says someone from Wired will be filling in.)
It's also worth noting Oxfeld is the first of Gawker's four editors to leave involuntarily. So what'd Jesse have to say about all the new revelations? "Your account is inaccurate, reckless, and defamatory. I was at most moderately hammered when I arrived at the Magician Friday night." And he has been all weekend.
And remember, there's something to look forward to tomorrow: the New York Times will have its own item about all this.
Update: Nikki Finke weighs in on her favorite email sparring partner. From her item we learn David Carr is penning the piece (where, oh where, is Kit Seelye's byline where it should be?), though if that's true, perhaps Carr should actually touch base with Oxfeld.
Earlier: Gawker Whacker: Nick Denton Fires Jesse Oxfeld, Shutters 2 Titles
Bonus: Now you can vote!
Exclusive
In the hum-drum purr of industry hirings and firings, the rise and fall of beauty editors, research associates, and even senior editors can never compare to tingling we get when it's a media reporter finding a new home. Or, as it so happens in this story, when it's a media reporter in the guillotine.
Sometime Friday, Gawker co-editor Jesse Oxfeld was informed he was no longer welcome at Nick Denton's Movable Type login screen. That's right: Oxfeld's out. Finished. Kaput. His axing came as a complete surprise to the Brill's Content-Editor & Publisher-Mediabistro vet, who, we hear, showed up "completely hammered" at The Magician on Friday night, where the typical blogger suspects (Liz Spiers, Lindsay Robertson) were gathered, to drown his sorrows. Like Bonnie Fuller, Oxfeld's contract was up at the end of June — except his wasn't resigned with a fat bonus.
Jessica Coen, meanwhile, stays on and will be joined on Monday by the editor of Denton's travel title Gridskipper, Chris Mohney – who infamously got his job by fellating Denton with Gawker-obsessed blog Gawkerist – and former anon-a-blogger Alex Balk (aka TMFTML).
Meanwhile, Denton is also said to be closing two titles from his blog stable: College Humor wannabe Screenhead and Drudge Report imitator Sploid — though we're not sure if Screenhead editor "Dong Resin" or Sploid's Ken Layne are gone too, or they'll be absorbed into Gawker's many folds. These would be the second and third blogs Denton closed, following gambling site Oddjack's sale months ago.
And for those who don't believe anything till you read it in the Times, look for an item on Monday. The only mystery yet unsolved: How Andrew Krucoff's name didn't come up in any of this.
Update: The story continues here.
Bonus: Now you can vote!
Sure, last night might've been the official start to Passover, but in media land, we're not the only ones who miss deadlines. Which is why only today are we getting around to polling various personalities from inside the bubble as to their holiday plans, whether they're more likely to suffer from mother's guilt (and celebrate Passover) or daddy's drinking (and celebrate Easter) — or, like us, both. Let's see who else will be dipping their herbs (in gin) twice.
Jeff Bercovici, Women's Wear Daily
I attended a seder in the west village last night. We had Maxwell House-sponsored haggadahs that seemed to have been translated from Hebrew into Yiddish, then into Russian, German, and finally English, by someone who spoke none of those languages. This morning I had pancakes and pork sausage for breakfast. Take that, Yahweh!
Joe Scarborough, MSNBC
Going to be hosting an Easter egg hunt for my little girl's friends at our home in Pensacola, FL. If it's anything like last year, all the adults will be enjoying adult conversation and beer while I am dressed up like a 6'4" Peter Cottontail, sweating my rabbits' feet off.
Sunday to church and lunch with the family.
Tray Butler, HX
Normally Easter is the weekend of my annual pajama party, which has become a notorious tradition among friends over the years. I’m actually putting the ‘jamas and jelly-bean shots on hold this year for the sake of a more wholesome holiday, heading South to hide Easter eggs for my four-year-old brother. (Yes, there’s a bit of an age gap. Long story.) I’ll also hopefully catch up with a few friends in the ATL, and those kids are crrrazy. I’ll be packing some PJs, just in case.
Jack Shafer, Slate
I worship no deity, including the newly improved Jesus Christ. That means I'm available to break bread wirth anybody who asks me to attend their celebration. I have no invitations in hand, so I'll probably grill something and drink beer on Sunday.
Choire Sicha, New York Observer
Well, I don't know the month of Nisan from a Nissan. I prefer to use any of these less-high Holy Days to sit idly at my desk, IMing with the goyim. After sundown, I'll be playing poker, chain-smoking, and eating pepperoni pizza. Please send someone around on Sunday to roll away the emotional stone that keeps me trapped in my house on weekends.
Jesse Oxfeld, Gawker
I will, as always, be heading to the American Jew's promised land: The New Jersey suburbs. I believe today's Pesach Express leaves Penn Station at 5:20. I should be back in the city by 11 (as I was last night, too), ready to commence Gawking again in the morning. In observance of the holiday, though, I do write while reclining.
After the jump: Post-It Keith Kelly, Times ad man Stuart Elliott, Gawker gal Jessica Coen, Huffington Post's Rachel Skarl, and the NYO's Gabe Sherman.
CONTINUED »
Back in November, we lauded Bar Mitzvah Disco, if only because the book that exemplifies Jews trying to be hip from Roger Bennett, Nick Kroll, and Jules Shell gave us a look inside club impresario Noah Tepperberg's graffiti-themed entre into manhood.
Next week, they're about to do the same for someone else we've grown a particular fondness for: Gawker's Jesse Oxfeld.
From the book's official website – maintained by a one Enrique Goldfarb, with the malapert superlative "Northern New Jersey's #3 Bar Mitzvah Entertainer" – comes news of Oxfeld's appearance, alongside You Cant Make It Up's Michelle Collins. What's not on the website, however, is this little tidbit we garnered through minimal digging (which is all we're allowed to do, as outlined in our freelance contract): Oxfeld will be screening his bar mitzvah video for all to see. And you thought a gaggle of Jersey Jews wouldn't be allowed on the island.
So what can we expect on the footage? Oxfeld chanting his Haftorah to the tune of a Kylie Minogue single? Jesse hoisted into the air during a hora dance as Aunt Zelda snaps away with her Polaroid? The possibilities are endless. And there's only one way to find out:
Bar Mitzvah Disco, a Very Celebrated Show
March 8th
The Slipper Room
167 Orchard Street
Cocktails and tiny food at 8pm, show at 9pm, bar mitzvah partying all night long!!!
reservations: 212 253 7246
The invite to the soiree (sans painstaking endless hours searching for the right matte finish and serif font that you're accustomed to when bar mitzvah invitation shopping), after the jump.
UPDATE: Jesse writes in to dampen our spirits. There will be no footage of his hora dancing, nor reading of his Haftorah.
It'll just be a small portion of the video, played in concert with some live action. Even more disappointing for you, you will not see me chant a Kylie Minogue-flavored Haftorah for several reasons. This is partially because I prefer a Sondheim-inflected version and mostly because I was bar mitzvahed in a conservative shul, where there is no videotaping on the shabbos.
Which begs the question: Why didn't the Oxfelds do as all Jews do on shabbat and hire some lowly Pentecostal who knows how to hit the red button on the camcorder?
Related: Noah Tepperberg and the graffiti Bar Mitzvah
CONTINUED »
When Katharine Seelye's middle initial appears in a New York Times byline, you know it's something truly serious. Or something truly trivial, as most media matters are, but c'mon, it's early. You also know we're a little late to the game on the whole "Conde fires Krucoff" thing, but we saw the "Q.," so we gotta at least regurgitate.
To catch you up: Conde Nast fudgepacker and Gawker "mascot" Andrew Krucoff forwards Gawker's Jesse Oxfeld internal Conde Nast memo about down Internet servers to explain away his AIM absence, Gawker posts memo, Conde investigates, Conde fires Krucoff. Gawker cries, we cry — the entire Lower East Side helps flood New Jersey with tears.
So how does Gawker cover the story? By finally showing Krucoff a little respect and pimping his writing talents — which we've so lovingly been on the receiving end of.
Memo Passed On; Job Is Lost [NYT]
Media Bubble, Bursted: Krucoff Fired [Gawker]
If only we had a website dedicated to hating on Jossip would our self-esteem shoot up to Janice Dickinson levels. But we'll leave the institutional hatemongering to PlasticMoonRain.com's un-spell-checked Gawker coverage.
Yesterday they went after co-editor Jesse Oxfeld (perhaps because our lovely Jessica Coen is just too aesthetically pleasing?), and it's quite clear they're not fans of the big Jewy.
It’s here: Our much-anticipated, first-ever Gawker Non-Hotties competition. Except wait… there is only one contestent! And here he is, feast your eyes on the Non-Hottie to end all Non-Hotties — Jesse Oxfeld.
No suprise that the man who decided to judge NY Times and Conde Nast employees for their brains and looks is well, let just say it's hard to believe if this guy stands a chance in either category.
Unfortunately they don't have a convenient poll set up so we can vote. Also unfortunate: That we're bothering with this meta-meta coverage. Back to the more confounding realm of In Touch.
Editorial Director
