You looking for a job a job working for a magazine? Shoot, get in line, or go apply for Stylista Cycle 2. Because times are tight, but you already knew that.

So you'll be pleased to know you can start sprucing up your resume: OK!'s Kent Brownridge is looking to hire five full time staffer, two on the business side, three on the editing.

Brownridge is telling insiders that he's using "celebrity" friend's recommendations, like that of Bonnie Fuller, to help vet potential applicants.

Wait, is that the same Bonnie Fuller that was originally supposed to be taking over at OK!? Right after Brownridge fired editor-in-chief Sarah Ivens and executive Rob Shuter?

Well, at least now you know whose position you'll be taking if you get the gig.

It wasn't the $2 million-plus Bonnie Fuller, nor Janice Min's former No. 2 (and former British OK! chief) Nicola McCarthy who will be replacing Sarah Ivens (who says she gave notice back in June) atop OK!. Instead, new-ish general manager Kent Brownridge opted for Susan Toepfer of Hearst's recently shuttered Quick & Simple, a might-as-well-be eponym for the tabloid biz. More interesting, though, is Brownridge's unexpected shakeup on the publisher side: Out is Tom Morrissey, in is Lori Burgess. Nevermind that Morrisey brought ad pages up 34 percent through September in an industry where that type of thing is usually rewarded with use of the corporate jet. Burgess, meanwhile, left her SVP spot Niche Media in March, where she landed after publisher gigs at House & Garden and Elle.

So what does all of this say? Common wisdom might suggest Brownridge selected Toepfer and Burgess because he got them on the cheap — in an effort to reduce owner Richard Desmond's growing fears of having sunk too much cash into his American tabloid spinoff. But Brownridge can often be overheard spewing his arithmetic model: The tabloid business is full of fixed costs (printing, checkout aisle pockets, photos), and any publisher knows those costs before getting into the game, so it makes zero sense to skimp on the talent, who are responsible for trying to fashion OK! into a leader among the competition. That is: Cutting costs over staffers doesn't make much sense.

Oh, and all this nonsense about Brownridge trying to woo Bonnie Fuller with that consulting gig? Apparently not much truth to it.

JOSSIP REPORTS — The story behind Clay Aiken's coming out cover for People goes something like this: Lots of magazines were in the running for the photo exclusive, but People outbid them all for a cool $500,000. That's the way MSNBC's The Scoop reported it last week, and that's the story Page Six carried this morning.

Except as our sources tell it — and these are the type of sources who were, let's say, involved in the actual transaction — OK! didn't have a shot in hell at the pictures. In fact, no tabloid did. Not Us Weekly, not Star, and certainly not In Touch or Life & Style.

Despite what OK! might have you believe, the only way Clay's coming out would be told was in the pages of People. And that's exactly how it happened. Here's why:

CONTINUED »

Despite OK! publicist Brian Strong's insistence that everything at the tabloid was A-, uh, OK, the ushering in of Kent Brownridge has brought real turmoil. Two weeks ago we told you executive editor Rob Shuter had been fired, but the tabloid tried playing it off as a "resignation." And today, on a news dump Friday, editor-in-chief Sarah Ivens hand delivers to Keith Kelly her own "voluntary resignation" — she'll be gone by Christmas, she says, and insists she made the decision in June before Brownridge ever showed up — which only fuels speculation that Brownridge is looking to team up with a one Bonnie Fuller, who was editing Us Weekly back when he was Jann Wenner's No. 2 at Wenner Media, to fill the top slot at OK!.

Oh, and if this series of coincidences isn't enough for you — the same day Ivens silver-platters her exit scoop to Kelly, an "anonymous source" tells Page Six that OK! that owner Richard Desmond & Co. are turning off the endless cash stream that's kept the American tabloid afloat since its inception three years ago. Shocking!

If Ivens is the plant on that one — and all sources point to a strong possibility — what a nice send-off it is to paint OK! as a tabloid in peril, with tightened purse strings and no cash on hand to pay for big photo exclusives.

Oh, and one final dig:

CONTINUED »

Within a week of Kent Brownridge arriving at OK!, executive editor Rob Shuter was ousted, and senior writer Laura Schreffler, formerly of the Daily News, quit. The tabloid has tried spinning the news to Keith Kelly as an "everything is fine" scenario.

It isn't. Since Brownridge's arrival, we've heard there's much turmoil at the tabloid, despite OK! publicist Brian Strong's assertions otherwise.

When Richard Desmond brought Brownridge in to head the magazine — even editor-in-chief Sarah Ivens reports to Kent — he likely had little idea just how much calamity there would be. But staffers are picking sides, and most are sticking with the home team; Brownridge is seen as the outsider installed to right a not-exactly-sinking-ship. One source tells us the feeling inside HQ is that his hire was done more so because he needed a job, not because OK! had a place for him. And you didn't hear it from us, but there's already an informal office pool going on how long he'll last.

Oh, and also, Keith:

CONTINUED »

JOSSIP REPORTS — We're hearing lying ex-publicist-cum-OK! exec editor Rob Shuter was just fired by the tabloid's new daddy Kent Brownridge. Not even two weeks on the job and already he's shaking things up. And Rob just got done saying, "Everyone is excited about Kent joining the team … Kent is here to add additional experience to the amazing talent we’ve already got in Sarah [Ivens] and Tom [Morrisey]. He’s joining the magazine in a time of growth (19 percent at newsstand, 12 percent in circulation), where we are standing out from the crowd, but the new challenge is to go further. We’re not satisfied with resting on our laurels. We want to continue to grow." Aw, sad.

Further details?

Update: Says OK! publicist and resident hottie Brian Strong: Shuter "resigned" and will be leaving to pursue other options, "whatever they may be." Shuter will "be with us for another couple weeks." And the notion that Brownridge axed him? "Absolutely untrue." Because nobody ever fires anybody; they just leave of their own accord.

After leaving Jann Wenner's side as the publishing maestro's No. 2, Kent Brownridge went over to Maxim, after private equity firm Quadrangle bought it and Blender from Dennis Publishing, renamed its parent Alpha Media, and appointed Brownridge leader of the lad mags. Then, heh, he got sacked last month amidst investor unhappiness. But it's not like Brownridge is just going to comb over and play dead — he's got a new gig. Richard Desmond, he of the British publishing empire Northern Shell, hired Brownridge to lead his American tabloid OK!. So much trust Desmond has in Brownridge, he's having founding and sitting EIC Sarah Ivens and publisher Tom Morrissy begin reporting to him. But it's not just that Brownridge has found another last act that firms up his shock and awe campaign — it's that his gig at OK! means he's in direct competition with his former buddy Wenner, whose Obama-leaning media empire publishes the tabloid Us Weekly. And that is awesome. How to make this do-si-do even more interesting? Mr. Brownridge: Might we suggest you getting firmly behind a one John McCain?

Kent Brownridge, the former No. 2 at Wenner Media, is leaving his post as CEO of the Quadrangle Capital-backed Alpha Media Group, which snapped up Dennis Publishing's Maxim and Blender (while shuttering the print edition of Stuff); he will still hold the title of chairman, while being replaced by CFO Stephen Duggan and COO Glenn Rosenbloom, who will split chief exec duties. (Brownridge hired the pair of 'em.)

What you won't read in MIN's report, however, is that Brownridge isn't leaving his post voluntarily. We've heard rumblings for a few weeks that the magazine group's progress hasn't been impressing the private equity guys at Quadrangle, who might have originally picked up the lad mag brands as a hobby sport, but now want to see a return on their investment. So, as best we can tell, Brownridge is being forcibly demoted. Also, as best we can tell, Jann Wenner has a macho grin on his face right now.

Kent Brownridge on Bonnie Fuller, circa 2004: "Bonnie can't delegate. She's computer-illiterate. She doesn't know what a budget is."

Kent Brownridge on Bonnie Fuller, circa now: "I'm guilty of having said bad things about her. She's the Bill Parcells of publishing. Just like Parcells, everywhere she goes she pisses people off, but everywhere she goes she wins." [MM]

Outside last night's Maxim Bunglows party at Kobe Club: Page Six's Richard Johnson smoking a cigarette. Inside last night's Maxim Bunglows party at Kobe Club (besides those Sopranos actors who are EVERYWHERE): Alpha Media chief Kent Brownridge sporting the type of smile one would expect from a man who's officially over Jann Wenner.

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]

LOVE KNOWS NO BOUNDS New Alpha Media chief and Maxim owner Kent Brownridge crossed corporate lines this month to marry Alexandra Carlin, the head of PR at Hearst. There was no honeymoon. [P6]

STABBING BACK The war between Kent Brownridge and Jann Wenner rages on! Like a writers strike! Brownridge, the current Maxim and Blender guru and former Wenner No. 2, poached Rolling Stone exec editor Joe Levy, who will be installed atop Blender next month. Watch now as Kent starts a celebrity weekly just so he can send love letters to Janice Min. [AdAge]

• The New York Times confuses real news with Joseph Gordon-Levitt talking about French accents.

• Wrist Watch: Owen Wilson is out and about.

• From ABC: "Us Weekly, OK! relied on verified circ as newsstands waver." Celebrity weeklies being intentionally deceptive? The horror!

• Meanwhile, our future drinking buddy Kent Brownridge steps up his game, calling for more accurate circ reports and warning Rolling Stone, "There's only room in this town for one totally irrelevant music magazine."

• NYU students beware! AOL is moving its corporate headquarters from Dulles, Virginia to Astor Place, and we hear they're already considering "Off The Wagon" as their new executive hangout.

• GalleyCat tries to pick a fight with Oprah, fails to realize their own relative insignificance

Despite being subjected to numerous unflattering Austin Powers comparisons, henchman Kent Brownridge (Jann Wenner's former "Number 2" man who's earned himself a well-deserved reputation of "Dr. Evil") is not without his fair share of supporters. Unfortunately for Brownridge, it seems as though not even his supporters really seem to like him.

The rap on Kent Brownridge, who's running Maxim for private equity player Quadrangle Group, is that he's unusually smart and unusually ferocious. And that the latter overshadow[s] the former…"If you get in his way, he will roll right over you," says a former Wenner executive, and this is one who claims to be a fan.

But we're not biting. Sure, this Brownridge guy has a bad rep (plus he even looks evil) but you have to consider that most of that's coming from oversensitive writer types who just want to be coddled. In fact, we think Brownridge sounds like exactly the sort of guy we'd want to grab a beer with after work! That is, assuming Pat Buchanan already has other plans.

Remember when an anonymous Wenner executive said “Kent Brownridge makes Karl Rove look like a Sunday school teacher?”

Well, these unidentified sources don’t lie.

Brownridge has scooped up Wenner Media’s Men’s Journal editor James Kaminsky to edit Maxim for a pay package reported to be worth around $600,000.

Jimmy Jellinke, Maxim’s EIC for the past year, is out, and out of print. "This will probably be my last job in publishing," he said, and is looking for jobs in TV and online now. What, no ham radio?

Kaminsky, who was number 2 at Maxim from 1999 to 2000, sees this as an opportunity to change perception about Maxim and said, "There are a lot of misconceptions about what Maxim is. I think it's a matter of getting sharper, funnier and doing some real journalism.”

Kaminsky’s first issue will feature in an depth piece on push-up bras in Iraq.

Kent Brownridge, CEO of Alpha Media Group (and Jann Wenner's former henchman) lives up to his nickname "Dr. Evil" by firing throngs of Stuff staffers, including veteran publisher, John Lumpkin.

"I'm still in the building, so that's a good sign," Lumpkin told The Post on Thursday. "I hope that I'm able to work out something and stay with the company."

Apparently not. The ax fell swiftly, and by Friday afternoon, Lumpkin was cleaning out his desk and taking one last longing look at Ivanka Trump's, er, assets.

Kent Brownridge and Quadrangle are going with "Alpha Male Group" as the name of the new Maxim and Blender parent. And the chance to school advertisers on their awesome alpha male demos is going to make for one kick ass media kit. [WWD]

It's nice to see Mediaweek taking a stab at fueling gossip. Lucia Moses's profile on Kent Brownridge – Jann Wenner's former No. 2 and incoming chief of Maxim, Blender, and Stuff – is filled with anonymous sources, speculating, and mud slinging. It's pretty damn awesome.

CONTINUED »

What's a guy to do with a trio of mags? First off, change the name of their corporate parent. Kent Brownridge, who led Quadrangle's $240 million buyout of Dennis Publishing, will be renaming the umbrella company, giving the Stuff, Maxim, and Blender laddies a new daddy. The former Wenner Media exec, meanwhile, is said to be in the business of adding jobs, not cutting them (which would be hard, given that staffers are already doing multiple jobs). Well, except for Dennis prez Steve Colvin, who's, like, leaving and stuff.

But where's Kent gonna find all this money for new hires?

CONTINUED »