There's nothing quite like a little unsubstantiated gossip to get our motors running. Which is why we were delighted by the dishy email this morning claiming that less than a week after PageSix.com's triumphant launch, there's already an onslaught of infighting, cattiness and overall dissension in the ranks.
PageSix.com debuts today after only three years of missing the boat, looking less like a celebrity blog than an advertisement for Nikon with Britney Spears' name floating nearby. Speaking of Britney! Her late night birthday party crawl is their lead item, or at least the one sitting at the top of the site right now, which begs the question: Are we witnessing the first of many instances where Page Six's dot-com is going to scoop its print column? MAYBE!
The "Sixers" page lists eight writers, including former UsMagazine.com blogmaster Noelle Hancock and former New York magger freelancer and Post metro reporter Elizabeth Wolff, but also offers anyone the chance to be the "Sixth Sixer": "Could be you! Stay tuned for more details." (Wait, Sixth?)
Meanwhile: Fellow celebrity blogs, like The Superficial, will appreciate how P6DC "links" to their sites, only to host their entire feed on its own webpage. They've also given TMZ that treatment, even though TMZ's Terms of Use explicitly state: "The Material and all other content on this Site may not otherwise be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, distributed or used in any way unless specifically authorized by TMZ.com." Guess what? TMZ didn't authorize them. Best get on the phone, Harvey Levin.
And who knew there were palm trees in New York? Or is that their way of saying "We do L.A., too!" You know, 'cause they do now.
Regarding the invitations PageSix.com extended to some Us Weekly staffers, we're told Claudia Rosenbaum will not be making the jump after all and is staying on at Us. And reporter Lindsay Powers, who also turned down the Post's offer to remain at the Wenner tabloid, will be the new Noelle Hancock (i.e. running UsMagazine.com's blog), who is leaving for PageSix.com. Next Wednesday, Halloween, will be her last day under Janice Min.
Us Weekly's blues won't be ending anytime soon. While Star rages back against Us – and Us continues digging its own hole with its "Fake News" feature – the magazine is also raking its own coals in other new and exciting ways.
Take, for instance, this week's Hot Stuff section, where a full-page engagement story on The Hills' Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt includes an inset shot of what's supposedly the ring she's wearing. "Montag’s ring (she wore it May 24) is studded with diamond chips," reads the caption.
Except Spencer says it's a farce. "US has a picture of the wrong ring," he tells a tattler. "That’s not the engagement ring I bought Heidi. No one has a picture of the ring yet.” Meanwhile, Katie Ciarlo, an employee at Ice Accessories where Spencer bought the ring, also says Us has it wrong: "The picture US Weekly printed showed was the wrong ring. That is not the ring that Spencer bought Heidi."
What was that about other tabloids printing "Fake News?"
But wait, there's more. CONTINUED »
It's going to be a reunion of sorts on tonight's Red Eye, a show where Canadian conservative crazy Rachel Marsden gets to defend Don Imus for merely calling Rutgers' basketball team a "dirty diaper." Greg Gutfeld, we hear, is welcoming Us Weekly's online editor Noelle Hancock, as well as the tabloid's former public face Katrina Szish, who's likely appearing on behalf ABC News. Yes, the same ABC News where she conducted an interview with a Life & Style editor (knowing full well, ahead of time, that the competing tabloid's staffer was the guest) and proceeded to get fired from Us.
Sure, the show's website might be listing In Touch Weekly's Tia Williams as a guest, but we hear Tia is on the midnight train to Georgia. Or D.C. (Disclosure: Tia is the sister of Stereohyped editor Lauren Williams, and appeared, awesomely, in that Marsden segment.)
Which leaves Noelle and Katrina to yammer on as Greg cheerleads the sniping between two of Janice Min's veteran beauties. It's almost enough to consider tuning in for.
Update: Turns out, Tia was on last night's show. So much for having an insider at your own blog company who knows where her sister is.
• Maybe if
• The best way to prevent yourself from getting famous? Steal Brandon Davis' jokes from four months ago. [TMZ]
• Jessica Beil has resorted to making out with chicks in order to get some attention in the gossip columns. [Gatecrasher]
• Only in Choire Sicha's world does Jessica Coen + Noelle Hancock = Melissa Burkelhammer. (We could, however, see Jessica Joffe coming from that equation.) [NYO]
• It's not really the legs or the hair or the skin that makes Heidi Klum so friggin' lucky. It's that every time she says something really stupid, she can blame her German accent. [WWD]
• Today is Boy George's day. [AP]
• We met Noelle Hancock. And she definitely doesn't look like a butt.
• We did not blow up this week. Thanks, England.
• We went to this party, this party, and this party. And pictured everyone in their underwear.
• Chris Wilson finally goes somewhere where we won't have to pay attention to him. Well, just this once, since he got a bunch of people fired. (We hear they've been drinking since 2.)
• That Joanne Coles has some mad tactics. Jumping in Cathie Black's limo? Bad ass.
• And all this time, we thought Keith Olbermann couldn't get anymore disappointing.
We know Noelle Hancock from her media gossip days at the New York Observer and party crasher extraordinaire for Gawker. You may know her for other reasons — blinding blonde locks, legs up to her neck, and her "decent-sized rack." (And she doesn't even work at Conde Nast!) Ok, let's just put it this way: she doesn't look like anyone's butt.
Noelle is now leading the tabloid blog revolution as the top editor of Us Weekly's blog, and cashing plenty Jann Wenner's checks by contributing to Rolling Stone as well.
We're not sure if we'd call Noelle up-and-coming … since she's pretty much up there in terms of media creds (she's got Cosmopolitan, the New York Post, and Blacktable under her belt, as well) but she's still fresh enough out of Yale to be more impressive than passe.
After the jump, learn how to live vicariously through her for a day by reading Amazon, eating cereal, and dreaming of living in France with a gay boyfriend. (Though her real-life beau actually is straight.) We hope it was worth waiting 'til Tuesday for.
CONTINUED »
Editorial Director
